The Bride Bed

Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced medieval novel
Review: Courtesy of A Romance Review

The Bride Bed is set in the twelfth century where Stephen and Maude are fighting for the crown. Carrisford Castle and Lady Talia has been the prize to whomever's loyalty lay on Stephen ever since. The castle has gone through six invasions and Lady Talia's guardianship has been passed through six warlords. She has even been forced to marry either her guardian or one of their relatives a few times but every time before the wedding take place, another invader conquer the castle. She is tired of being the pawn and her castle doesn't have much left after all these invasions over the years.

Her seventh guardian, Alex de Monteneau, seems to be a nice man and capable of protecting both her family and her people. In order to prevent and avoid another guardianship and invasion, she has been planning for years to pull down the castle and has been stealing from her guardians and even from the King.

Talia vows that she will not marry Alex on the day he invades her castle but after some observations and time spent with him, she decides a marriage with Alex will bring peace to Carrisford. But Alex has his own plan. He wants a bigger castle and a wealthier heiress. Although he is attracted to this smart and intelligent beauty, he decides to marry her off to the highest bidder.

The Bride Bed is another page-turner from Linda Needham with simple plotting and lovely characters. With a clever heroine and a dark handsome warrior, this book provides much fun and excitement for readers who love medieval romance. Absolutely a good read!

Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: I found the characters unsympathetic, the plot was difficult to get in to- all in all a great disappointment. I have read Needham's books before and expected a lot better.

Rating:
Summary: exciting medieval romance
Review: In the middle of the twelfth century, six times in the recent past, soldiers conquered her castle, followed by the leader trying to force Lady Talia into marriage. However, the last victor came a bit to close to the alter as she only escaped holy matrimony when Alexander de Monteneau interrupted the ceremony as the wannabe groom flees.

Alex needs to prove to King Stephen that he is not just a loyal supporter, but can also manage an estate by turning this rundown keep around before giving it to another lord to run along with marriage to Talia. Alex's ambition is much greater than this land and its dowry poor lady that is until he falls in love with his intelligent, but belligerent hostess. However, though Talia reciprocates Alex's feelings, her work on keeping her people permanently safe from the constant conquerors that seem to never stop coming is more important to her than her heart's yearning.

THE BRIDE BED is an exciting medieval romance that shows the impact of the constant back and forth state of war had on civilians, but could have been any era as the medieval period never focuses into view. Talia is a nasty individual, but her motives are solid and pure so it is difficult not to admire her courage. Alex feels like he belongs to a past century as a kind person who believes conquering is more than just his job, it is his right. Sub-genre fans will enjoy the relationship war that highlights Linda Needham's historical romance.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: exciting medieval romance
Review: In the middle of the twelfth century, six times in the recent past, soldiers conquered her castle, followed by the leader trying to force Lady Talia into marriage. However, the last victor came a bit to close to the alter as she only escaped holy matrimony when Alexander de Monteneau interrupted the ceremony as the wannabe groom flees.

Alex needs to prove to King Stephen that he is not just a loyal supporter, but can also manage an estate by turning this rundown keep around before giving it to another lord to run along with marriage to Talia. Alex's ambition is much greater than this land and its dowry poor lady that is until he falls in love with his intelligent, but belligerent hostess. However, though Talia reciprocates Alex's feelings, her work on keeping her people permanently safe from the constant conquerors that seem to never stop coming is more important to her than her heart's yearning.

THE BRIDE BED is an exciting medieval romance that shows the impact of the constant back and forth state of war had on civilians, but could have been any era as the medieval period never focuses into view. Talia is a nasty individual, but her motives are solid and pure so it is difficult not to admire her courage. Alex feels like he belongs to a past century as a kind person who believes conquering is more than just his job, it is his right. Sub-genre fans will enjoy the relationship war that highlights Linda Needham's historical romance.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Hard to lose myself in.
Review: This was the first book of Linda Needham's that I've picked up. I probably won't be picking up another. "The Bride Bed" looked encouraging -- nice, tasteful cover (just don't flip over the back), nice highly medieval plot, and strong willed heroine. I've recently been on a medieval kick, so when I find a good novel, I'm thrilled.

Unfortunately this one didn't thrill me. The story starts out with the usual cookie-cutter mold -- sultry, too-hot-to-handle vixen Lady Talia is an abused heiress that is constantly shipped from one suitor to another, all equally hideous. In waltzes her savior, Alex de Monteneau -- her new guardian. They spark, they bicker, they fall in bed together, you know the drill.

Linda Needham's dialogue really hampered me in reading this book. It's stilted, unclever, and the characters come across as so wooden they're hard to get a good feel for. Talia is supposed to be a fiery minx, but she just comes across as bratty and spoiled. The setting is a little too 'cutesy' and pat for my taste. The villagers remind me as nothing more than "It's A Small World". You know, they run about and scurry, and when it's time for someone to interact with the main characters, one of them chirps in, smiles charmingly, and waltzes back out. I am such a huge fan of characterization that this had me gritting my teeth.

Other than that, it's your average fluffy fare. I guess I prefer something grittier, with more teeth. I'd recommend "Kingdom of Dreams" by Judith McNaught instead, if you're dying for a good medieval romance. "The Bride Bed" was like a bad TV Sitcom. You keep waiting for it to get entertaining, and then when you get to the end of it, you realize you somehow missed the joke. Ah well.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to lose myself in.
Review: This was the first book of Linda Needham's that I've picked up. I probably won't be picking up another. "The Bride Bed" looked encouraging -- nice, tasteful cover (just don't flip over the back), nice highly medieval plot, and strong willed heroine. I've recently been on a medieval kick, so when I find a good novel, I'm thrilled.

Unfortunately this one didn't thrill me. The story starts out with the usual cookie-cutter mold -- sultry, too-hot-to-handle vixen Lady Talia is an abused heiress that is constantly shipped from one suitor to another, all equally hideous. In waltzes her savior, Alex de Monteneau -- her new guardian. They spark, they bicker, they fall in bed together, you know the drill.

Linda Needham's dialogue really hampered me in reading this book. It's stilted, unclever, and the characters come across as so wooden they're hard to get a good feel for. Talia is supposed to be a fiery minx, but she just comes across as bratty and spoiled. The setting is a little too 'cutesy' and pat for my taste. The villagers remind me as nothing more than "It's A Small World". You know, they run about and scurry, and when it's time for someone to interact with the main characters, one of them chirps in, smiles charmingly, and waltzes back out. I am such a huge fan of characterization that this had me gritting my teeth.

Other than that, it's your average fluffy fare. I guess I prefer something grittier, with more teeth. I'd recommend "Kingdom of Dreams" by Judith McNaught instead, if you're dying for a good medieval romance. "The Bride Bed" was like a bad TV Sitcom. You keep waiting for it to get entertaining, and then when you get to the end of it, you realize you somehow missed the joke. Ah well.