Customer Reviews

Never a Bride

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

2 1/2 - 3 Stars:
I was excited to read this after I looked at the reviews for the novel. The plot line seemed like a good one...

Our hero, Camden, gets engaged to our heroine six years prior to the beginning of the novel. The lovely Mirabella dutifully waits his return even though she has a strong suspicion that he will not come back for her. She is resigned to being a spinster and caring for her ailing father. But, all that changes when her sort-of adopted sister kills herself after being ruined and impregnated by a villian.

This is where the author stretches it a bit too far for my tastes: Mirabella gets the idea that she can find the villian by feeling up a handful of mens necks in the garden while kissing them. Huh? It is a very humorous visual, but a little thin plot device department.

When Camden finally returns, he (of course) catches his fiance liplocked with her hand down a guy's cravat. Because his pride took a beating from his last betrothed who was also caught kissing someone else, he wants nothing to do with a neck obsessed, kissing trollop like Mirabella. Too bad his kisses are the only ones she actually enjoys. And it is really too bad that his family will go broke without her forwarded dowry.

It was a little too perfectly constructed for my tastes. The dialogue, especially during the love scenes, was a somewhat wooden (would you refer to a man a 'sir' & 'my lord' in bed?). I thought that Mirabella should have come clean for the reasons behind her kissing spree a lot sooner. And Camden acted like he was the abused & injured party for way too long. He actually thought there was nothing wrong with leaving a young woman for SIX YEARS! And when he took her to task for simply kissing a handful of men, she asked if he had gone without a woman for the length of their engagememnt. Naturally, he had still had his fill but he wasn't going to forgive her any mistakes (but he let himself get carried away with her multiple without thinking of marriage). The conclusion was rushed and the villian wrap up left me feeling unresolved and unfufilled.

Don't get me wrong, there were good sections in this book. But, for the most part it was lukewarm and a little dissappointing.

This is my first book by Amelia Grey. I'd heard wonderful things about her Rogues' Dynasty series and was looking forward to reading Never A Bride.

The premise of the story was good: Mirabella's father secured her engagement to Viscount "Cam" Brackley. Cam then had no intention of marrying Mirabella until he was old, he only agreed to the engagement because her dowry would help his father pay off debts. Six years later, Mirabella's father demands he come back and marry or Cam's father must repay the portion of dowry he already received.

Mirabella, however, knows none of this - only that her fiancee has been gone and will probably not come back any time soon. She is on a mission to find out who disgraced her cousin so badly that the cousin committed suicide. In order to do that, she must get the young men of the ton alone and get her finger into their neckcloths in search of a scar the cousin had written about in her diary. Needless to say Mirabella is starting to get a bit of a reputation when Cam unexpectely returns.

Here's the thing: I liked both Mirabella and Cam, just not together. They were both lovely characters but they didn't "mesh" for me. It was like they just kept bumping up against each other but didn't quite connect. My other problem was that I guessed the "whodunit" very early into the book. I would have preferred a bit of mystery and suspense on that front. It was frustrating to watch Mirabella go through all her machinations when I already knew who it was.

We also met Cam's best childhood friend, who was unexplainably mean to both Cam and Mirabella, but we never found out why he was such a jerk - jealousy? I'm not sure what he would be jealous of as he was already titled and married and had an heir. I was a bit confused on that point.

As I mentioned above, while I did like the main characters, this book was just not a good match for me.

In order to avenge the death of her close friend Sarah, Lady Mirabella Whittingham has vowed to find the person responsible for her taking her own life. She has Sarah's diary and the diary has revealed that the man has a raised scar on the back of his neck. So, Mirabella, being unconcerned with propriety as although betrothed, she has never seen the man and he left six years previously, never to return. She has resigned herself to a life of spinsterhood, so the scandal she's sure to bring by kissing each of the suspects and running her hands under his cravat,means little to her.

What she doesn't count on is the return of her betrothed, Camden Brackley, Viscount Stonehurst. And she is even more surprised to find that this man is the mysterious stranger she has recently met and can't get out of her mind. They are then both thrilled to discover one another's true identity.

But Camden has loved and lost once before. Six years ago he had found his then-betrothed in the arms of another man. He had vowed never to love like that again. So imagine is shock when he finds Mirabella in the same compromising position. He wishes to break their engagement and Mirabella agrees. However his family is in a very precarious financial state so he eventually gets Mirabella to go along with his ruse - they will act engaged in every way for several months - just until his family becomes more solvent - then they will quietly break off the engagement.

Of course, Camden's plans do not go as he had intended and he finds himself falling in love for the intelligent, lovely Mirabella - and she with him. It's not long before he joins her in trying to find the man who caused Sarah's death.

I am not much of a Regency historical reader - but I found this one absolutely charming. I couldn't put the book down. A real plus in this story is the intelligence of it's two main characters, Camden and Mirabella. Never did I feel the book deteriorate into silliness as could have easily been the case given the circumstances. I know when a book is particularly good when I find myself recommending it to total strangers in book stores. Such is the case with NEVER A BRIDE. An absolutely delightful read. Highly entertaining.

First and foremost, this book did have some moments of truly decent writing on the author's part and those definitely helped boost my rating for this book. The story was cute enough granted you can suspend your believe for this shaky premise, but it just seemed to drag out and get incredibly repetitive. We get why Mirabella's doing what she's doing we don't need a constant recap of her reasoning. Taking into consideration this was a debut historical for this author I'm willing to be more lenient because I do believe the author has a distinctive voice somewhere in the midst of this story. She just got too caught up in all the melodramatic clichés more classic historical romances fall for. These instances are where I rolled my eyes or outright laughed. If the classical chaste type romances are you thing than this story will definitely appeal to you. Note there is a sex scene but it's pretty vanilla and filled with all kinds of "and he filled her womanly softness" type lines. The whole "mystery" element, while constantly referred to, pans out pretty uneventfully but thankfully the romance aspect redeems the story somewhat by not being filled with tons of misunderstandings and those "I must leave you because I think you're lying but I'm not going to question you about it" moments. Overall a mediocre read that does have its moments of entertainment from time to time and the occasionally decent character interactions.

I downloaded this because it was free and sometimes I just like a good Regency romance. This one was...meh. The denouement was rather a let down. The whole point of what Mirabell was doing was to get to that point and then it fell very flat with no drama and no excitement. While the characters were likable, the dialogue wooden and to monologish. The writer seemed to feel the need to throw every detail of everything in the book, often with the characters speaking it. Who describes someone else's outfit as a compliment? "You are perfectly handsome in your new brocade waistcoat and silk neckcloth. And you look simply dashing in that cutaway jacket with double buttons." Good grief. She also felt the need to go into great detail about the foods set out at the balls. I don't read romance novels to find out what the characters are eating. A mention is fine, but a complete menu? It was exhausting.
My biggest issue with the book is the authors apparent complete lack of familiarity with British titles and correct forms of address. The Countess of Glenbrighton would never introduce herself as Countess Irene. She would have introduced herself as Lady Glenbrighton. A countess would also never refer to a duchess AS "Duchess" while speaking to said duchess. A countess would call her "Your Grace" when speaking to her. Mirabell frequently talks about Countess Glenbrighton or Countess Irene. She would be referred to the Countess OF Glenbrighton and after that, Lady Glenbrighton. This mistake was made over and over by calling characters Duchess So and So or Countess So and So instead of Lady So and So and was very annoying. If you're going to write a Regency with characters from the ton, know how they are to be addressed and styled.

The characters were often charming or engaging and the plot progression was fairly common for a Regency novel, but the ending, more than anything, left me highly disappointed.

As other reviewers have explained, the driving conflict of the plot is that Mirabella is trying to discover the identity of the man who seduced her friend, and therefore gave cause for her friend to commit suicide. Despite that her unorthodox methods are putting her reputation and engagement on the line, Mirabella feels compelled to find this mystery man so that she can ruin his reputation and ensure he doesn't mistreat any other unsuspecting ladies.

When the moment finally comes for her to confront the man, the ramifications are practically nonexistent and no justice is actually served. Definitely not what I would call punishment. Although Mirabella and Camden have a HEA (which is a given for the genre), the ending of the major plot thread made it feel as though the character's troubles, and therefore the book, had been a bit purposeless.

I also felt that scenes lacked variety, particularly in location, as most scenes bounced between Mirabella's home and a Soiree, with the characters repeating their actions/comments. The scenes themselves were all enjoyable, but when read back-to-back in one sitting, they become redundant. The couple of scenes that took place out of that pattern, namely an instance of the heroine trying to pass as a gentleman in disguise, were some of the most enjoyable in the book.

I enjoyed reading this novel very much, and mainly because of the novel's one of a kind heroine, Mirabella Whittingham. Mirabella is exactly the kind of brave, intrepid and determined heroine that will have most readers rooting for her. Here is a woman who is firmly resolved to discover who seduced her cousin (Sarah), and to bring him to justice, no matter what it costs her. Mirabella is strong, loyal and charming. She fully realises that her scheme to unmask this villain is fool hardy and daring and could spell her social ruin, but she is still determined to carry on anyway, in spite of what others (the ton) think and despite the harm it could do to her reputation, and that makes her a truly admirable young woman.

The novel unfolds at a brisk and smooth pace; and the attraction that Camden and Mirabella feel for each other fairly shimmers with every page. And while both principal characters are well developed, the minor characters could have done with a little more development; but then this is really Mirabella's and Camden's story, so that that is not too much of a detraction. Only one thing about this novel made me grit my teeth: and that is the language. Every now and then Amelia Grey would frame certain chapters with a column from a newspaper, 'Society's Daily Column,' but the language she used in this column was rather 20th century, and just didn't gel with the rest of the novel. Likewise Sarah's (the dead cousin) diary entries which all started with 'Dear Diary.' I'm fairly certain that the women of the Regency era did not start off their diaries in such a manner. However I did enjoy reading "Never A Bride." Both Mirabella and Camden are the kind of grown up hero and heroine that makes romance novels satisfying to read, and totally deserved the 'happily ever-after' ending that this novel promised. This is a novel well worth reading and recommending.

After six years in which her betrothed, Viscount Stonehurst, Camden Brackhurst, left her behind in a single state and went off to America, Lady Mirabella Whittingham adapts to remaining on the shelf. She even finds spinsterhood quite enjoyable that is until her best friend Sarah committed suicide. Sarah's diary blames her troubles on an aristocrat with a scar on the back of his neck. Mirabella plans to uncover the culprit's identity and take him to task. However, to do so requires kissing all the eligible bachelors in town for the season to inspect their necks because Sarah never names anyone.

As Mirabella makes the rounds and shocks the Ton, Camden finally returns from across the ocean. He is appalled at his fiancee's behavior, but finds he is very attracted to her. She is stunned to observe the telltale scar on his neck.

Though NEVER A BRIDE requires a plausibility leap, Regency romance fans will enjoy the tale. Readers must accept Mirabella's way out character behavior, but at the same time will admire her spunk and loyalty. The story line is fun especially when an outraged Camden makes his feelings known. On the other hand, six years waiting for someone who deserted you before you ever met makes his present day behavior seem inappropriate, but perhaps that is a modern day perspective by this reviewer. Still sub-genre fans will receive pleasure >from Amelia Grey's gender war historical romance.

Harriet Klausner

I wanted to like it, but I got bored, and made myself finish. I just never connected to the story or characters.

Mirabella has given up hope that her fiance, Viscount Stonehurst, will ever return to marry her. Their fathers fixed the match six years ago after which he left for the Americas declaring he'd only return and marry her when he was old and gray. Since she was destined to be a spinster what would it hurt if she let a few gentlemen steal a kiss in the garden? Especially if the kisses revealed the identity of the man who drove her best friend Sarah to suicide? When Viscount Stonehurst returns unexpectedly, it creates more than one embarrassing moment for Mirabella.

This is the author's first Regency and it does show. What was surprising is that this isn't this author's first novel, she writes under a different name as well. My biggest criticism of this book was the dialogue. Mirabella is no novice to the ton or to the rules of society. It is not quite believable that she would as if she had no social filter on what she says or that she would be so forthcoming and unguarded with her returned fiance, especially at first.

In addition, the author does not fully establish why some characters would act as they do in the story. The "bad guy" for example, (he's not the actual antagonist in this story) is not really established as someone who would act as he does. There are no flaws revealed in his character until the last handful of pages when he's "revealed". It wasn't a surprise he ends up being the baddie, but Grey does not establish his character in this vein. Finally, the characters are likable, but they don't work as a couple. The chemistry feels forced.

It's a nice little story, just don't have great expectations.