** spoiler alert ** This is the third of Mallery's books that I've read, and I've enjoyed them all. Not to say this is a two thumbs up book, because it's not, but I liked it quite a bit. Mallery has a nice writing style. She always keeps me in her stories. There's a nice flow to her words, and she tells a good story.

The Marcelli Bride is primarily a romance, but there is a sideline plot; the whole kidnapping thing, but it's really just a background issue. Even so, it adds a nice element to the story, gives it some meat. I wished I'd read the other books in the series so I could have a better idea of the family dynamic, but without reading them, you still get a good idea of everything. Mallery has created a great family in the Marcellis. I enjoyed reading about them.

I think the one thing I can complain about in this book is that for whatever reason, I wasn't exactly feeling the chemistry between Joe and Darcy. There was definitely an attraction, and they worked nicely together, but the writing just didn't convey the chemistry all that well. But that didn't detract too much from the overall story. My only other minor complaint was that I'd liked to have had a little more information about the antagonist when it was all said and done. The answers to 'why' were a little bare.

In the end, good book. Not great, but a nice read for a general romance. I'd like to read the others in the series.