First things first... Thank you for recommending this book, Fani! Who would have thought I'd enjoy a historical PNR so much? Fani, that would be you! ;)

The Bride Finder is a romantic gothic tale, featuring a dark, tortured and brooding hero who lives in a haunted castle - where else could he live? - and a no-nonsense and engaging heroine.

Anatole St. Leger comes from a long line of ancestors who are cursed - or blessed, depending on how one sees it - with paranormal powers. Anatole's "gift" is, h More...

Anatole St Leger has to marry soon. According to his family history for him to be happy his bride must be chosen by the Bride Finder.

Madeline Breton falls in love with the portrait the Bride Finder shows her and accepts the marriage of convenience.

Chosen by the Bride Finder, a man blessed with amazing insight, Madeline Breton has come to Cornwall to meet her new husband, Anatole St. Leger---a man whose midnight eyes conceal strange, paranormal powers. As Madeline embarks on an odyssey both other More...

In parts quite a fun paranormal read. Historical romance with a beauty and the beast flavour. The wife, Madeline Breton goes to Cornwall to meet with her new husband (they were married by proxy); Anatole St. Leger. A man who has been hiding out from his abilities and from the world. There are mysterious forces at work who want him dead and misunderstandings that keep them apart.

The paranormal in this story falls into the Psionic end of the scale and it's quite well dealt with, not only the power More...

This beautiful story gets 4 1/2 stars from me, it pushed all the right buttons. I was caught up in the vivid tale of ghosts, mysticism, love, family tradition, legend & vendettas.
The men of the St Ledger family must accept the partner chosen for them by the Bride Finder, to do otherwise risks disaster. Practical Madeline Breton arrives in Cornwall to meet her husband, the tormented Anatole St Ledger and the story that follows became a page turner for me (which pleasantly surprised me.)
The s More...

After wedding Anatole St. Leger by proxy, Madeline Breton finds her new home haunted and her new husband possessing supernatural powers.

Spellbinding. Creative. Clever. A quick and fun read. Likeable characters. Well-paced. Similar to the Beauty and the Beast tales. Very satisfying. Has a paranormal feel. You might also like The Ground She Walks Upon by Megan McKinney. More...

When I was 19 or 20, I ran across The Bride Finder in the check out lane of our local Shopko. The title alone fascinated me. I bought it without even reading the back. It turned out to be my first romance, one of my best impulse buys, and still one of my favorites to this day.

Anatole St.Leger comes from a rather strange family. Some of his ancestors have been conjurers, clairvoyants, exorcists, sorcerers, etc. Anatole's own powers include seeing visions of the future, sensing a person's presence More...

I spent all night devouring this book. What's not to love about a brooding, gothic hero with a sword, a castle and telekinesis? The misunderstandings between the characters were frustrating, but understandable -the hero had serious emotional baggage to get through and didn't know how to love. The first two bedrooms scenes were surprisingly awkward for a romance novel. Usually you find the hero possessed of awesome talent and the heroine swept up in an instant conflagration of desire from the fir More...

Born with unusual gifts Anatole St.Leger comes from a long family whose powers and legends are known by many, through stories and whispers. Anatole powers have caused him more heartache then happiness. The time though has come for him to have his bride found. But, only the gifted Bride Finder can find the chosen mate of a St.Leger to insure happiness and love throughout their lives.
The task doesn’t seem to be difficult for Madeline Breton who trades marriage to help her family out of debt. Ho More...

This book took me a little while to get into but I loved it. Anitole is such a deep character that it was interesting to read of his adventures. And here again we have some magical elements with the St. Ledgers. This is really a fun book.

”The Bride Finder” by Susan Carroll (published paperback edition 2006 (1/30/99 original publication))

Anatole and Madeline
(Gothic setting romance believed to be set in the Georgian period (probably more toward 1800), Cornwall, England (no actual date noted.))

Anatole St. Leger comes from a long line of men that hold a menagerie of mystical powers – anything from Anatole’s psychic abilities to know the future and levitate objects, to one of his cousins being able to “see into the true soul” of ano More...

I enjoyed this book very much. To me one of the ones that was very hard to put down. Matter of fact stayed up till 5 in the morning reading it. This is actually the first paranormal I have read.

Oh, Anatole St. Leger. You are so emo. It is so very hard to take you seriously, but I love you anyway.

This book has the feel of a Gothic. Young innocent girl moves from the big city to a mysterious castle. There are servants who don't like her much, and the master of the castle, our hero, kind of reminds me of the Beast in the Disney movie. Only more emo.

Basically, Anatole had a terrible childhood, which, combined with his being a St. Leger *thunder boom* means that he feels he is just too uns More...

I loved this book! I first discovered Susan Carroll's Dark Queen series and was impressed, so I decided to go back and read her earlier works. The Bride Finder is the first and best of the St. Leger trilogy. It's a beautiful, original love story between two wonderfully drawn characters: the dark and wounded Anatole St. Leger, and the smart and spritely Madeline Breton. Bound by a magical legacy, Anatole dispatches the Bride Finder, who comes from a long line of Bride Finders charged with helping More...

The Bride Finder is about the St. Leger family, specifically Anatole St. Leger the current head of the family. The St. Leger family however is not your typical family. It traces it's lineage to a particular man who's as mysterious and enigmatic as his successors. Almost everyone in the family is gifted with a strange power or ability including Anatole. His particular gifts include dark visions of things in the future and the ability to move people and objects with his mind. He's managed to live More...

If anyone other than me has read this book you will understand when I say, Holy cow I am a bit embarassed. So let me start off by saying this book was on a list of recomended books by the Salt Lake County libary as a book you might like if you liked Twilight. So I thought what the heck. The story was really cool and I fell in love with the characters, until it hit the middle of the book. That's when the sex scenes came in. Now I don't read modern romance books (for that very reason), and I had n More...

Anatole St. Leger who has special powers is a descendant of some interesting family members. Anatole carries some emotional scars from his childhood along with the visible scar on his forehead. He knows he needs to marry and contacts the Bride Finder, who selects all the St. Leger

Full disclosure: This historical romance/fantasy set in a spooky castle along the Cornish coast was a total escape. The story of brooding lord and magician Anatole and his new wife Madeline was well-written and compelling. I would definitely read the next two books in this series.

A gothic bodice-ripper with the supernatural thrown in. It was fine to read if there's nothing better around, but it suffered from the usual "plot complications because no one will talk to each other" device. Characters were interesting, though, if a bit one-dimensional.

This book was well written. I was hooked from the beginning (of course that doesn't take much). The only warning I have is that there are a two or three parts that are a little descriptive/too personal that you might want to skip through. A great read, though.

Too much of a fairy tale for my taste. I read the book for the theme, but the storytelling reminds me of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, with an added touch of fleeting adult scenes. Neither here nor there. If you want light-reading, it will do.

This book was so awesome I actually loved the romance and thought it was so interesting! Carroll is a fabulous writer and I love this work by her, she's made me such a fan. Reading this can never be a disappointment!

What can I say, i'm a sucker for this type of book. I got hooked on SuSan Carroll in the Dark Queen. Who cares that it's "chick lit". Love the mystical nature in these books. Love found againstall odds. I also love that The hero is not some Adonis and the maiden is willing to look past that to find her True Love.

I loved this book! Though the actual true feely-feely-lovey-dovey stuff came much later, I adored it all the same!

I spend an almost shameful amount of time on the lookout for readable romantic fantasy novels. This one definitely isn't bad. It was a good story, decently plotted, although it suffered from the usual problem of manufacturing a majority of the drama because the characters don't speak to one another. Also, the premise for the characters falling in love was a little weak (yes, everyone wants to have really good sex with a tall, dark and brooding man, we know).

Still, it was a fun read and I'm glad More...

A great romance. It has magic, love, beauty and the beast flavor, and ghosts. Must not forget the ghost.

I really liked this story a lot. I thought the ending was really good and because of this I would give it 4 1/2 stsrs.

This was just okay for me. Not sure whether I will buy another book, by this author

A hoot! semi-gothic, slightly supernatural romance.

Good overall story but the plot plodded along a little to slowly for my taste.

I enjoyed this mystical historical romance with a complex hero.

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