The Spanish Bride (Signet Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: a goodish read
Review: "The Spanish Bride" is a sequel of sorts to "Scandal in Venice" and is a story of separated lovers, misunderstandings and misconceptions, and a dangerous and poisonous letter writer.

Peter Everdean, the Earl of Clifton meets and falls in love with Carmen Montero, the widow of a Spanish nobleman (Carmen also happens to be a gatherer of information for the English) in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in Spain. They marry, but only share one night of marital bliss, for the very next morning, the French attack the British camp, and Carmen is taken prisoner. When the battle is over, Peter is informed by a friend that Carmen is dead, and that she had been a spy for the French all along. Meanwhile, Carmen manages to escape from the French. She makes it back to the British camp but is told that Peter is dead. Brokenhearted, Carmen leaves the area and makes for Serville.

Six years go by, and Carmen has spent much of her life in Europe (rather than in Spain) together with her daughter and her old nurse, mainly because she has been the object of a poisonous letter writer, who accuses her of terrible and unspecified crimes. Carmen's only clue as to the identity of this mysterious letter writer is that the letters have all come from England. Tired of being hounded by this unknown enemy, Carmen decides to go to England in order to face down her malicious foe. Imagine her shock then, when at one of London's tonnish dos, Carmen comes face to face with her supposedly dead husband, Peter.

Peter Everdean, has decided that it is time he remarried; and has decided to start attending tonish affairs in order to find a suitable bride. And he has all but made his choice, when he spies his treacherous and supposedly dead wife. Angrily he confronts her with her 'crimes.' Carmen is at first overjoyed to see her husband, but her joy soon turns to anger at his accusations. The couple part in anger, with nothing resolved between them. For Carmen, her problems have now multiplied: not only does have an implacable and unknown enemy, she now also has an angry husband who believes that very worst of her, and who may take her daughter away from her when he learns of her existence. Enter Peter's sister, Elizabeth (the heroine in "Scandal in Venice.") Happily married, Elizabeth is resolved to see that her brother shares in the same pleasure, and she feels that Peter's future happiness lies completely in Carmen's hands. And so she takes upon herself to bring this estranged couple together. Will Elizabeth succeed in her plans to solve Peter's and Carmen's marital woes and reunite them? What of Carmen's poisonous letter writer? Carmen is sure that Peter will petition for an annulment so that he can marry his chosen English bride. But what will he do when he discovers that he has a daughter?

"The Spanish Bride" is a rather goodish read. One cannot but help admire Carmen's strength and grace, especially when she's suddenly confronted with adversity on all sides. Peter Everdean, however took a while to warm up. But he finally did step out of his cardboard mold, thank goodness. All in all, given that much of the material is not terribly new or different, "The Spanish Bride" proved not to be a bad read.

Rating:
Summary: a goodish read
Review: "The Spanish Bride" is a sequel of sorts to "Scandal in Venice" and is a story of separated lovers, misunderstandings and misconceptions, and a dangerous and poisonous letter writer.

Peter Everdean, the Earl of Clifton meets and falls in love with Carmen Montero, the widow of a Spanish nobleman (Carmen also happens to be a gatherer of information for the English) in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in Spain. They marry, but only share one night of marital bliss, for the very next morning, the French attack the British camp, and Carmen is taken prisoner. When the battle is over, Peter is informed by a friend that Carmen is dead, and that she had been a spy for the French all along. Meanwhile, Carmen manages to escape from the French. She makes it back to the British camp but is told that Peter is dead. Brokenhearted, Carmen leaves the area and makes for Serville.

Six years go by, and Carmen has spent much of her life in Europe (rather than in Spain) together with her daughter and her old nurse, mainly because she has been the object of a poisonous letter writer, who accuses her of terrible and unspecified crimes. Carmen's only clue as to the identity of this mysterious letter writer is that the letters have all come from England. Tired of being hounded by this unknown enemy, Carmen decides to go to England in order to face down her malicious foe. Imagine her shock then, when at one of London's tonnish dos, Carmen comes face to face with her supposedly dead husband, Peter.

Peter Everdean, has decided that it is time he remarried; and has decided to start attending tonish affairs in order to find a suitable bride. And he has all but made his choice, when he spies his treacherous and supposedly dead wife. Angrily he confronts her with her 'crimes.' Carmen is at first overjoyed to see her husband, but her joy soon turns to anger at his accusations. The couple part in anger, with nothing resolved between them. For Carmen, her problems have now multiplied: not only does have an implacable and unknown enemy, she now also has an angry husband who believes that very worst of her, and who may take her daughter away from her when he learns of her existence. Enter Peter's sister, Elizabeth (the heroine in "Scandal in Venice.") Happily married, Elizabeth is resolved to see that her brother shares in the same pleasure, and she feels that Peter's future happiness lies completely in Carmen's hands. And so she takes upon herself to bring this estranged couple together. Will Elizabeth succeed in her plans to solve Peter's and Carmen's marital woes and reunite them? What of Carmen's poisonous letter writer? Carmen is sure that Peter will petition for an annulment so that he can marry his chosen English bride. But what will he do when he discovers that he has a daughter?

"The Spanish Bride" is a rather goodish read. One cannot but help admire Carmen's strength and grace, especially when she's suddenly confronted with adversity on all sides. Peter Everdean, however took a while to warm up. But he finally did step out of his cardboard mold, thank goodness. All in all, given that much of the material is not terribly new or different, "The Spanish Bride" proved not to be a bad read.

Rating:
Summary: OK for a new young author, but...
Review: Amanda McCabe is a new young author, and she has an interesting theme - what happens when a couple, newly-married, are separated by war, and each believes the other dead? What is more, what happens when the husband believes his late wife to have been a French spy, and thus makes little effort to find out what has happened to her?

This was certainly a great premise to start with, and since I had heard good things about this author, I decided to try this book. Either I am in a picky mood, or I was comparing it unfavorably with similar books set in the Peninsular War, or possibly both. For me, the book left more unanswered questions than anything else. And I vastly preferred to read THE SPANISH BRIDE by Georgette Heyer, or any book about Sharpe, to read about missing spouses or lovers.

Some questions that remained with me:

1) Why did Carmen never announce that she was a widow again, with her second husband, an English earl, being lost in battle? I find it hard to believe that she would not have made such an announcement, or else be treated with hostility in her own circle. I won't spoil the denouement, but lack of such an announcement is crucial, given the birth of a daughter to her after the event.

2) Some of the characters seemed to be stock types, including the Earl, his supposed friend who spreads rumors about Carmen, and Carmen's chaperone or duenna. Many of their actions make little or no sense. Again, without spoiling the book, I cannot go into details, but let me say that the hero's belief in his wife's duplicity seems too pat.

3) A third problem is the heroine's refusal to contact her apparently deceased husband's family. Her reasoning seems awkward. I can understand her being in shock at first, but then what would have happened if her child had been a boy, and heir to the earldom? A big mess, not to say the least.

To conclude, I believe that Ms McCabe has talent. She has interesting premises, with which her stories start. But she needs to work on her plots. It is not enough to have a great start if everything then goes downhill, the primary characters (or the heroine) act irrationally, the secondary characters are more like cardboard, and all the major characters act without any apparent motivation.

I rate this book about 2.4. Along with Mindel's BLESSING IN DISGUISE, this was a really disappointing read. However, Carmen is at least more likeable than Mindel's heroine - and the situation more intriguing.

Rating:
Summary: from Romantic Times Magazine
Review: Carmen believed her new English husband to be dead after the terrible battle which occurred soon after their wedding ceremony. Only the knowledge that she had killed ger tormentor and escaped from the French with a precious new life growing inside of her keeps her from giving in to her grief.
Six years later, Carmen travels to England with her lovely blond daughter to discover the identity of the blackmailer who is writing terrible lies about her and her part in that battle. Not only is her husband alive, he believes the lies that have been written. How can she trust him with the knowledge of their daughter, when he believes her to be a traitor and a whore?
THE SPANISH BRIDE, by the immensely talented Amanda McCabe, brings us the bittersweet tale of two people who believe that all their chances at love have died in the ashes of war, only to find that the warmth of true love can thaw even the coldest of angers.