Customer Reviews

Midnight's Bride

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved Sophia's first RISK EVERYTHING. It was a masterpiece, which for a debut it impressed me enough to almost compare her with Garwood's "untouched" Medievals. (I said almost!)

But somewhere along the line, the series is faltering and flawed, which makes you seriously doubt Sophia's creative potential - as her latest two attempts were vastly disappointing, deteriorating from her original, almost gleaming effort. ALWAYS MINE was very slow, unsatisfactory read.

Now, after painfully trudging through MIDNIGHT BRIDE - it pains me to write another negative review. I seriously doubt that I will even give her books another try. This novel was so excruciatingly slow in pace and sadly lacking in character development that it couldn't capture my interest - I didn't even finish it! Which it's extremely rare as I ALWAYS try to read through to ensure my reviews are accurate a give fair recommendation.

The storyline was good enough to ensure it peeked your interest. Mereck - the Beserker - is a tortured warrior, whose blood's been tainted by madness and has been cursed not to ever love a woman.
Lynette (Netta) is a sweet, untouched beauty, pawned off to the highest bidder by her hateful father. Even though - this lot is tried and true - it can be absorbing if well developed.

NOT SO HERE! The characters that soared and grabbed your heart in Sophia's previous books were indolent and lacking here.

Even though Netta had all the personality traits to make for a charming and solid heroine to partner with a tortured hero, Netta was very annoying and insipid. Sophia's attempt to inject humor into her personality and situations were exasperating rather than humorous. The innocence and naiveté was so overly done that depicted the women (specially Elise) as childish, slow-brained nitwits - and their immature antics inane, which made the men treat them as such!

Mereck's portrayal of the "tortured" hero seriously fell of the mark, for it seemed that the true nature of his Berserker nickname lacked the depth to truly tear at the readers heart's strings.

The relationship between the H/H was sluggish and lacked the intensity of depth to grab you. The sexual tension was one sided from Mereck - who desires his bride, but is too reluctant to treat her like a woman and continues to think of her more like a child - which makes it incongruous that she is even the object of his desire!

By now I was thoroughly frustrated with the story that I didn't even care if they slept together or not!

Gosh, i wish i could say something redeeming about this book!!

I agree with Emlyn54 - we deserved better - from a writer that has showed true promise. It seems that Sophia's stories are becoming lackluster, which is a shame since her writing is quite good.
We all agree that with the price of books today - you want writers and stories to make your imagination soar, whet your appetite and leave you cheering and panting for more! Sorry Sophia!

Snuggle up in your comfy reading chair and get ready to be thoroughly entertained as creative author Sophia Johnson delivers a lively tale about another Blackthorn brother, Mereck, in MIDNIGHT'S BRIDE.

Determined not to marry the odious men her father kept sending her way, Lady Lynette Wycliffe dodged a beating once again. But this time her furious father delivered an ultimatum, shouting that the next man entering the castle gate would be her husband. Little did Lynette know that the man would turn out to be the legendary Baresarker whom her step-mother had told horror tales about all of her young life! She quickly ran away to her friend's home disguised as a servant. From there she was fortunate enough to travel with her friend Elise to Wales accompanied by Mereck of Blackthorn. Lynette, Netta to her familiars, was relieved to have escaped the mad man, or so she thought.

Mereck kept his identity as the Baresarker a secret from Netta even as he signed a marriage contract with her father. He treated Netta as the servant she pretended to be while they traveled to Wales. Mereck wanted Netta's dowry, the lands of Caer Caldwell, and never intended to love her because of the baresark curse. Once at Blackthorn Castle, everything is out in the open and Netta is once again living in terror as she realizes Mereck, the gentle man she knew on the journey, is really the barbarian Baresarker and he expects to marry her.

MIDNIGHT'S BRIDE by inspiring author Sophia Johnson is filled with history, passion and high jinx. Peals of giggles and melting sighs describe my reaction to Netta and Mereck as they verbally spar with each other amid sexual tension and Netta's naiveté. The innocent candor of Elise and Netta, dictated by Ms Johnson's witty dialog, provides some very amusing reading, so much so that I lost myself in the tale. And then there is the smoldering passion waiting to be unleashed in the ruggedly handsome Mereck; every woman's fantasy. Each of the Blackthorn books have a different temperament governed by its marvelous characters; which causes me to eagerly await more delightfully delicious stories from talented Sophia Johnson.

Donna Zapf
CataNetwork Reviews

Cursed by his baresark heritage, Mereck of Blackthorn has vowed never
to love. When Mereck encounters Netta of Caer Caldwell, it's as if
destiny is at work. Netta is being forced to wed and she needs
protection from her family. Mereck wants Caer Caldwell and the man
who weds Netta will be Caer Caldwell's overlord. The fact that Netta
fires Mereck's passions makes him all the more determined to take
Netta as his wife.

Believing Mereck a barbarian, Netta attempts to evade marriage to the
fierce warrior. Although he can offer his protection and his passion,
Mereck will not give his heart. Netta and Mereck are about to learn
that you cannot avoid what fate has in store.

Seeing Sophia Johnson's name on a book cover sends my credit card to
twitching. I can't resist Ms. Johnson because I know I'll not be
reading another cookie cutter historical romance. Midnight's Bride is
the most classic romance in this series and is delightful. Ms.
Johnson's ability to successfully distinguish each book in the
Blackthorn trilogy but link the three together keeps the trilogy
refreshing.

Midnight's Bride is tenderly romantic, hysterically funny and deeply
passionate. A delightful read in every way, the Blackthorn trilogy is
terrific!

Annmarie
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This book was very confusing and not at all romantic. It was very slow in many areas and not much romance to give the reader a chance to get into the characters. The best word to describe this book would be "silly".
It was not even close to the pleasure I had reading the author's previous books. I will have to give her next book a very hard look before I purchase it. Just my opinion.

Sophia Johnson's other books Risk Everything and Always Mine were much better books. In Midnight's Bride the heroine is not as interesting although I love me a big bad Berserker. A very slow build-up to the romance that left me not caring whether they got together. Skip it.

I really need to find another book where there is a strong female lead! As usual the hero is perfect. Mereck takes great care of his lady Netta but found their love story very unbelievable due to Netta and her friend having the mind set of children. It was just difficult to believe him falling in love with her being he had to talk to her like a child. From the very beginning between their lack of knowledge of anything adult (bumping..really??) and their lying, sneaking, disregard just got very old. I understand she had an abusive life but RATS AND FLEAS (that saying started grate on my last nerve) as several folks tried to point out to her Mereck had been nothing but perfect to her and to treat him like the villain off an on through the whole book was just tiresome. I love my historical romance but I really need to find some more where both hero/heroine work together....

This book was a big disappointment. The title makes no sense, they didn't marry at mindnight, he is not referred to as midnight, so can't figure that one out. Reading the prologue you think this is going to be good. Everything that is mentioned from him being a baresark to her being mistreated by her father is touched on so lightly I wonder why the author bothered mentioning them. I have read hundreds of books and keep them for rereads but this one is going on my Books Read list as bad and thrown in my donation box.

Perhaps it's not fair to compare this third entry in the series to the first two, which also had their flaws. But I have to admit to marked disappointment here.

At least "Risk Everything" and "Aways Mine" had heart, scenes that broke it and scenes that made it soar (the heart, that is). And characters who for the most part made you care (Risk Everything suffered only from a truly comic female villain, so over the top and flamboyant it was hard to be concerned). The same happens in "Midnight's Bride", Mereck's story. Another so over-the-top villain (and his equally "let's make him totally vile" henchman).

But that's not the worst problem, at least for me. The heroine is pathetic and played as a farce...totally young, naive, uneducated with worthlessness issues and a dastardly father (another over-the-top character), who never ever on the pages becomes a worthy match for the character of Mereck. And the portrayal of Connor, Meghan's brother, in this book, made him a preening, lecherous swine. I'm glad at this point he appears not to be in line for his own book.

Characters who soared (both literally and figuratively in the earlier books) are used here to fill in for actual story, I think. But they aren't interesting enough this time around to be here and just take up space which could have been used to make Netta a more believable object of Mereck's desire. As it is, she has nothing to offer him but title to his rightful lands and a few laughs. I also found it jarring when it became apparent that Meghan and Rolf's story, as told in "Risk Everything", supposedly hasn't happened yet. I know that's done all the time, but here it's jarring...maybe because I was so uninvolved in what was going on. Meghan, at least, remains a vibrant, true character.

The author seems determined to play this as a farce and on that count, she succeeded, to the complete detriment of the story. Mereck deserved better and so did we.

WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!

Purchased in the a.m. and finished reading in the p.m. - just couldn't put it down. Regretfully, the tale ended too soon. Enjoyment personified! Very entertaining! LOVED IT!

Sophia Johnson writes another well-crafted medieval Scottish adventure.
Her talent bequiles and enthralls readers with this final episode of the Blackthorn trilogy. Ms. Johnson simply gets better with each effort and MIDNIGHT'S BRIDE may be her best yet.

Mereck, Netta and a host of exceptional characters are quickly taken to our hearts ... so much that the reader cares deeply about the outcome of their adventures. This sensual and exciting tale incorporates the beloved characters of Rolf and Meghan, Damron and Brianna, Connor and Elise and the mysterious and compelling Bleddyn (RISK EVERYTHING and ALWAYS MINE) into the story line. Their return 'to the scene' is sheer delight. Life at Blackthorn is about to get a whole lot hotter!

Netta is a true innocent and when forced to leave her father's castle with the bold Mereck, who continually fights his dangerous, 'baresark' emotions, their sexual tensions increase and they become desparate trying to manage their tumultuous feelings for each other.

Lively dialogue .. witty .. passionate .. adventure .. this one has it all .. A FIVE-STAR READ .. all one would expect of Sophia Johnson's talent.

MIDNIGHT'S BRIDE will capture your heart, tickle your funny-bone and land firmly on your 'keeper's shelf' ... kudos to Ms. Johnson!

With her fervent claims of denying every suitor her father arranged a possible marriage with, Netta is worried when he boldly declares that the next man that walks through the door she will marry. Especially when it is a Baresark who makes her blood run cold in fear but causes a shiver of excitement every time he looks at her. Devising a scheme with her friend Elise she disguises herself as a serving maid on their journey to Scotland. In her futile attempts of not giving herself away, she over salts his morning meal, sticks worms in his stew all the while blackening the wrong teeth each morning. Netta is not aware that her betrothed knows exactly whom she is and her actions are doing nothing but making him fall in love with her despite his own fears of marriage and the vow he took.

Mereck of Blackthorn, has vowed to never wed, he believes he is cursed with Bareserk blood and that any woman who marries into his family perishes upon the birth of a babe. Despite his fears and worries, he accepts the contract to marry Netta, taking his vows seriously trying to ignore the fact his betrothed is doing everything possible in the hopes he will send her back home. Upon their arrival at his family home, his suspicions are confirmed as he discovers she seldom had anything kind said or done for her and pursues with gentleness. When one of Netta's former suitors feels the scorn and humiliation of Netta's rejection, his evil intent nearly shatters and destroys the harmonious relationship between Netta and Mereck. As Mereck reveals a side to Netta he never wanted her to see.

MIDNIGHT'S BRIDE like previous novels by Sophia Johnson is full of humour, drama, love and passion. Not to mention the intricate plot and descriptive details, with the well rounded character development making this novel a must read. With so many things happening in this novel that pulls on your emotions, I seriously got a kick out of Netta and her innocence on the matters of the marriage bed. As she bravely told Elise the way things are between a man and wife, I smiled at her expert and worldly knowledge, all the while thinking oh girl are you ever in for a surprise! The bond and friendship that developed between the females, Elise, Netta, Meaghan (RISK EVERYTHING) and Brianna (ALWAYS MINE) provided many humorous moments as they schemed and did things to purposely shock their beloveds. Bringing several chuckles from this reader, not to mention a raised eyebrow or two when they were caught in the act of their current mis-adventure.

Sophia Johnson is a relatively new author and each book she writes only gets better. Her male characters are dominantly Alpha Male but like all Alpha Males it takes a great heroine to bring him to heel and understand that yes he is capable of not only giving love but receiving it. Sophia Johnson did not disappoint in this regard, she never does. MIDNIGHT'S BRIDE was a perfect companion for curling up on the couch, forgetting about the real world as you entered her world and compelling stories.