Customer Reviews

Midnight Bride: A Novel

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Susan Carroll's Midnight Bride, the third in the St. Leger series, is absolutely awesome! Dr. Valentine St. Leger, younger twin son of Anatole and Madeline St. Leger (from The Bride Finder), is a doctor. As most all St. Legers, he has a gift that enables him to draw the pain of his patients into himself - draining at first, but after resting, he can then recover. Unfortunately, when he first used this gift to save his twin brother Lance's life, he wasn't able to control the gift and it left him with a crippled leg. Val is often referred to as Saint Valentine because of his unrelenting quest to serve those in pain and would never be or do anything that would inadvertently hurt another person.

To Kate Fitzleger, adopted daughter of the St. Leger's bride finder; Val has been her hero, confidante, teacher and friend - the man she knows she will love for all time - no matter what her adopted mother, Effie Fitzleger, the `Bride Finder' says. She is determined that Val will be hers someday and will do anything to have it happen - including braving the old tower and the lair of the legendary ghost of Prospero St. Leger to find a `love spell' to cast over Val. Kate would not believe the warnings and would disregard the legends that promised an untimely death to women not chosen by the `Bride Finder'.
Adding to this, enter an old enemy, Rafe Mortmain, whose sole purpose in returning to Cornwall, is to exact revenge upon Saint Valentine - whom he blames for all the bad things that have happened in his life, including the loss of the one true friend he ever thought he had - Val's twin brother Lance.

At the moment the determined Kate is casting her love spell another supernatural and evil event is taking place. As a result, Val turns into a real dark and nasty person and lets his lust for Kate - who he once treated with the dignity of a lady - take over - releasing the `dark side' of his soul. Kate, delighted at first, by the change in the quiet and courteous Val, comes around to finally understanding that you can't force love but would this realization come too late to save the soul of her best friend.

This book is a real page-turner with suspense filled action. Best-selling author Susan Carroll has created a magnificent series here that I hope will continue beyond this third book. The resident guardian ghost - Prospero - seems to play a much stronger role in this story only adding to the mystical feeling. Bravo Ms. Carroll you've created a most charming and wonderfully warm family of new `friends' for me!

I read romance novels like they are going out of style. At times I feel as if I have read it all. It seems at times as if all romance novels are just one great repeating book with different characters. However, Midnight Bride was a breath of fresh air. I found the plot to be new and exciting. I even began to feel compassion for the villian. I thought it was well written and delightful. Kate was unlike any heroine I have ever read. This was actually the first Susan Carroll book I have ever read but I plan on reading the first two books in the St. Leger saga. The third book didn't really give too much away on the other stories, I am sure I will enjoy the first two books just as much as I enjoyed the thrid.

Ms. Carroll has written a wonderful sequel to THE BRIDE FINDER and THE NIGHT DRIFTER. Val St. Leger is a doctor who has the ability to absorb his patient's pain. He has been told by the Bride Finder that he will never have a bride. However, Val is feeling the St. Leger "need to wed" and wants Kate Fitzleger who is the adopted daughter of the Bride Finder. Kate wants Val, even if it means going against the tradition of the Bride Finder and its potential for tragedy. A shard of magic crystal and the return of a family enemy begins this interesting and exciting novel. As an avid reader, I constantly weigh the price against how badly (and how quickly) I want to read the novel. I wanted this one and paid the hard-back price. It was money well spent.

I think that the reason I was not completely blown away by "Midnight Bride" is because I didn't exactly take to this novel's hero, Valentine St. Leger. Because other than my feelings of reservations towards this character, this novel was a rather good read. Kate Fitzleger has been in love with Valentine from the very first moment she met him, however the St. Leger bridefinder has decreed that Valentine can never marry. Being a young woman of strong convictions, and having no time for family superstition, she decides to employ magic to win her love. At the same time, Rafe Mortmain, the St. Leger family enemy, is seeking out Valentine for some long overdue revenge. Both Mortmain and Kate strike at the same time, and Valentine is changed: no longer is he the quiet, restrained and compassionate doctor, now he is much more of a short tempered caveman. Kate is thrilled for now Valentine cannot seem to keep his hands off her, but she is also filled with misgivings for her beloved seems to also be in a lot of pain. Should she try to restore Valentine to his former self even if it means losing him? And that is the central motif of this novel: the nature of selfless love and sacrifice. Kate learns this the hard way, and Rafe Mortmain also learns this lesson, though not with as much pain and anguish as Kate.

I had a few reservations about this novel -- firstly, why was no one keeping more of an eye on Kate? Here was a young woman living in a village surrounded by her adopted family, and on one in the St. Leger family seemed to give a damn that she was trysting with Valentine until it was too late! Not very believable in 19th century England. Secondly, I found it very hard to enjoy Valentine's caveman-like mentality towards Kate. I know that he was basically under a spell, and that (for some reason) such behaviour is very popular and accepted in the romance world, but goodness if a man behaved that way in real life, wouldn't we be advising Kate to take for the hills? And thirdly, the switch of auras takes place between Valentine and Mortmain -- I found myself wishing that Susan Carroll had gone into this plot device a little more, for while I could deduce that Valentine's murderous rages was somehow linked to the darkness that he absorbed from Rafe, and that Rafe's new found compassion was something he got in exchange from Valentine, I could have done with a little more detail about how Valentine through his flashes of pain and rage came to have a little more understanding for Rafe.

What I really enjoyed in this novel however was the relationship that developed between Kate and Prospero, the St. Leger ghost. It was amusing and touching as you could see the seeds of a real friendship forming between these two. Another thing I liked about this novel was the reforming of Rafe Mortmain, sketchy though it was. I wished that had been a little more of this subplot. "The Midnight Bride" is a goodish read mostly because of its energetic heroine, Kate Fitzleger. Susan Carroll really developed this character fully and I for one was glad for this.of its energetic heroine, Kate Fitzleger. Susan Carroll really developed this character fully and I for one was glad for this.

In my opinion, this book was much better than The Night Drifter. The plot is original and unpredictable, the characters are well-developed so much so that you 'feel' with them, and the writing is great! It was nice to see Val finally be human and have a dark side. When I first saw that he was the hero, I almost didn't read it, but Carroll works magic with him in this book. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys a really good book.

The Bride Finder series is in many ways unique among romance books, and Susan Carroll is a superb writer. While I still find the first book to be the best, the others are great reads as well.

Val is not your typical romantic hero -- he's almost too gentle sometimes, but that provides a nice contrast to Kate's impetuosity. Kate is an excellent heroine and her talks with the ghost Prospero are most enlightening. Her rashness sets off the chain of events that changes many of the characters in the book. Bad guy Rafe is a good villain, the kind who, though thoroughly selfish, is not all bad and who changes over the course of the story.

Ellie again is the Bride Finder, but this time she's standing in the way of true love. This situation eventually makes her a more interesting character.

Once again, read the book; it's a good one. The only question is which of the series you'll like best and why.

I was thrilled to see this continuation of the St. Leger series; I have really enjoyed reading Susan Carroll's work. I also really love a good read about someone changing, especially one as straitlaced and reserved as "St. Val." It reminds me of the Star Trek (the real one, with Nimoy and Shatner) where Mr. Spock goes back in time and becomes a "cavemanish" Vulcan ... but that's another story. His twin, Lance, was passionate, so why not Val? Kate was hilarious, Effie was exactly the same as in the previous books, but I would've liked to see more of Anatole. Maybe in the next one?

In the nineteenth century, the evil Rafe Mortmain returns to Cornwell to die and to extract vengeance on Val St. Leger. At the same time that Rafe hands over the shard of an evil magical crystal, Val grips his foe's hand and uses his powers to remove the illness and apparently part of Rafe's soul. At the same time, Kate Fitzlegger performs a black magic spell to gain the love of Val. Rafe vanishes and Val has absorbed some of his enemy's soul.

After years of avoiding intimacy with Kate, Val chases after her, beds her, and announces they will marry. This is in opposition to the Bride Finder, who always names the wife of a St. Leger and once informed Val he had no future bride. Val turns irritable and nasty, and soon loses his will to live, as he hates his dark side. Kate finally understands the meaning of real love, but that may prove too late to save the soul of her beloved.

Best-selling author Susan Carroll returns with a strong exciting magical sequel to the fabulous Bride Finder, but this time starring "Saint" Val, brother to the previous book's hero. The story line is filled with non-stop action in a vividly described historical context with paranormal elements. The novel's warmth emanates from the powerful characters, which cast quite a spell on the reader who, in turn will find Ms. Carroll is quite a wonderful author.

Harriet Klausner

A terrific story with a rousing series of final events. This time the author creates more than a love story. It's got it all here, magic, mystery, the awesome Prospero. The love scenes were rocking. Everything about this book was different and interesting. A wonderful side storyline of redemption too that proved as moving as the main story itself. Characterizations of Val & Kate were especially compelling, as was even Victor, and of course Rafe.

I hope Val & Kate build their home at Lostland! I'll be watching for anymore in the series. I have begun to like the St. Leger's that I didn't care for in the first book BRIDE FINDER.

I truly enjoyed this book and in my opinion it is Susan Carroll's best to date. Bride Finder was excellent, Night Drifter was good, but Midnight Bride was excellent plus. I can't wait to see what Susan Carroll will write next. She has definitely earned a long time fan.