Customer Reviews

To Seduce a Bride (Courtship Wars, Book 3)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Well after an exhaustive pursuit, Heath, Marquess of Clayborne, did capture his bride in the end, but I think he should have thrown her back!

The third book in the courtship war series pairs up the youngest Loring sister Lily (an anti-marriage minded & free spirited independent) with the charming & lovable Heath.

Although well written, I had several problems with this book. First the unbelievable; I can ALMOST accept the fact that Lily is so dead set against marriage due to her parents disastrous union. Obviously she has some deep seeded scars. So what would it take to convince her (or any woman skeptical for that matter) to wed? Seeing her two sisters find true love and happiness? CHECK. Have a handsome & rich man pursue you with honorable intentions? CHECK. Being extremely attracted to said man? CHECK. Have said man declare he loves you and finds you extremely attractive? CHECK. Be in love with or as close as you have been to said man? CHECK. Have said man declare that he would be faithful? CHECK. And, AND have said man declare that you wants you just the way you are? CHECK. Oh, and he has a title to boot! CHECK. Well, thats just not good enough for Lily! Because the crazy woman still says no.

I really loved Heath and admired him for his unrelenting pursuit and putting up with Lily. And its only because of him that I gave the book three stars. Lily, on the other hand, rather quickly becomes annoying and childish. Frankly, if I were Heath, I would have thrown in the towel long ago. If for anything, then for pride's sake. The man had to practically grovel. And while its nice to see an hard/aggressive hero grovel after some heinous treatment of the heroine, its depressing to see a NICE hero do the same for no apparent reason.

And once *AGAIN* another author seems to take historical conventions and throw them out the window! I'm sorry but if your family is trying to REBUILD their reputation then you DO NOT go to stay at courtesan's house. You DO NOT give etiquette lessons to prostitutes. You DO NOT attend a masked ball designed for these women to find protectors. And if you were found out? You would be ruined and your family tainted. The end!

So, though I really loved Heath and the writing is pretty good, I can't recommend this book. The heroine is too irritating and the believability is beyond what I can accept for this time period. I would recommend the second book in the series instead. Both the H/H are lovable and plot is more plausible.

Lily Loring is the youngest of the three Loring sisters, a trio whose family was on the brink of ruin before the girls saved themselves by opening a school to teach young women etiquette. Lily is the most decidedly tomboyish of the three sisters. She prefers riding horses and dreaming of world travel to tea parties and balls. She is also the sister who is the most against marriage. Lily remembers her parents' union as an unhappy one, and has vowed that she will not be shackled to any man. So when she is pursued by the best friend of her former guardian, Lily determinedly puts him off--even going so far as to take up residence with her good friend Fanny Irwin, a notorious Cyprian.

Heath Griffin, Marquess of Claybourne, is known as a rake and a seducer among the ladies of the ton. Heath's reputation as a lover of women precedes him, and he never thought that he would voluntarily sit down before he met Lily. He finds himself captivated by her independent nature, sharp tongue, and quick wit. Heath quickly decides he'd like to court Lily, only to learn that she's gone into hiding to avoid his attention. When he finds her, Heath decides to court the lady--willing or no--and make her his bride.

To Seduce a Bride is the third book in Nicole Jordan's Courtship Wars series, following To Pleasure a Lady (Courtship Wars, Book 1) and To Bed a Beauty (Courtship Wars, Book 2). It is also by far the worst book in the series. Lily is an exasperating heroine, and while I wouldn't go as far as labeling her too stupid to live, she was most definitely too exasperating to enjoy. From the very beginning she was against marriage. I can understand that. In the Regency era, marriage was the equivalent to signing your life away for a woman, and I can understand her wanting the choice to be her own. But after Heath proved himself countless times, risked his neck for her, helped her friends, and did anything she asked of him, and she still refused to believe that he could be in love with her I almost wished that she were real so that I could slap some sense into her. From the beginning of this series Lily has been set up as the most independent Loring sister, the one who lamented the loss of her sisters and vowed never to marry herself. So I can respect the fact that she remained consistent. But I can't respect the fact that she wanted to have her cake and eat it too while leaving this gallant, chivalrous suitor with what amounted to a few crumbs of her leftovers. I didn't like her and because of that it was like pulling teeth to make myself finish this book.

The Courtship Wars series was, until this point, okay. The other two books were good, not great, but they were satisfying enough as a whole. This book put me in a bad mood with its infuriating heroine and I think I might have to read some old school Julie Garwood or Johanna Lindsey to pull myself out of the funk that I'm in. Take my advice and steer clear of this last book in the series, which does more to hurt the trilogy than to help it.

I looked forward to this book because I liked Heath from the first two books in the series. HOWEVER, Lilian was so irrational and harsh, it really ruined the story. While she may have had some legitimate concerns about not wanting to spend her life trapped in a marriage like her parents had, she came across as hateful, spiteful and downright surly, not bothering to ever really observe other relationships around her and how not all were abusive. She tended to push her ideals and beliefs into the faces of anyone who did not agree with her or let her have her way. Being angry with her sisters for finding happiness in their relationships was just plain childish. I just could not find anything about her to like and by the end of the book, actually hoped the engagement announcement between Heath and Lady Eleanor was really true. I don't understand why he would continue to pursue Lilian when all she did was spew so much bitterness. Even when she agreed to marry him, I just didn't feel it was real and felt she only agreed because she was once again wanting things to go her way. Unfortunately, the end of this trilogy was very disappointing and I only finished the book hoping, for the first time in my reading career, that the heroine would actually lose out to someone else via a surprise ending.

Heath Griffin, Marquess of Claybourne unaccountably takes a shine to Lilian, the third of the Loring sisters, and pursues her unflaggingly, despite her expressed aversion to marriage. It's a fairly standard storyline, and yet it drove me to distraction. There's just too much about this book which is unsatisfactory.

Firstly, if Ms. Jordan wants to write about the regency era, she should work within its restrictions. Here we have the sister-in-law of an earl who dashes about the countryside without any form of chaperone, and ends up living in a home for ladies of the night. Despite the fact that she's living at an earl's country seat, there is a marked absence of servants about, so Heath drives up in his curricle (without a tiger) and no grooms rush out to meet him; Lilian opens the door of the house herself. Marriage takes place on a ship - but the Marriage Act of 1753 prohibits marriage outside a church .... and so it goes on.

Additional irritations include Ms. Jordan's writing style. Which involves the use of clauses and phrases as sentences. Which leads to a rather breathless writing style. Which is irritating. And distracting. Also, her use of little excerpts from supposed letters to and from the heroine at the beginning of each chapter acts as spoilers. Does Ms. Jordan think her readers incapable of following her plot without such signposts?

I also agree with Misuzmama that Lily's repugnance to marriage, which is the whole premise of the book, was vastly overplayed. Jordan is so keen to ensure we get it, that she has Lily repeating her aversion in virtually every chapter.

Also Ms Jordan seems fixated with the idea of noblemen - Lily and Heath spend much of the book telling one another what a "nobleman" thinks, feels and does or does not do. They're both members of the Ton, so why?

Basically, without the hero, who's just the sort of gorgeous, long-suffering alpha male I adore, this book would only have received one star from me - he was the only reason I even finished it!

This is the third book in the Courtship Wars trilogy and tells the story of the youngest Loring sister, Lilian Loring. You don't have to read the first two books, To Pleasure A Lady and To Bed A Beauty, to read this book but I recommend reading those as well as they are good regency romance books to read.

Lily Loring is the more impetuous, daring, and tomboyish sister in direct contrast to her tall, elegant sisters Arabella and Roslyn and decides that marriage isn't for her. She wants to be an independent woman, and now that her former guardian Marcus has relinquished control over her and given her an income she wants to live life the way she wants.

While at Arabella's wedding ball she meets Heath Griffin, the Marquess of Claybourne, and instantly they feel a mutual attraction for each other. Lily is wary of her feelings as she doesn't trust men in general, witnessing her father's infidelities against her mother and seeing how much pain it put her, and the family, through. She doesn't understand how Heath could be attracted to her as she is adamant in her refusal of him despite her own attraction for him. This doesn't deter Heath as he finds she is a challenge and is different than any other woman he's met and he is intrigued by her bold and outspoken ways, very different from the rest of the aristocratic ladies of the ton. In desperation, Lily flees her former guardian's country estate for London and takes refuge in a boardinghouse for courtesans, but the Marquess of Claybourne follows her.

I found this book refreshing and a light romance. I liked how the hero wanted and pursued the heroine from the very start. He doesn't have a fear of commitment, and although he was something of a rake before he met Lily, his realization that she's different and he may want more from her doesn't scare or frustrate him. He's not too much of an alpha hero, although he is strong and doesn't back down. Not to mention he is determined in his pursuit of Lily, yet he is always honorable to her. He makes it plain from the start he is not trying to ruin her reputation, but he wants to do it the "right" way and court her to get to know her better to see if they could be compatible for marriage.

It was a relief to read a hero that wasn't feeling forced and prodded to accept the heroine. In this book, the hero has to try to woo the heroine and make her want him. The heroine is the one that doesn't want a commitment with the hero. There were a few times where I grew frustrated with Lily and thought to myself, "Girl, just give in!", but it was amusing to read the banter between Lily and Heath and to see how futile her attempts at resisting her attraction to him were. I especially enjoyed the little "game" they decided to play, a little competition that Lily allowed in which Heath was given opportunity to use his charm to win her over to him.

A very entertaining regency romance book!

Having read the first two books in this series, I was not anticipating anything very different or earth shattering in this the third installment. After all, To Bed a Beauty (book two) was a same story just change the names version of book one.

I found to my annoyance that all three books ran very much along the same story line, three sisters who each for their own reason abhor the very idea of marriage. All three hero's have the same game plan and method for their seductions, right down to their pet names for their intended.

It was clear from the very first pages of book one that there was going to be very little in the way of introduction of new characters in any of the three books; as you met all three heros within those first few pages and most of the remaining characters very shortly thereafter. As I progressed through book two I was lamenting "get an original thought already". By this the third book, I was screaming it.

Prospective readers might want to save their money and just read book one three times. One does not need a crystal ball to predict that there won't be any more purchases of this author in my future.

I am really disappointed with this series by nicole jordan. I almost would believe it if someone told me she didn't even write this. Each of the three books were very predictable and I never felt like I cared about the characters. I was very disappointed. Spend your time with another author or pick up an old Nicole Jordan book.

This book is simply ermm bad porn, sorry but it is. The very very non plausible situations, shallow characters and baddly written, repetitive scenes; not to mention the historical incoherencies...made me want to go back to my Marjorie Lius in the middle of the reading...so that is exactly what I did. Save your money. Go to the movies or something.

First of all, the entire plot is a rehash of the previous two installments of the trilogy (Courtship Wars), which isn't all that inspired to begin with, let alone worthy of revisiting three times. But what's really grating is the huge discrepancy between how the author wants the reader to perceive her heroines (through exposition) and the appalling impression they actually make (through their deeds and utterances). They're described as witty, smart, and sophisticated while their actions scream rude, irrational, inconsistent and given to absurd drama, all based on very thin motivations, both those in the backstory and the progressing intrigue. It's a completely failed attempt to pass these nitwits as strong, independent women. Unfortunately there isn't much positive to be said about the heroes either, who pursue them blindly and obsessively and implausibly, to satisfy the "romance" label of the offering. In fairness to the author, she endows her heroines explicitly with stubbornness, a charming trait, and the only one they get to exhibit with consistency. But when she blows said stubbornness to the extent that would make a deaf mule proud, you realize suddenly it's merely a desperate device to draw out three very tired stories far, far beyond their rightful expiration points.

I gave this book 2 stars instead of 1 because I didn't finish it. I understand Lily at first, but after hundreds of pages of her refusing Heath, I became tired and upset. I had to put it down. The best part of the book was reading about the hint of a prospective romance between her courtesan friend Fanny and Basil (and that was only about 2 pages combined of the entire 300 something novel). I would not recommend this book. Keep away from the entire series, it is crappy!