The Sherbrooke Bride (Bride Series, Book 1) [Paperback]

Catherine Coulter (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 1, 1992

The first book in Catherine Coulter's beloved Bride series. Douglas Sherbrooke, Earl of Northcliffe, marries the wrong woman-only to find himself haunted by a bride of an entirely different kind.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a display of what poses as wit in this Regency novel, the first of a trilogy, Douglas Sherbrooke, Earl of Northcliffe, tells his wife Alexandra that she is "as amusing as a boil on a backside." Unfortunately, he's right. Worse, bestselling romancer Coulter's ( Earth Song ) lame story is no more amusing. The tale begins when Douglas is dispatched to France on a secret mission for the British government just as he is to marry the beautiful Melissande Chambers. He sends his cousin Tony Parrish to act as his proxy during the ceremony, but the bride and substitute groom fall in love and elope. They return to carry on with the proxy wedding, making Melissande's younger sister Alexandra the bride. Douglas is predictably annoyed when he returns and arrogantly makes this very clear to his unwanted wife. He rebuffs Alexandra's attempts to earn his favor until she wises up and tries to run off; then he decides to keep her. To prevent things from getting too cozy Coulter resurrects the poorly developed spy subplot and has Alexandra kidnapped. Douglas and Tony take off in pursuit, evil is vanquished and everybody who is supposed to be happy ends up that way.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Catherine Coulter is the author of the New York Times-bestselling FBI thrillers The Cove, The Maze, The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, Eleventh Hour, Blindside, Blowout, Point Blank, Double Take, TailSpin, KnockOut, and Whiplash. She lives in northern California. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Jove; Reissue edition (April 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780515107661
• ISBN-13: 978-0515107661
• ASIN: 0515107662
• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 1.2 x 6.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Catherine Coulter is the author of the New York Times-bestselling FBI thrillers The Cove, The Maze, The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, Eleventh House, Blindside, Blowout, Point Blank, Double Take and TailSpin. She lives in northern California.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#56 in Books > Romance > Historical

#85 in Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense

#93 in Books > Romance > Contemporary

#56 in Books > Romance > Historical

#85 in Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense

#93 in Books > Romance > Contemporary

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars wOnDeFuL! ;) October 23, 2000

By Pamela Leung

Format:Paperback

As of today, THE SHERBROOKE BRIDE, is my favorite novel by Catherine Coulter. Honestly, after I read MAD JACK, I was thinking about giving up on her books. But I remembered that I enjoyed reading THE HELLION, as well recalled that THE SHERBROOKE BRIDE is the first book in the Bride trilogy, and decided to give it a try. And you know what? I enjoyed it tremendously!

Douglas Sherbrooke, Earl of Northcliffe is twenty-eight and believes it has come time for him to marry. He remembers the VERY beautiful Melissande Chambers, and believes her to be the perfect wife. However, when Douglas goes off to France and sends his cousin, Tony to marry him to Melissande by proxy, everything goes wrong from that point on. Tony decides to marry Melissande himself, and marry Douglas to Melissande's younger sister, Alexandra Chambers. Alexandra has loved Douglas for three years, since she was fifteen. When Douglas returns home to his estate, excited and hoping to see Melissande waiting for him in his bedchamber, he comes across Alexandra who is total stranger to him. He soon finds out the truth from Tony, and begins treating Alex horribly. Near the beginning of the story, Alexandra puts up with Douglas' mean insults, hoping in her heart that Douglas will come to accept her. But gearing near the middle of the story, she loses hope and tries (many times, for your information) to return home, but Douglas always manages to stop her. ;) Awwwwwww. Soon the plot thickens, when Douglas' enemies from France come to England to harass him. However that is not the main plot of the story, you only get a glimpse of that near the beginning and the end of the story. The focus of the novel is, 'How does Douglas eventually fall in love with his wife?' That is the mystery, and the only way to find out is: Read the book. =)

I loved this story because of the plot, the dialogue and the characters. Alexandra is very sweet, and I was kind of disappointed in Douglas at first, because he treated her so unkindly and kept comparing her to her TOO beautiful sister. But in the end, Douglas definitely makes up for his mistakes....

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars very disappointed June 15, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I bought this book because of its rating at Amazon.com which is always reliable, unfortunately not with this one. I was actually attracted to the story line but after finishing the book, I just didn't have a good night sleep as I always do after reading romance. My disappointment could be listed as follows:

1) I hate sex scenes in this book very much. They just have no feelings at all, the way the hero makes love to the heroine. It is pure lust and it just can't convince me how the heroine is being attached to the hero's intimate [chest] most adorable and the author keeps repeating this times and times again and that really [upset me]. I also just couldn't find any reason why the hero finally falls for the heroine at the end, except for her breasts. Its lack of sensuality made me skip lots of sex scenes in this book. (it's probably because I read this book after finishing Stephanie Laurens' `Devil's Bride` and `A Secret Love`, which contain very sensual, intimate and beautiful love scenes).

2) I was actually enjoyed the first half of the book when the heroine tries very hard to make her point and make a stand with the hero. It really shows a great leap of development on the heroine's character, given the fact that she was so terribly soft and would give up everything (including her self-esteem) to please the hero at the start. We did actually see her development in that respect when she makes her way out of the hero's life (although unsuccessfully). HOWEVER, the latter half of the book is quite boring. It just couldn't get my attention anymore when the main point is all about the hero's insistence that what's happening between them is pure lust and not love.

3) Unlike other authors, Stephanie Laurens or Johanna Lindsey, for example, C.Coulter doesn't put so much effort in explaining the hero and heroine's inner feelings. What they think, what they hide, what they truly feel, what they wonder (about themselves and about the other) are not thoroughly presented in the book. That's why I think this book lacks all the important feelings because what you get is only from what they explicitly act. It's not quite charming to present the characters in such a monotonous way. In other romance books, in several occasions, we find that the hero and heroine do not act according to what they think but that gives us a lot of flavors because we know from their thinkings that there are some complexes and misunderstandings happening inside them. We get to know the characters along with their getting to know each other. I don't get such light in the Sherbrooke Bride. And I ended up with frustration because I don't think I understand the characters any better after finishing the book.

4) It's quite strange that at the end, I think the most sensible character is Tony. I understand why he does what he does, the way he treats his wife and the way he deals with everyone. I just wonder why the author couldn't do the same with the main characters.

My final word, I think the book is readable but it's not worth a buying because I don't think you would want to re-read it again within this cooming few years, after the first time reading. It would be much wiser to just borrow it from a library.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible.... November 28, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I tried reading a Catherine Coulter book a few years ago and didn't like her style or her characters. Then I read all these 5 star reviews about this book, Sherbrooke Bride, and thought I'd give her a second chance. Well- I'm really sorry I wasted my time. Her characters are hurtful and indescribably mean. The things Douglas says to Alex early in the book are unforgivable. But of course, she not only forgives him, she LOOOVES him. Alex is sweet, bouncy, hopeful and smiling. Douglas beats every bit of that joyful personality out of her. WITH WORDS of course, not physical beating. But still. That's a real form of abuse. And the consummation of their marriage? Disgusting. Rough, hurtful, full of tears - and when he had a chance to at least apologize - he walks away. Leaves the room. The other reviewers talk about the humour of the book. You want humour? Read Jennifer Crusie and Jacquie D'Alessandro. You want heartfelt emotion and tears? Read Mary Jo Putney and Penelope Williamson. You want steamy romance? Try Nicole Jordan and Jasmine Cresswell. Try anything but this.