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Summary: Classic Garwood!
Review: This was a re-read for me but I loved it so much that I wanted to make sure I added my two cents worth in the review area!This is a wonderful scottish romance full of the characteristics that made Julie Garwood a well-loved author in Historical Romance before her move to the romantic suspense genre. In "The Bride" an English girl is wed to a Scotsman whom is rumored to have killed his first wife, or at least drove her to suicide. Alec is strong, handsome, but fierce in both looks and manners. Jamie is the youngest of the Baron's daughters and is the bride that Alec chooses per orders of King of Scotland, and King Henry of England. He does not plan on falling in love with Jamie but sometimes life does not go according to plan. Jamie on the other hand is not afraid of her new husband, in fact she is quite the opposite to the surprise of many. With her gentle ways and forth right nature she sways the opinion of the Scots and they all come to care for her including her stubborn husband. This book offers, laughter, tears, romance, and yes, suspense. Who killed Alec's first wife, and why does that person want Jamie dead? The character's are colorful and you find yourself liking all of them. If you want a taste of what Ms. Garwood has done in the past, this book is for you.
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Summary: From the first word 'til the last, this book grabs the heart
Review: This book was the first one I had ever read by Julie Garwood. Now, I own ever book she ever wrote. Jamie and Alec marry on order of their respective kings, but fall in love on the order of their hearts. Jamie is a strong heroine, stubborn and loyal to her heart. Alec is a typical Highland warrior who has a lot to learn about women. Jamie is more than willing to instruct him. A secret enemy threatens their tender love If youre tired of weepy weak heroines, you'll love this book.Its one of the reasons I love Ms Garwood's stories. Her characters are women who have experience pain but have become stronger for it. The men are strong and stubborn as well.. but also learn what it means to love completely. The romance is secondary to the story and ususally occurs after marrage. Her storys are historically factual, and painted vibrantly. Also, if youre like me, you'll want to read more about Jamie and Alec. They show up again as support characters in the book, The Wedding. (Thanks Julie for letting me know what has happened in my "family's " life.)
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Summary: Everything I Look For In A Romance!!
Review: Alec Kincaid, a powerful Scottish laird, must marry an English woman by order of the king. He would have his choice of the Jamison girls, except Jamie, who was hidden away by her lazy, self-serving father. Once Alec finds out about Jamie, he insists on her. But with her headstrong ways, are the Scottish Highlands ready for Jamie? Jamie's big heart and hidden talents of hunting and shooting better than most men, riding bareback, healing the sick and speaking their native Gaelic tongue soon win her husband and people over. However, she turns the Highlands upside down and starts three clan wars in her first week! This is a beautiful, heart warming love story betwen two strong main characters. There is a healthy dose of humor infused in this story as well. One of my favorite examples is how she pays the priest her worthless shillings to buy Alec indulgences for sins such as killing. He's a warrior - so she pays a lot of shillings! There is also a mystery to solve because the person who killed Alec's first wife is also after Jamie. It'll keep you guessing as to the culprit - it took me quite awhile to figure it out. This was my first read by Julie Garwood and a winner across the board. The sequel is titled "The Wedding".
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Summary: Read it now!
Review: I love Julie Garwood, but this book was great even for her! I fell in love with Alec immediately and Jamie was one of my favorite heroines. Forced to pick a bride from an English family on the King's request, the laird is reluctant. Duty overcomes his reluctance and he travels to chose his wife from the Baron's daughters and get back to his beloved Scotland. He picks the youngest daughter, with her man's name and all. But he soon finds his life is far from complacent, but is instead turning his life upside down. And he, of course, learns to love it. And her. This story was incredibly romantic but still made me laugh out loud as she manages to start war after war with other clans as she tries to fit in with the household. A great story, a great writer. You definately need to pick this one up!
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly satisfying romance
Review: I must admit, in the first chapter, I wasn't sure about this book. But by the third, I was completely hooked. Thank goodness I had the excuse of being home with a sick child that day, because I read it through in practicly one sitting, then reread it the next day! I absolutely could NOT put it down. I loved the way their relationship blossomed. Unlike the sequel to this, "The Wedding", Jamie and Alec's love story was completely enthralling. I loved the mystery that she added to the story line, along with the comical twists. (especially the lovable priest and Jamie's buying indulgences for her husband. I'm Catholic and I love it when the historic Church is added to the tapestry of a story) This was my first Julie Garwood, and I immediatly picked up The Wedding when I finsished it. Unfortunately, it was a big dissapointment. However, due to all the stellar reviews her books receive, I have not given up on her just yet. I picked up Ransom today and am quite looking forward to it. If you like Historical Romance, especially those set in Scotland, I highly recommend this book. I checked it out from the library, but I will be purchasing it to add to my permanant collection because I know I'll want to read it again.
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Summary: Good romance and great humor - with 4-1/2 stars
Review: Since I could not rate this with 4-1/2 stars, I decided to go ahead and rate it 5 because once I got through the first quarter of the book and into the story, it was absolutely GREAT! I am new to books set in this time period so the attitudes of the men and how they treat women (and how women let them) were hard for me to accept (without wanting to throw the book down and throttle the nearest man!), but once I made allowance for the custom of that time, realizing it was the only way of life women knew then, I was able to really begin to enjoy the book. But please don't think that the main male characters in this story all treated women as a rug they wiped their shoes on. That is not the case here. I will not repeat the storyline as it is already mentioned many times. Though Alec constantly fought against coming to care for Jamie (because he thought caring for and loving his wife would weaken him as a warrior and leader of his clan), he eventually was able to admit to himself and later to her that he did love her. Even though Alec at first had the attitude that Jamie would have to be the one doing all the changing and settling in, I felt he did try to be (somewhat) fair with her and wanted her to settle in and accept his clan's way of life. I also want to say that he was not so rigid that he made her miserable until near the very end of the book. He wanted her to be happy and did try to make it so. I am fairly new to reading Julie Garwood's books of this time period (love her contemporary romantic suspense novels!), but I am coming to recognize that her heroines seem to have a combination of innocent naivety and strong opinions of their own with an inner strength, though not always a strong sense of their own self-worth. I laughed at Jamie's antics so much, from her unintentionally inciting three separate clan wars in one week to her "moving" the kitchen in their castle (she really MOVES the kitchen!) to her practically turning into a general when she took over the "healing" of a wounded warrior. And the humor associated throughout the book with her name being a "man's name" is great. Jamie is definitely a likeable character and a loveable heroine. I definitely recommend this book. The romance is beautiful and the humor will give you so many laughs. There is also a good bit of mystery - giving just a peek at what J.G. delivers in her thrilling novels such as Heartbreaker, Mercy, and Killjoy. If you love contemporary romantic suspense, want to receive chills down your spine and goosebumps up your arms, borrow or buy any one (or all) of these novels. You'll love them!
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Summary: Warmth and Humor
Review: SEQUEL: THE WEDDING I have read almost all of Julie Garwood's work and I've never been disappointed. She will always be my all time favorite author esp. in Historical Romance Genre. Upon observation, I do agree with most avid Julie Garwood readers that she tend to use the same characteristics and somewhat similar formulas in most of her works - Her heroes are mostly tall, large-brutish-warrior & intimading yet handsome who is gentle and patient to his Lady. Meanwhile, the heroines are usually petite, well educated, saucy and spunky. However, I confessed that these familiarities doesn't seem to bother me at all. In fact, I liked it. Every now and then, I do enjoy my books with such characteristics. I'm guessing, this is J.G's style, her mark/her signature traits and I respect that. Humor, heart warming scenes, heart pumping twist and lovable secondary characters are also just a few of Julie Garwood's usual ingredients in all her novels. THE BRIDE is definitely not an exception of Ms. Garwood's standard book qualities which I've mention above. Alec and Jamie's love story was captivating. Full of warmth and humor - I liked the idea that Jamie has no sense of direction, not to mention her ways of saving Alec's soul by buying an indulgence -chuckle! You have to read the book to appreciate this scene with a good laugh. My favorite part was the initial meeting (the conversation in the stable and the "choosing")... from there, the book gets funnier & even better! The arrival and adjustments in Highland are as always interesting. The suspense of finding out the murderer in this book was an add-on thrill. I have my doubts and guesses but the revelation was quite unexpected. I actually thought the murderer would be ----- yet I prayed and cross my fingers that it wouldn't be him because I liked him so much. So in a way, I was relieved it wasn't who I thought it was. The ending of this book was also one of my favorite in this book, another very unexpected and thoroughly heart warming conclusion to a supreme love story. Mary, Daniel, Gavin, Angus, Elizabeth, Father Murdock are just a few secondary character-favs of mine. What a joy! Read this book and chuckle with a glowing heart.
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Summary: A great author.
Review: Julie Garwood has impressed me with both of the two novels of hers that I've read. "The Wedding" (which should definitely be read after this story, "The Bride!") is a good follow-up. I seem to have a strong liking for Garwood's heroines--they are smart, strong, and believable. That's what I love most of all about them--they aren't the writer's ideal of the "perfect woman" by any means. Jamie is a spit-fire English woman forced to marry Alec Kincaid, a Scottish laird. Both of them were fun characters to get to know, and I especially liked the fact that I didn't spend 200 pages watching these two go back and forth and denying their attraction the whole while. She resists, of course, but with the character Alec, I especially liked that he was sure of his feelings for her early on and he would make her love him. The author did mention that he did not want to "love her" for fear of being hurt, but I sort of ignored that little interuption because his actions said anything but. Jamie's ability to get lost was such a great character flaw to include, making her all the more human, too. It was one of many of Garwood's small character details that makes her book more than the industry standard. I was very impressed and will look into her other books next!
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Summary: from hookingly funny and touching to downright corny?
Review: I'm not going to deny the fact that this book was ALMOST a 5 if the ending took a different route. The novel started so differently, even dark and sinister with the funeral introduction and the italicized entries of the secret murderer/ess. It also promised humour and wit with the welcome scene of the Baron and his four daughters. A forced marriage/alliance between a Scot and an English is not a new idea at all nor the Rebecca-type-of-mystery where the ex-wife was secretly murdered and the new mistress will surely put an end to the serial killing. It is hard to write a mystery especially if u r a Romance writer and that's the kind of writer Garwood is. I'm not gonna condemn her for not putting any effort on the mystery plot because she did her part(romance and humor)very well. But there are still some things(details) lacking. Garwood didn't bother to inject some culture and reality to the characters. She didn't add the Scottish/Gaelic twist on the dialogues. She didn't give enough descriptions of Scotland/England; for all I know I was in China. Instead, she drowned us with dialogues. I confess, most of the time I prefer the dialogoues instead of the internal thinking or environmental descriptions of the characters. But too much of something is not good for one's health or in the present case, reading. I was truly disappointed to see Alec and Jamie's story end. It didn't satisfy me at all. It was the kind of story that are written in sequels. Nevertheless, it was a fun read saved for the ending, which was a little bit overdone.
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Summary: Nice, fun story.
Review: This book was a joy to read. I loved all the twists and turns. I have to admit, the murdered turned out to be someone I hadn't thought of. I love surprises! This is a fun read and a good story. The only reason I did not give it five stars is because I have read a few books that Garwood has written that I enjoyed far better. Honor's Splendor is by far my favorite of her reads. If you enjoy a fast-pased story that has you mesmerized from the first page, you will love Honor's Splendor. The Bride is a keeper as well and if you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down. Keep up the good work Ms. Garwood!
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