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The Bride Sale
by
Candice Hern (Goodreads Author)
"A Bartered Lady" Lord James Harkness is shocked to discover a "bride sale" taking place in his small English village -- and surprised by the depth of his feelings for the unfortunate gentlewoman being auctioned off by a disreputable husband. But is it honor and nobility that compel James to outbid the townfolk for the proud, beautiful lady -- or is it something more akin...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
January 8th 2002
by Avon
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3.5 stars. The Bride Sale begins with a bang, as Verity Osbourne is auctioned off by her husband, Gilbert the Gambling Wimp. The scene was appalling and engrossing. According to Wikipedia, such sales really did occur in England, up through the mid 1800s.
"C'mon, me laddies. What'm I bid fer this fine bit o' flesh?"...more
"Give us a better look at 'er, then!" a man's voice shouted.
Old Moody tugged on the halter attached to the woman's neck, causing her head to jerk up for a brief moment. "C'mon, dearie,"
10 likes · like · see review
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4 STARS
"Shocked to discover a "bride sale" taking place in his small English village, Lord James Harkness, a gentleman with a dangerous reputation, purchases Verity Osborne, the beautiful gentlewoman being auctioned off by her disreputable husband." (From Amazon)
A bit of a retelling of Beauty and the Beast - James is called "Lord Heartless" by the the townspeople and think he had something to do with the death of his wife and child. Feeding on his own guilt and being haunted from the war James...more
"Shocked to discover a "bride sale" taking place in his small English village, Lord James Harkness, a gentleman with a dangerous reputation, purchases Verity Osborne, the beautiful gentlewoman being auctioned off by her disreputable husband." (From Amazon)
A bit of a retelling of Beauty and the Beast - James is called "Lord Heartless" by the the townspeople and think he had something to do with the death of his wife and child. Feeding on his own guilt and being haunted from the war James...more
I’ll do my best to steer clear of spoiler territory, here, but I don’t think the mystery relating to the heroine is at all important to the overall story line. So here’s the deal. The heroine was married by an arranged marriage to a gay man (not that anyone besides the gay man and his partner knew about that), and he, on their wedding night, was so grossed out by the heroine’s girl parts that he couldn’t do the deed and actually vomited next to the bed. Isn’t that nice. The heroine, who remained...more
I reached far back in my stash and found this book by Candice Hern. I hadn't read any of her books in a while. The title intrigued me. Boy, was I surprised. I have read a lot of Regency Romance novels and have not come across such a thing as a bride sale. This is not a spoiler because the book begins with the sale...and I mean a man really selling his wife. Of course, I am assuming that Ms. Hern did her research and there is truth in the story. I liked exploring Cornwall. (Aside: The scenery and...more
I've read and enjoyed some of Candice Hern's regency romances. This is somewhat different though. It has more elements of melodrama than her other, gentler tales. This is set in Cornwall and I appreciated the author's attempts to reproduce a genuine cornish accent! I also enjoyed this story as I live on the edge of Bodmin Moor - so I was interested at how the moor was depicted. I thought that this was well-researched but didn't quite recreate Cornwall in the way that Winston Graham or Daphne du...more
Stumbled upon this in my digital public library. Regency romance is not my usual genre, but it was an enjoyable tale, and the author made a real effort toward authenticity.
Interesting tale, starting with the auctioning of a wife, as a way around divorce. An unliked nobleman buys her, as opposed to watching her suffer humiliation. Someone else described this as a type of Beauty and the Beast tale, and I suppose that gives a fair comparison, but there's much more to it. Story touches on post-traum...more
Interesting tale, starting with the auctioning of a wife, as a way around divorce. An unliked nobleman buys her, as opposed to watching her suffer humiliation. Someone else described this as a type of Beauty and the Beast tale, and I suppose that gives a fair comparison, but there's much more to it. Story touches on post-traum...more
I love Candice Hern but I hated this book. Hated. The hero is an emo jerk and the heroine is a pitiful Mary sue. The characters are all stereotypes. I wanted to scrub this book out of my brain. Give this book a pass and read anything else by the author. She is
Much better than this book.
Much better than this book.
This tortured hero/Beauty and the Beast story was a little too gothic for my tastes--windswept moors, the ever-present menace of fire, etc. The villain's motivations didn't make much sense to me either. But boy, did the opening "bride sale" scene pack a punch.
Dec 31, 2007
Rhapsody
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
regency romance readers who like the bought-bride storyline
A lord rumored to have murdered his wife purchases out of pity a lady being auctioned off by her husband. That's pretty much all there is to it. The rest is pretty predictable; he brings her back to his castle and she slowly falls for him and helps him get over some past traumas.
I skimmed the first third or so of the book. With romance novels, I like there to be a lot of interaction between the two mains, but the lord avoided her too much toward the start and my interest waned. It did get better...more
I skimmed the first third or so of the book. With romance novels, I like there to be a lot of interaction between the two mains, but the lord avoided her too much toward the start and my interest waned. It did get better...more
Overall the book was really good tho it was quite unbelievable who the "villain" turned out 2b. Probably the only thing that marred the enjoyment of the bk. Insanity is so ... unbelievable.
3.5 stars
Not bad. A lot of brooding, Mary Sue, slow burn and evil backstabbers galore. There was also a healthy and modern view of PTSD, women's rights, and sexual orientation (from the hero, not society. Gotta love his forward thinking, eh?) Not a single hard limit to be found. Enjoy!
this just wasn't my cup of tea, i found it hard to get through this book. I has good writing and i loved Harkness characterization...this may be a good read for another fan.
Wonderful book. This is the second book I have read by Ms. Hern, but well worth it. I am will be buying other books by her to read.
A historical romance in England..and not in london! Such a marvel concept is in both of the Candice Hern books i've read recently. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
This book took FOREVER for me to read. I wanted to like it but something was just off.
This is one of my all time favorite books. Have re-read it several times.
Aug 25, 2011
Netanella
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-romance
I'm generously giving this one a 3 although 2.5 is more like it. This book read like a series of highway car accidents, where everyone slows down to gawk at the damage. Wife sales, homosexuality, post traumatic stress syndrome, psuedo-rape and victim blaming - this one had it all. I'm surprised the hero and heroine actually liked each other.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Regency
The cover of this is so hokey i am embarrassed to admit i read it. But I did, and it was cute.
It was ok.could understand the hubbys motivation.
This book, which held such promise in the beginning, became such a chore to read that I actually considered literally throwing it against the wall. Both the hero and heroine were whiny and had a constant "oh poor me" mentality. I'd rather clean toilets than attempt to read this again.
This was a good, tense Beauty and the Beast story. Frankly, I just LOVE a tortured hero.
I enjoyed this book. I liked how the Hero and the Heroine brought out the best in each other and helped each other to overcome their inner demons.
6/13/2012: $1.99
Jun 17, 2013
Carla
marked it as historical-romance
Jun 15, 2013
Emily
marked it as to-read
Jun 14, 2013
Dominee
marked it as to-read
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Candice Hern is the award-winning, bestselling author of historical romance novels set during the English Regency period. Her books have won praise for the "intelligence and elegant romantic sensibility" (Romantic Times) as well as "delicious wit and luscious sensuality (Booklist). Candice's award-winning website (www.candicehern.com) is often cited for its Regency World pages, where readers inter...more
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