A Fallen Woman: The Brides of Bath (Ballad Romances) [Paperback]

Bolen Cheryl (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 317 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082177249X
• ISBN-13: 978-0821772492
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,778,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cheryl Bolen is the acclaimed author of eight Regency-set historical romances published by Harlequin Historical and Zebra Historical. Her first book, A Duke Deceived, won her the title of Notable New Author and was a runner up for the Holt Medallion for Best First Book. Her One Golden Ring won the Holt Medallion for Best Historical. Her books have been finalists for many writing awards, including the Daphne du Maurier, have been Barnes & Noble bestsellers, and have been translated into French, Portugese, Swedish, Norwegian, Italian, Polish, and Japanese.

Admitting to a fascination over dead Englishwomen, she is a regular contributor to the Regency Plume,The Regency Reader and the Quizzing Glass. Many of her interesting articles on Regency England can be found at her website, www.CherylBolen.com.

She holds an English/journalism degree from the University of Texas and an MS from the University of Houston. Before her first book was published in 1998, she enjoyed careers as a newspaper reporter/editor and as a public school English teacher.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You'll fall for A FALLEN WOMAN, August 18, 2002

By 

Joan Reeves (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fallen Woman: The Brides of Bath (Ballad Romances) (Paperback)

There's much to appreciate in this emotional story of a woman's journey from despair to triumph. I particularly liked the characters who quoted evocative lines from popular poets of that day, in a manner as natural as a contemporary character singing bits of a romantic ballad to a
loved one.
Carlotta Ennis, widowed, penniless, and shunned by decent society, grabs your sympathy immediately. She does not make excuses for the bad decisions she's made in the past nor does
she cower in shame. Her decisions, at first glance, might make her appear vain and foolish. Yet, her pride that makes her hold her head high and her real heartbreak in having loved, and given
herself, to the wrong man creates a real woman readers can identify with. Who gets through life without some mistake in love? The reader soon discovers Carlotta wasn't selfish and vain as much as young, insecure and frightened. Bad decisions led to heartbreak and disgrace. Ms. Bolen peals the layers back and reveals the underlying causes for every mistake Carlotta made without resorting to modern-day labels such as no mother role model and post-partum depression to explain the psychological reasons for Carlotta's actions.
When James Rutledge, who survived the war because Carlotta's husband died in his place, enters her life, Carlotta decides to use his guilt to her advantage. And thereby hangs the
balance of this tale! Carlotta, more mature now, recognizes the honor and integrity in James. He shames her by example, never by words. When she brings her son to live with her, at James's
insistence, she's afraid and resistant. It doesn't take long for her frozen emotions to be melted by her son. When she grows to love the little boy, regret for the missed years that can never be regained seizes her. Instead of wallowing in self-pity though, she resolves to be a real mother to him.
As Carlotta grows and changes, her beauty, once her prized asset, becomes a minor thing in and of itself. Her son, and James of course, are the sun of her universe around which her world revolves. Just as she recognizes this fact, her world is destroyed by her scarlet past.
The old Carlotta would have lied and connived to keep her husband. The new Carlotta is a vastly different woman who, in her husband's arms, has learned the value of honor.
If you don't shed a tear or two, then your heart is as hard as Carlotta's was at the beginning of her story.
A FALLEN WOMAN has what we all want from a love story--an adorable child, a brave heroine, a hero who loves her just as she is and loves her even more as she grows and changes,
and a journey of the human heart.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheryl Bolen's Best Yet!, August 5, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Fallen Woman: The Brides of Bath (Ballad Romances) (Paperback)

James Moore, the Earl of Rutledge, is an honorable man. He comes to bath to make amends to the widow of the officer who died in James' place. He offers to become husband to the beautiful woman and father to her young son.
In desperation, Carlotta Ennis accepts his proposal, but she is plagued with doubts. Did James marry her out of duty or out of love? And will he still cherish her when he learns she was another man's mistress?
This is the poignant story of a woman's journey, and I can almost guarantee you a good cry!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars too flawed, May 2, 2003

By 

Annie (Pearl River, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fallen Woman: The Brides of Bath (Ballad Romances) (Paperback)

James Rutledge has had a crush on Carlotta Ennis, wife of his captain, for years. Her husband died with James feeling responsible, so when he inherited a title and money, he tracks down the widow and her son to make amends. Carlotta is still grieving it is true but not for her husband, but her lover, Gregory Blankenship, who married another. I gather there were two previous Brides of Bath books, which include the story of how Gregory marries Glee and leaves Carlotta. But not having read that book, one has to wonder why he did leave the beautiful Carlotta. It was not as if she would made a poor choice of a bride; she was respectable. So why make her his mistress and not wife? Again, maybe it is in the other book but it could have been alluded to in this story as it would help the reader. Anyhow...James turns up and befriends both she and her son (who she had sent to live with her grandmother from age one month to 6 years). Now all reunited, James asks her to marry him and she accepts as she is desperate for money. And what better source of money than a honorable man? My issues with this story are many, but major ones include James incredible love for her. Sure - she was gorgeous and sexy, but even he must have realized she was less than a stellar mother. Of course, she improves under his guidance. And while she certainly is valuable once they move to his family seat, in Bath before marriage what exactly did he love about her? And all the signs of her being cast from society were there to read he was too stupid to question all these things? He who everyone says is so intelligent? Also, Carlotta is marrying him for money and safety and wisks him from Bath before he can hear about her past. Yet, she won't sleep with him? How is that? If she was so concerned about money and having a place as his wife with her son taken care of, she would make darn sure it was a fully binding and lawful marriage. A marriage that goes unconsummated would not hold up in court so it was too illogical for someone as smart and as calculating as Carlotta to miss that. Why would she risk it? In the end, once James finds out, he runs into Greg who lies and says he did not sleep with. What was that all about? Greg comes across as an idiot. Made no sense. All in all, too flawed to not be disappointing.