Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable book
Review: My Favorite Bride is Christina Dodd's latest book in her Governess Bride series. Like In My Wildest Dreams, My Favorite Bride has a theme that the reader has seen before. But, instead of Sabrina, we see the Sound of Music.Samantha Prendregast was a pick pocket before she was rescued by Lady Adorna Bucknell, and recruited to be a governess. She is sent to the wilds of Cumbaria, in Northern England where she goes to work for Colonel William Gregory, a widower with six girls. The Colonel lost his wife when she was killed by thieves in Kashmir, and since that time, William has been trying to bring down Russian spies, whom he holds responsible for his wife's death. Samantha comes in and interrupts his neat and orderly life. She brings happiness and laughter back to his house, and helps his children to be happy also. She really does wonders for the family, and she is really a great character. She has a lot of backbone for a female, especially an ex pick pocket. She is not afraid to stand up for what she believes is right, which was why she got dismissed from so many other previous posts. Of course William can't resist Samantha's feisty ways, but he tries very hard. He even brings in his wife's best friend Lady Teresa Marchant whom he hopes to make his new wife. Conflicts abound in this story, but nonetheless it is very engaging. Samantha is a wonderful character. I really enjoyed reading about her antics and the way her and the Colonel fell in love. There is even a charming side romance between Lady Marchant and William's best friend Duncan which adds to the story. If anything, the Russian spy plot took away from the story. I looked on it as more of an annoyance. I was much more interested in the romance between Samantha and William, and reading about how William changed from a dispassionate parent, to a man who was much more comfortable in the role of father. This is a great story. I would definitely recommend it to any romance fan. Don't let the Sound of Music like theme throw you off either. I was not very tempted when I heard how it was comparable to that classic story, thinking this book would turn out like In My Wildest Dreams, which wasn't very good in my opinion. But, in fact My Favorite Bride is a wonderful story that will have one wanting to march off to the wilds of England to find their own true love.
Rating: 
Summary: Formulaic plot with all the key elements right
Review: Ousted from her employer's house, Samantha Pendregast returns to the Distinguished Academy of Governess - and is being tasked by Lady Bucknell to expiate herself as a governess to stolid Colonel Gregory's six children in the Lake District. The challenges ahead are daunting - Samantha is not acclimatized to the bucolic countryside and certainly not to the masculine intractable presence of the regimental William Gregory. The children are mutinous with the loss of their mother to a robbery that William feels he is responsible for. She manages to straighten things in the dysfunctional family - and even persuaded William to open a ball which she had no idea that was an intricate plan of his to lure traitors to his den..... My Favourite Bride has a perfunctory set-up that bears an uncanny resemblance to The Sound of Music with a twist of the espionage sub-plot and certainly undermined by similar but stronger romance offerings like An Affair to Remember by Karen Hawkins with a plot parallel to it. It is at best whimisical with a fairy-tale ephermeral lightness to it. Christina Dodd has perfected the chemistry between her characters - and this time round is no exception. Sam has sass to spare while William engages with his dark brooding side of an alpha male. The fraternity between the girls and Sam are affectionate; the romance frothy with wry humour and chaste innocence. Though not my favourite book from Christina Dodd, it is undoubtedly a slickly packaged romance that aims straight for your heart.
Rating:
Summary: A governess with a past
Review: Samantha is a former thief who has reformed and become a governess for the Distinguished Academy of Governesses. When she is sent from her natural habitat of London to live in the Lake District so she can work for the widower William, more than just geography changes. When she meets the six daughters of William, who are expected to behave with military-like discipline, I heard doe-a-dear-a-female-dear playing in the background. Once the I got past that, the story become much more interesting. The girls don't like any governess so they try to play tricks on her while their nursemaids and father pretend not to notice. Things begin to change when Samantha refuses to back down after she accuses William of neglecting the girls by not paying enough attention to them or their needs. After that encounter, they begin to look at each other in a different way. While William is looking for a suitable wife, Samantha knows that she falls short of his requirements for more reasons that just her past as a cut-purse. And as he is working on a plan to round up some spies, things get a lot more complicated. Overall, an entertaining read. It wraps up some loose ends from previous stories by Dodd and provides a new twist to the governess/master romance scenario.
Rating: 
Summary: The hills are alive with the sound of Christina Dodd!
Review: Samantha is a former thief who's sent out of London to work in the country as a governess for six girls, daughters of a Colonel. She's frightened of the wild beasts iin the woods and the monsters in the lakes, but she ought to be more frightened of the kids, who are monsters themselves. She handles them, then takes on their father, a curmudgeon who's too proper to court his own children's governess, but who wants Samantha so much he can't resist. Very hot, very sexy, intense and fascinating. Everyone should buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: There is still Much Originality Here...
Review: Samantha Prendregast could tolerate many things, but injustice wasn't one of them. Unfortunately, trying to right an injustice just lost her another governess position, and much needed references. So the proprietor of the Distinguished Academy of Governesses has exiled her to the wild Lake District of England, to care for six young girls at the Devil's Fell estate. Being a London girl, living in the country is a little frightening, what with wild animals and such. The most frightening part of her position comes in the form of her disturbingly handsome employer, and the unmistakable attraction that quickly develops. Colonel William Gregory, military officer and widower, always does the correct thing to keep his life in perfect order, and it isn't logical to give in to desire to bed your children's governess. Or is it? To fight his attraction, William invites Lady Marchant, pretty, rich, and with noble roots, to act as hostess of his house party. She, after all, would be his logical mate. Samantha stands up to him, contradicts him, pushes him to the edge, and he can't stop thinking about her. So much so, it's interfering with his work on uncovering the ring of spies that have been wreaking havoc. And Samantha has problems of her own, her six charges have gone through eleven governesses, and she's to be next. The children she can handle with a little cunning and guile, but their infuriating father is another story. He's becoming harder to resist, and what will he do if he ever discovers the secret of her past? First of all, I'm presently a huge fan of Ms. Dodd's work. However, this was my very first read by her, and knowing nothing of the author, I read it simply because the premise sounded interesting. It surpassed my expectations, and I went in search of the rest of the series. Now Ms. Dodd is an auto-read for me. Obviously, I didn't read the Governess Bride series in order, since this is the last installment. This book is not only one of my series favorites, but one of my favorite romances period. The number of reviewers who don't like this story because of its familiarity surprises me. Yes, I quickly recognized the Sound of Music inspiration in the story. Believe me, I've seen that movie more times than I can count. This book is still wonderful, and the story is strong enough to stand on its own merit. It's sexy, funny, clever, and fast-paced with interesting, well-developed characters. Samantha was the typical Ms. Dodd heroine I love - strong, outspoken, intelligent and independent. William was also strong, handsome and principled. And yes, his principles also made him rather inflexible, and he accused Samantha undeservingly toward the end of the book. Since he saw things in black and white, I felt what he did was in line with his character. But the secondary character that almost stole the show for me was Lady Marchant. She was delightful, and when she finally cut loose and we saw the real Lady, that was a treat not to be missed! This book remains on my keeper shelf, a place it deserves to be.
Rating:
Summary: The 'Sound of Music' with a twist
Review: The day I bought 'My Favorite Bride', I just couldn't fall asleep. The usual...too many things on my mind and a husband snoring contentedly (but loudly). So I got up to read about 11:30 and never went to sleep. The book is wonderful! Sure it's about a 'real family', but aren't all legends and fairy tales based on some real life event? A culture's way of explaining some event whether imagined or actual. I would think that out there in the real world, at some time and place, a 'Sabrina' has happened. As long as it didn't involve a poison apple and a wicked witch, most story lines have probably happened to real people. Buy the book, grab a glass of wine and some chocolates and escape the world of terrorism and politics for awhile.
Rating:
Summary: Another good one
Review: The Governess series stories are all readable, so is this one. Yes, you can see the plot coming a mile away and yes the heroine is good with kids, but I like this book. Characters you like, a female with spirit and a hero who learns what is important. The story doesn't bog down, it keeps moving at a good pace, and there are some laughs. Hope she writes another one soon.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite ready for prime-time
Review: The hero, Colonel Gregory, must have been a terrible commander, because he had absolutely no control over his emotions, made snap decisions based on no evidence, had no insight into anyone else's feelings and had a terrible sense of timing. Several of the major love scenes had more than a hint of inappropriate force that I felt bordered on repugnant. The heroine, Samantha, was kind of typical - you know, one kiss and she's in love...(yawn). Dodd's work is usually not so shallow, hopefully her next won't disappoint.
Rating: 
Summary: Pitiful
Review: The writing verges on purple prose. The characters are cartoonish. It's embarrasing because Dodd's earlier books were very good.
Rating:
Summary: Hmmm..., this story is familiar....
Review: This book is the first Christina Dodd book I ever read and I can't say its the best one yet. The story is just like the one in Sound of Music. I hope the book Lost in your arms will be a better read then this one!
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