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novelesque_life's review
4.0
4 STARS
"Shocked to discover a "bride sale" taking place in his small English village, Lord James Harkness, a gentleman with a dangerous reputation, purchases Verity Osborne, the beautiful gentlewoman being auctioned off by her disreputable husband." (From Amazon)
A bit of a retelling of Beauty and the Beast - James is called "Lord Heartless" by the the townspeople and think he had something to do with the death of his wife and child. Feeding on his own guilt and being haunted from the war James has isolated himself to his castle and whims of his mother-in-law. Verity whose marriage was arranged by her father just before his death has been passed on again to another man - who may be dangerous. Yet, he is gentle with her and lets her go about her way. When Verity treats a young boy with her knowledge of herbs the townspeople start to trust and like her. Verity in turn wants them to see the good in James she sees.
I was not sure how I would like this novel but I could not stop reading. I was just swooped in the plot and characters. If you like strong heroines and tortured heroes and a good villain READ THIS!
"Shocked to discover a "bride sale" taking place in his small English village, Lord James Harkness, a gentleman with a dangerous reputation, purchases Verity Osborne, the beautiful gentlewoman being auctioned off by her disreputable husband." (From Amazon)
A bit of a retelling of Beauty and the Beast - James is called "Lord Heartless" by the the townspeople and think he had something to do with the death of his wife and child. Feeding on his own guilt and being haunted from the war James has isolated himself to his castle and whims of his mother-in-law. Verity whose marriage was arranged by her father just before his death has been passed on again to another man - who may be dangerous. Yet, he is gentle with her and lets her go about her way. When Verity treats a young boy with her knowledge of herbs the townspeople start to trust and like her. Verity in turn wants them to see the good in James she sees.
I was not sure how I would like this novel but I could not stop reading. I was just swooped in the plot and characters. If you like strong heroines and tortured heroes and a good villain READ THIS!
ladyofbooks's review
4.0
4 out of 5 stars.
It started out strong and I hoped that this would be a new favorite historical book. And while I definitely loved the first 200 pages, the last half of the book seemed to fall into the "I don't care about that, I want more of this" category.
Still, the writing is strong, Verity is awesome, and I quite liked the name Lord Heartless even if the plot didn't go where I expected at all.
May definitely try more of the authors books in the future.
Further Review:
First half of this book started off strong, and I very much fell in love. And then the plot took a direction about 200 pages in that I didn’t want or care about and the rest of the book was just a ‘meh’ experience, which is very disappointing. Verity is a strong character, the villagers are cruel and harsh, and the bride sale was a fascinating new historical detail that I hadn’t heard or read of before.
This was is going on my ‘must buy at once’ shelf, because I just really adored the first half of this book. I should also note that I’ve never read Candice Hern before, at least not that I recollect, and so I’m definitely interested in reading more of the author’s works because she definitely has talent in regards to writing. The romance also wasn’t surprisingly heavy in this book, there was very little smut scattered throughout which made for a pleasant change as well.
Overall, I’m giving this 4 out of 5 stars, and hoping to discover more good books by this author in the future. I highly recommend reading this if y’all like learning about old Scottish villages, herbalists, scary castles by the sea, and a guy named Lord Heartless.
{Review also posted on my blog and through Twitter.}
It started out strong and I hoped that this would be a new favorite historical book. And while I definitely loved the first 200 pages, the last half of the book seemed to fall into the "I don't care about that, I want more of this" category.
Still, the writing is strong, Verity is awesome, and I quite liked the name Lord Heartless even if the plot didn't go where I expected at all.
May definitely try more of the authors books in the future.
Further Review:
First half of this book started off strong, and I very much fell in love. And then the plot took a direction about 200 pages in that I didn’t want or care about and the rest of the book was just a ‘meh’ experience, which is very disappointing. Verity is a strong character, the villagers are cruel and harsh, and the bride sale was a fascinating new historical detail that I hadn’t heard or read of before.
This was is going on my ‘must buy at once’ shelf, because I just really adored the first half of this book. I should also note that I’ve never read Candice Hern before, at least not that I recollect, and so I’m definitely interested in reading more of the author’s works because she definitely has talent in regards to writing. The romance also wasn’t surprisingly heavy in this book, there was very little smut scattered throughout which made for a pleasant change as well.
Overall, I’m giving this 4 out of 5 stars, and hoping to discover more good books by this author in the future. I highly recommend reading this if y’all like learning about old Scottish villages, herbalists, scary castles by the sea, and a guy named Lord Heartless.
{Review also posted on my blog and through Twitter.}
ab18's review
4.0
A genuinely likeable heroine who has a strong core but is still sweetly vulnerable. The hero is also someone who grabbed my attention from his first page. He has common sense, honor and a strong sense of duty. I liked seeing the actual LOVE story grow over a normal period of time. No instalove or falling into bed right away.
The villain was easy to spot from the beginning of the story but that wasn’t the story’s focus so it didn’t matter.
The writing was a bit too melodramatic, especially towards the end. But I did like that the characters actually thought about what they were doing, it wasn’t just reactionary yelling and foot stomping. I don’t agree with others who think Verity shouldn’t have felt validated by James’ physical interest in her. How can you not think something is wrong with you when your own husband vomits upon getting into bed with you?
I feel like Gilbert got off too easily. Why should we feel sorry for a gutless heartless human being who sold his own WIFE to clear his gambling debts? As Verity pointed out, Gilbert could have sold his house, his horse… anything else. I wanted him dead.
The villain was easy to spot from the beginning of the story but that wasn’t the story’s focus so it didn’t matter.
The writing was a bit too melodramatic, especially towards the end. But I did like that the characters actually thought about what they were doing, it wasn’t just reactionary yelling and foot stomping. I don’t agree with others who think Verity shouldn’t have felt validated by James’ physical interest in her. How can you not think something is wrong with you when your own husband vomits upon getting into bed with you?
I feel like Gilbert got off too easily. Why should we feel sorry for a gutless heartless human being who sold his own WIFE to clear his gambling debts? As Verity pointed out, Gilbert could have sold his house, his horse… anything else. I wanted him dead.
kriff08's review
1.0
Just not for me. It seemed like I was constantly waiting for literally anything to happen and nothing ever really did.
una_macchia's review
3.0
Candice Hern is an author who I've found pretty hit-and-miss, but I was immediately interested in this book when I saw the title. The tradition of wife sales is something I first encountered in a Thomas Hardy novel, and it's one of those aspects of British history that doesn't usually make its way into historical romance. In a way, it's actually surprising that it doesn't show up more often considering the number of books involving tropes like the heroine being gambled away in a card game, but I suppose that's because most of the people involved were working class. (As an aside, though, the Duke of Chandos allegedly bought a chambermaid at an inn after seeing her husband beating her, and they eventually got married in 1744 after his wife and her husband died.)
Anyway, I enjoyed the story on the whole. There are a lot of problems between the hero and heroine because of miscommunication; at first it makes sense given the situation, but then it got pretty frustrating. The heroine especially was pretty dense at times, like when. I actually found the hero's backstory and character development more interesting than the heroine's even though her situation was what interested me at first, because I found her oddly flat as a character.
There are two things that really bothered me about the ending:
My other complaint is this: the hero's first wife's mother helps his frenemy try to kill the heroine, along with a child who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then regrets it as it happens. The epilogue has the hero and heroine announcing their engagement at a breakfast held for the villagers, alongside the first wife's mother -- who, even ignoring the whole "gloated about assisting an attempted murder" thing, has been nothing but unpleasant to everyone from the hero and heroine to the servants to the villagers. She's been living with the hero because she has nowhere else to go and he feels responsible, but surely by now he could just arrange another situation for her? He can definitely afford it! I guess this is just another instance in which romance novel characters are much more forgiving than me when they get their HEA.
Anyway, I enjoyed the story on the whole. There are a lot of problems between the hero and heroine because of miscommunication; at first it makes sense given the situation, but then it got pretty frustrating. The heroine especially was pretty dense at times, like when
Spoiler
she insists on believing that the hero could not possibly be attracted to her, despite all the signs that he is. Like him going to her bedroom and kissing her. Or him initiating (consensual) sex with her. Obviously the only explanation for him apologizing and saying he wouldn't do it again is that he realized she's completely undesirable and has nothing to do with honor or common decency or social mores. I get that of course she was affected by her husband's behavior -- he vomited on their wedding night and then abandoned her for two years -- but her belief that she wasn't "like other women" and couldn't attract any man ever was pretty overdone. The hero also has a very low opinion of himself, but his was more justified (not that he's actually a bad person, but it makes more sense for him to believe he is).There are two things that really bothered me about the ending:
Spoiler
I liked the confrontation between the hero and the heroine's husband, but the deus ex machina annulment was kind of a letdown. I guess the author thought the story had to end with a marriage to qualify as a HEA (I disagree) and wrote herself into a corner, but having the heroine's age be conveniently misstated on the marriage certificate was a bit much.My other complaint is this: the hero's first wife's mother helps his frenemy try to kill the heroine, along with a child who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then regrets it as it happens. The epilogue has the hero and heroine announcing their engagement at a breakfast held for the villagers, alongside the first wife's mother -- who, even ignoring the whole "gloated about assisting an attempted murder" thing, has been nothing but unpleasant to everyone from the hero and heroine to the servants to the villagers. She's been living with the hero because she has nowhere else to go and he feels responsible, but surely by now he could just arrange another situation for her? He can definitely afford it! I guess this is just another instance in which romance novel characters are much more forgiving than me when they get their HEA.
deesquared's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Outing, and Sexual content
kimmerp's review
5.0
Such an odd premise (a wife being sold and a genteel one at that) but it was just a device to bring two people together. Candice is the best at writing sweet, attraction stories - just the best.
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