Customer Reviews

The Unexpected Bride (Harlequin Historical)

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

 

 

The last thing the Earl of Darleston, Peter Frobisher, is to remarry. His first wife, the beautiful but faithless Melissa, had cheated on him when he needed her the most, and had been killed while running away with one of her lovers. Believing all women to be somewhat like Melissa, Peter was content to be a widower until his young cousin and heir died unexpectedly. Since Peter does not want his title and lands to pass to his new heir, his despicable cousin Jack Frobisher, Peter knows he must remarry and produce his own heir! He proposes to Miss Phoebe Ffolliot, but unknowingly marries her twin sister, Penelope.

Penelope Ffolliot had met Peter twice, and thought he was likeable enough, but she had no plans to marry since she was blind and hated meeting new people and receiving their pity. But when her odious half-brother loses 30,000 pounds in a gambling debt to Peter, Peter offers to forgive the debt if Miss Ffolliot will marry him. Penny's brother tries to force Phoebe to marry Peter, but she is newly engaged to the man she loves and Penelope bravely takes her sister's place at the altar to save her sister from a loveless marriage. Peter is angry at the switch, but as he gets to know Penelope better he finds himself in danger of losing his heart to her, something he swears not to do.

The author's style of writing, although it took me a while to get used to, was engaging once I had gotten through the first couple of chapters, and I had a hard time putting this book down. I couldn't quite decide if I liked Peter or not for most of the book - on the one hand, he could be quite charming and compassionate towards Penny, but on the other hand, he could be downright cruel to her, as well. After learning that she is blind, for example, he cruelly tells her that he has apparently married into a family of cheats for he has no wish for his heir to be blind as well (although her blindness is due from an accident, not heredity). He also tells her later in the book that it is not her business who his mistresses were or are! And then he wondered why Penny was so distant from him, perhaps because she could never tell if he was going to be kind to her or treat her like she was a leper.

Still, I couldn't quite give up on Peter, since he reminded me of a wounded animal of sorts, and wounded animals can strike out at those who would even show them kindness. He had been deeply hurt by his first wife, so I could understand why he would want to keep Penny at arm's length, but he didn't seem to realize that by protecting his own feelings he was hurting her. Penny was a great heroine, independent despite her blindness, and strong despite the obstacles thrown her way.

The subplot of trying to decide who was attempting to kill Penny was extremely predictable and could have easily been excluded from the story. It is obvious who is at fault and why they are trying to harm the Countess of Darleston. Still, I found the book to be a good one, and wouldn't be surprised to read about George Carstares (Peter's best friend) and Sarah Ffolliot (Penny's younger sister)'s romance once Sarah is of age. I would read more from this author.

Yup! I disagree with everyone.
I loved the little contratempts that led to Peter's marriage to Penelope [instead of her twin Phoebe].

Peter Augustas Frobisher, 7th Earl of Darleston, widowed and at 32 years of age, must secure his line of inheritance. Much against his will.
Thoroughly enjoyed his sidekicks, George Carstares and Michael, the Viscount Carrington and their little runs of interferance for Peter.

Ah, but the wicked Lady Caroline Daventry, Peter's mistress is bound and determined to wed the Earl. Almost pulled it off.

Jack Frobisher, the heir apparent, is also determined not to let Peter and Penny produce an in line heir.
Now of course, this leads to the mixed-up [Regency] attitudes of the characters.
Peter likes Penny's wittyness but felt betrayed when she revealed her blindness. Not knowing the cause of it.
Nor was Penny honest enough to explain the reason for Gelert's attack on Jack.

Their efforts to understand each other led to some disturbing and sometimes funny situations.
The abduction and run was not as intense as the near rape in "The Dutiful Rake" but it led to a great scene of justice.

Ah yes, is there to be a romance between the sister, Sarah and George? The age difference may be about the same as Peter, at 32 and Penny, at 19. No wonder there should be so many widows.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - thoroughly enjoyable read - try it yourself and make your own judgement. See if you don't agree that these are also great characters.

I like some Harlequin Historicals but am usually careful about the authors I choose to read from this line, because some have proven much better than others. I did NOT like Ms. Rolls' "Dutiful Rake", and was pretty much prepared to give this one a miss, but, having read THE UNEXPECTED BRIDE I can only say I'm glad I gave this author another chance.

The book is well-plotted, with a mature and ingratiating heroine. The hero is sometimes a little too cruel and manipulative with his wife. However, the characters had realistic issues & problems (hero was damaged romantically by his dead wife, which made him distrust women; the heroine has a physical problem that I won't reveal although I think another reviewer does) that needed to be resolved before they could learn to love each other. I especially liked the fact the hero and heroine actually have a long time alone together at the hero's estate, and get to know each other (even just tentatively) before the action begins to pick up again. Their feelings weren't just an uncontrollable physical attaction between them; they do actually fall in love by getting to know each other before they sleep together, and that's rare in these Harlequin novels. I hope Ms. Rolls' next novel is as good as this one turned out to be.

Based on the interesting plot description and my enjoyment of Ms. Roll's A Compromised Lady and His Lady Mistress, I decided to purchase this novel. The beginning was drawn out and the conflict was quickly extinguished. The plot crawls forward at a snails and the antagonist is barely a participant in the story. This book was a disappointment for me, however I do recommend A Compromised Lady and His Lady Mistress.

I really did like this book quite a lot, in fact, The Unexpected Bride might be my favorite so far of Elizabeth Rolls' books.
I won't tell you the main points of the story but I will say the only thing I did not like was that the heroine has a disability throughout the story, it's not life threatening and I believe it makes her character deeper. At the end the disability is miraculously healed, and I think that was rather silly. She was a lovely character with or without the disability and it seemed to me that by taking it away from her Rolls robbed the romance of it's believability at the last minute.
Other than that it was a beautiful story that was well written and I'm glad that I read it.

Penny and Phoebe are twins, Penny was blinded in an accident caused by her weak-chinned-uncaring-dice-cheating-totally-worthless-half-brother-who-gets-his-just-deserts-in-the-end's carelessness. In a drunken state the widowed Peter whose first wife was a greedy adultress who died when she ran off with another man, and his mistress is trying trap him into marriage needs to marry and have an heir so his repulsive cousin, a friend of the miserable half brother, will not end up with his title and estates, writes a letter offering to forgive the cheating half brother's gambling debt to him if he will consent to his marriage to his sister. He thinks he has offered for Phoebe (not knowing there are 2 girls) but his wording allows the family to marry him to Penny. Penny has worked hard to be as independent as possible despite her handicap. When Peter discovers he has married a blind woman he is furious thinking his children may also be blind. When attempts are made on Penny's life, Peter and Penny's family (not the half brother who fell to his drunken death on her wedding day) suspect the evil cousin. The evil cousin, with the help of the evil mistress, kidnaps Penny and is pursused by Peter and others till the coach turns over and evil cousin is killed by a kick in the head from a horse. Penny's sight is miraculously restored and they all live...well you know the rest.

It was an okay story, with many of the elements required for a novel of this genre, evil men, evil women, innocents, angry but good at heart hero with loyal friends. I thought it would have been better if Penny had not recovered her sight. By restoring her sight the author, in my opinion, gives the message that a person cannot find happiness and love unless they are perfect...and god knows none of us are.

Like I said it was okay, a bit predictable but not terrible.

Unfortunately I did not like this book, although I had read a different one of hers and enjoyed it quite a bit (His Lady Mistress). Maybe this one was one of her earlier ones, before her writing became more polished? I thought it was simplistic and juvenile, the dialogue was trite, and the scenario was not believable. The use of exclamation points was very annoying. After reading some of the more positive reviews I gave it another try, but just could not get past the simplistic writing. It does give me hope that one day, too, I can be a published author!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Both the lead characters were likeable. The reader wants them to resolve their problems and to get together. This book made me laugh out loud several times and I rarely do that when reading.

This was a delightful read and the third Elizabeth Rolls novel I have read. (The others were: A Compromised Lady and His Lady Mistress.) All three have rated 4 stars on my rating scale. I read for pleasure and am not a typical "guy" because I love romance novels. Oddly enough, graphic sex scenes turn me off because they trivialize a very sacred act. Really great romance authors have the skill to convey the message without resorting to such vulgar tactics. Though Ms, Rolls use of such scenes was minimal, the inclusion cost the 5 star rating on my scale.

Her characters were bigger than life and the plot was a little unusual but well developed and executed. My most significant criticism was at the end when a blow to the head reversed the heroine's disability. Her disability was a major reason for the depth of character she displayed. It seemed a shame to take it away.

I award Ms. Roll a very weak 4 stars for this work.

I'm a first time reader of caucasian romance novels and I absolutely love all of Elizabeths books