Maiden Bride (Harlequin Historical, No 332)

Rating:
Summary: Married for Revenge
Review: Nicholas de Laci lived for revenge. His hatred against Lord Hexham was all consuming, it was what fed him. When it was taken from him by his brother-in-law, he was furious. His hatred was so great that when he found out from the king that the niece of Lord Hexham was alive and living in a convent and if he married her, he would by way of marriage, inherit the demense that was Hexham, he was more than willing. He would wed the niece and exact his revenge upon her for the sins of her uncle. He would make her pay - he would make her a slave.

Gillian Hexham was an innocent. She never even knew her uncle, had never even laid eyes upon him, but she knew hatred when she saw it and the eyes of Nicholas de Laci were hard as ice and bore right into her soul. She would be torn from the relative safety of the convent and forced to marry this handsome knight who hated her because of her 'tainted' blood.

Nicholas' passion for hate was overcome by the passionate resistance of Gillian who fought his proposed enslavement. They would end up enslaved by one another.

This was a marvelous story to see the healing powers of love and family, with the characters wonderfully drawn out making it hard to put down. The sexually provocative love scenes will take your breath away. A wonderful sequel to the Devil's Lady. Do try to find a copy - you will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely!
Review: Not being a great medieval romance fan, I wasn't too sure about reading this. I picked it up used. However, I've enjoyed Ms. Simmons other books that I've read. This one proved to be no exception.

Nicholas made me laugh. So hell bent on revenge only to be caught up in confusing emotions about his bride. And Gillian was perfect. She had a temper and a brain. But she isn't of the
Too-Stupid-To-Live variety of heroine. She had good reason to fear Nicholas and lived accordingly as she learned more about him.

Their romance grew so naturally. Love didn't happen in a day or a week. I don't like books where "forever" happens in a very short time. I almost cried when Nicholas called her back from death.

My only reason for the 4 stars is I would like to have had some of the secondary characters fleshed out a bit more. I figured out there is a previous book about Nick's sister, Aisley and The Red Knight. Got to find that! I would like to have known more about Darius. And Gillian's brother never seemed real. I felt he was sort thrown in to give a bit of fireworks toward the end. Oh well.