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Bartaldi's Bride
Kidnapped to the altar!
Clare usually ran a mile from powerful, sensual men like Guido Bartaldi. Only, she'd agreed to live under Guido's roof as companion to his wayward ward, the young woman clearly destined to become Guido's wife....
Horrified at Guido's marriage plans, Clare soon decided to leave -- and found herself all but captive in Guido's palatial villa. Then she realized it was SHE who'd been chosen as Bartaldi's bride!
Clare usually ran a mile from powerful, sensual men like Guido Bartaldi. Only, she'd agreed to live under Guido's roof as companion to his wayward ward, the young woman clearly destined to become Guido's wife....
Horrified at Guido's marriage plans, Clare soon decided to leave -- and found herself all but captive in Guido's palatial villa. Then she realized it was SHE who'd been chosen as Bartaldi's bride!
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
31 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Sara Craven
493 books266 followersAnne Bushell was born on October 1938 in South Devon, England, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 26, 2017
Sweet story of a smitten hero that pulls the Betty Neels trick - a trick that is often used in much older vintages. This trick is the hero talks about marrying to the heroine, but the heroine assumes he's discussing an OW and she eats her heart out in front of the hero's and reader's eyes until the hero puts her out of her misery and declares himself. This is the dynamic in this story, so if that trick annoys you, you won't like this story.
I don't mind it every now and then. The dramatic irony is always fun as words are misconstrued. But the angst is definitely manufactured.
Setting: Italy - region of Umbria
Heroine: English language teacher who is half Italian with an Italian godmother. She has left her live-in position as a tutor because the employer got too handsy.
Hero: Italian count with a villa and an ancient grotto to Athena on his land. He has a luxury jewelry store and other businesses. He also has a troublesome 18 year-old ward. The heroine thinks he's going to marry her to gain some sort of business shares/inheritance.
Meet cute: Heroine flees her latest post in a downpour. She sees a girl walking on the side of the road and rescues her. It's the hero's ward, running away to marry her holiday romance, a dude named "Fabio." The ward will have access to her huge inheritance once she is married. Heroine is concerned about Fabio and about the ward's impending forced marriage to her guardian (Hero).
Heroine drives her to the train station where she is supposed to meet Fabio. The ward falls asleep on the drive and the heroine can't wake her. So she goes up to a man who is clearly waiting, thinking it is Fabio. It's not. It's the hero and he has her arrested for kidnapping his ward. (They think the girl is drugged because she's sleeping so heavily.)
Heroine spends a few hours in an Italian jail before the hero arrives and explains the mistake. He offers her money. She tears it up. (I pinpoint this moment when the hero is smitten) She has a good cry in her car and then journeys on to her godmother's villa.
Her godmother is thrilled that the heroine has met the count because he's *the* catch of the district and the heroine needs to recover from being jilted by her boyfriend who married the rich girl and wanted to keep the heroine as a piece on the side.
The hero invites the heroine and her godmother to his villa for dinner the next day, but heroine avoids him by playing sick. This begins the hero's pursuit of the heroine. He eventually installs her in his villa by employing her as a companion to his ward.
Like all misunderstandings, this one eventually is cleared up in time for a happy ending. The rebellious ward and the godmother are paired off as well. I really enjoyed the setting and the travelouge of Umbria.
I don't mind it every now and then. The dramatic irony is always fun as words are misconstrued. But the angst is definitely manufactured.
Setting: Italy - region of Umbria
Heroine: English language teacher who is half Italian with an Italian godmother. She has left her live-in position as a tutor because the employer got too handsy.
Hero: Italian count with a villa and an ancient grotto to Athena on his land. He has a luxury jewelry store and other businesses. He also has a troublesome 18 year-old ward. The heroine thinks he's going to marry her to gain some sort of business shares/inheritance.
Meet cute: Heroine flees her latest post in a downpour. She sees a girl walking on the side of the road and rescues her. It's the hero's ward, running away to marry her holiday romance, a dude named "Fabio." The ward will have access to her huge inheritance once she is married. Heroine is concerned about Fabio and about the ward's impending forced marriage to her guardian (Hero).
Heroine drives her to the train station where she is supposed to meet Fabio. The ward falls asleep on the drive and the heroine can't wake her. So she goes up to a man who is clearly waiting, thinking it is Fabio. It's not. It's the hero and he has her arrested for kidnapping his ward. (They think the girl is drugged because she's sleeping so heavily.)
Heroine spends a few hours in an Italian jail before the hero arrives and explains the mistake. He offers her money. She tears it up. (I pinpoint this moment when the hero is smitten) She has a good cry in her car and then journeys on to her godmother's villa.
Her godmother is thrilled that the heroine has met the count because he's *the* catch of the district and the heroine needs to recover from being jilted by her boyfriend who married the rich girl and wanted to keep the heroine as a piece on the side.
The hero invites the heroine and her godmother to his villa for dinner the next day, but heroine avoids him by playing sick. This begins the hero's pursuit of the heroine. He eventually installs her in his villa by employing her as a companion to his ward.
Like all misunderstandings, this one eventually is cleared up in time for a happy ending. The rebellious ward and the godmother are paired off as well. I really enjoyed the setting and the travelouge of Umbria.
July 7, 2020
Pretty decent solid read. Enjoyed the hero and the way you could see the hero was courting the heroine without really coming out and saying it.
June 11, 2018
About half way into this book, I realised I'd read it before. And as I continued with my reading, I realised why I'd forgotten about it. This story is sweet and predictable with your typical escapist h and dominating alpha H. And it's certainly not very memorable. The plot line is similar to countless others I've read over the years and there was nothing to make it really stand out for me. So even with SC's considerable writing skills, I can only give this three stars - to read and forget!
November 7, 2019
"Bartaldi's Bride" is the story of Clare and Guido.
Age old HQN trope between a super alpha obsessed hero and a tempestuous and willful heroine who get involved in a battle of wills and ultimately surrender to love. Filled with loads of misunderstandings, a bratty stepsister, an interfering godmother, a mysterious goddess and some kidnapping drama, this one started with a bang but fizzled out near the end. I wish we have more angst and passion, and then it would have been perfect.
Safe
3/5
Age old HQN trope between a super alpha obsessed hero and a tempestuous and willful heroine who get involved in a battle of wills and ultimately surrender to love. Filled with loads of misunderstandings, a bratty stepsister, an interfering godmother, a mysterious goddess and some kidnapping drama, this one started with a bang but fizzled out near the end. I wish we have more angst and passion, and then it would have been perfect.
Safe
3/5
August 20, 2016
Finally something good after two disappointments. Well, Sara Craven usually delivers it for me. Here's the story where heroine isn't stupid or does unexplainable things. I liked chemistry between Clare and Guido. She was so confused and he kept telling her "You don't know me!" but on the other hand he never told her he doesn't want to marry Paola after all. What should she think about that? But where would we be if lovers could communicate clearly with each other? There would be no story in that without a little drama. Man meets his woman, they fall in love and drive happily into the sunset together. Well, try writing 500 pages about that without adding some drama-spice into the story. :)
I liked Guido very much, even though his actions were more suitable for heroine (not Clare, just random romance novel heroine). He told her in the end he was afraid she will never accept her faith as his bride. But well, it's pretty hard to accept that when you are constantly told that man you are attracted to is marrying someone else and Guido didn't declare himself until the end of the book.
I liked Clare and think she was acting pretty good according the information she had. She just escaped previous employment where she had unwelcome attentions from the man of the house and here is Guido who openly stating he is going to marry a young girl in his care, at the same time has a mistress in nearby town and can't keep his hands of Clare whenever they are in each other's company. What could she think? Of course she thought him a player who always gets what he wants.
Well, she surrender at last. I'm glad this story is a HEA one and she doesn't need to stay in "Bartaldi's woman" role. Life is cruel, but at least not in the Harlequin romances. :)
I liked Guido very much, even though his actions were more suitable for heroine (not Clare, just random romance novel heroine). He told her in the end he was afraid she will never accept her faith as his bride. But well, it's pretty hard to accept that when you are constantly told that man you are attracted to is marrying someone else and Guido didn't declare himself until the end of the book.
I liked Clare and think she was acting pretty good according the information she had. She just escaped previous employment where she had unwelcome attentions from the man of the house and here is Guido who openly stating he is going to marry a young girl in his care, at the same time has a mistress in nearby town and can't keep his hands of Clare whenever they are in each other's company. What could she think? Of course she thought him a player who always gets what he wants.
Well, she surrender at last. I'm glad this story is a HEA one and she doesn't need to stay in "Bartaldi's woman" role. Life is cruel, but at least not in the Harlequin romances. :)
November 26, 2021
Why not communicate?????
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August 20, 2023DNF at 50% of the book. I'm not fond of neurotic, self-righteous heroins, they make for a tedious reading.
June 20, 2024
The usual story with pronoun dominated conversations ( it's hard to believe that all the characters forget to use names), a h with the temperament of a teenager (she doesn't dislike, she hates, she doesn't get worried, she PANICS), and a hero who apparently couldn't simply TELL the heroine he was courting her instead of letting her believe he wanted a mistress. Why would he become furious with her for believing he was a lecher if that's exact how he was acting?
And sorry, we might know that the hero had no intention of marrying his ward, but the heroine doesn't. And she somehow comes off as self sacrificing and loving when she says yes to being the sidepiece of a man she believes is about to be married to a friend of hers. WHAT?!? Ew.
And sorry, we might know that the hero had no intention of marrying his ward, but the heroine doesn't. And she somehow comes off as self sacrificing and loving when she says yes to being the sidepiece of a man she believes is about to be married to a friend of hers. WHAT?!? Ew.
July 16, 2020
Wow that was dragged out. Barely any romance at all. So much misunderstanding, some thievery and kidnapping tossed in at the end? Just what? Skip because it takes way to long for anything to happen after the characters meet.
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August 1, 2023A second read for me. I seem to appreciate a book sometimes more on a reread than the first time around.
This is a Harlequin plain and simple, in between the cover and back page are all the elements we want and expect with a Harlequin Romance.
This is a Harlequin plain and simple, in between the cover and back page are all the elements we want and expect with a Harlequin Romance.
July 9, 2020
I loved the besotted hero and unaware heroine but a delightful read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2022
Beginning is best part.
April 8, 2012
While driving to her godmother's home, Clare picks up Paola, a 17 year old heiress who is running away from home to elope with her older boyfriend, Fabio. The story sounds very suspicious, so Clare goes to confront the man in question but instead meets Guido Bartaldi, Paola's guardian and fiancé, who assumes Clare is in cahoots with Fabio and has kidnapped Paola. Eventually the misunderstanding is cleared up, and Guido employs Clare to be Paola's companion. Her job is to not only prevent Paola from running away again, but also to help prepare her for marriage to Guido.
The story had potential, but Guido's deception was just silly. I understand that there needed to be some deception initially to get Clare to agree to moving into his house. I think it's quite understandable that she didn't want anything to do with Guido or Paola after being arrested for kidnapping. However once it becomes clear that she's got the hots for Guido but doesn't want to be involved with a man planning on marrying someone else, it is surely time for Guido to 'fess up and admit he doesn't intend to marry Paola. Instead, he gets mad at Clare for thinking he is the type of man who would keep a mistress on the side. When she confronts him about his woman in Siena, he admits there is one, but refuses to explain, again getting mad that she would think him capable of keeping mistresses whilst planning to marry his teenage bride. When the truth about his lady in Siena came out, I couldn't see why he couldn't have been upfront with Clare about it from the start. Clare on the other hand, has this whole background angst story about how her first lover married a rich girl but wanted to keep her on as his mistress. For some reason she needs this to explain why she doesn't want to get involved with a man who is busy planning his marriage to someone else.
Eventually we discover that Guido pretended that he was going to marry Paola to keep her safe from gold diggers, but Paola is actually not an heiress at all because her father gambled away all the family money. Wouldn't the fact that Paola has no money be enough to keep away the gold diggers? And why was Guido courting Paola, buying her little presents and so on?
This book pretty much sums up my addiction with trashy paperback romances. The plot is tissue thin and full of holes, yet somehow I couldn't put it down.
The story had potential, but Guido's deception was just silly. I understand that there needed to be some deception initially to get Clare to agree to moving into his house. I think it's quite understandable that she didn't want anything to do with Guido or Paola after being arrested for kidnapping. However once it becomes clear that she's got the hots for Guido but doesn't want to be involved with a man planning on marrying someone else, it is surely time for Guido to 'fess up and admit he doesn't intend to marry Paola. Instead, he gets mad at Clare for thinking he is the type of man who would keep a mistress on the side. When she confronts him about his woman in Siena, he admits there is one, but refuses to explain, again getting mad that she would think him capable of keeping mistresses whilst planning to marry his teenage bride. When the truth about his lady in Siena came out, I couldn't see why he couldn't have been upfront with Clare about it from the start. Clare on the other hand, has this whole background angst story about how her first lover married a rich girl but wanted to keep her on as his mistress. For some reason she needs this to explain why she doesn't want to get involved with a man who is busy planning his marriage to someone else.
Eventually we discover that Guido pretended that he was going to marry Paola to keep her safe from gold diggers, but Paola is actually not an heiress at all because her father gambled away all the family money. Wouldn't the fact that Paola has no money be enough to keep away the gold diggers? And why was Guido courting Paola, buying her little presents and so on?
This book pretty much sums up my addiction with trashy paperback romances. The plot is tissue thin and full of holes, yet somehow I couldn't put it down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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August 3, 2014غدا يزهر الحب!:
سارة كريفن
تعلمنا الحياة أن الفضول صفة ليست محمودة دائما وهذا ما حصل لكلير ماريوت عندما زجت نفسها في مشاكل عائلة بارتالدي . فما من عاقل يفعل ذلك خاصة مع الماركيز غويدو بارتالدي الشهير وينجو بفعلته !قالت باولا إنه بارد لكنه أسوأ من هذا بكثير ! إنه ثلج وجليد قطعة رخام إنه الظلام بعينه !مع هذا قبلت الوظيفة التي عرضها كمرافقة ومدرسة لباولا المراهقة لكي تنقذها من الزواج المفروض عليها بالماركيز . لكن كيف يجرؤ على التقرب من كلير في الوقت نفسه بهذا الشكل المريب ؟ ما هي نواياه ؟
إنه آخر رجل قد تتورط معه كلير ماريوت ولكن للحب أحكام أخرى !
سارة كريفن
تعلمنا الحياة أن الفضول صفة ليست محمودة دائما وهذا ما حصل لكلير ماريوت عندما زجت نفسها في مشاكل عائلة بارتالدي . فما من عاقل يفعل ذلك خاصة مع الماركيز غويدو بارتالدي الشهير وينجو بفعلته !قالت باولا إنه بارد لكنه أسوأ من هذا بكثير ! إنه ثلج وجليد قطعة رخام إنه الظلام بعينه !مع هذا قبلت الوظيفة التي عرضها كمرافقة ومدرسة لباولا المراهقة لكي تنقذها من الزواج المفروض عليها بالماركيز . لكن كيف يجرؤ على التقرب من كلير في الوقت نفسه بهذا الشكل المريب ؟ ما هي نواياه ؟
إنه آخر رجل قد تتورط معه كلير ماريوت ولكن للحب أحكام أخرى !
December 6, 2015
Clare usually ran a mile from powerful, sensual men like Guido Bartaldi. Only, she' d agreed to live under Guido' s roof as companion to his wayward ward, the young woman clearly destined to become Guido' s wife... Horrified at Guido' s marriage plans, Clare soon decided to leave -- and found herself all by captive in Guido' s palatial villa. Then she realized it was she who' d been chosen as Bartaldi' s bride!
March 30, 2021
Clare usually ran a mile from powerful, sensual men like Guido Bartaldi. Only, she’ d agreed to live under Guido’ s roof as companion to his wayward ward, the young woman clearly destined to become Guido’ s wife…
Horrified at Guido’ s marriage plans, Clare soon decided to leave— and found herself all by captive in Guido’ s palatial villa. Then she realized it was she who’ d been chosen as Bartaldi’ s bride!
Horrified at Guido’ s marriage plans, Clare soon decided to leave— and found herself all by captive in Guido’ s palatial villa. Then she realized it was she who’ d been chosen as Bartaldi’ s bride!
August 31, 2012
Definitely one of Sara Craven's better novels. It was sad watching the heroine be tormented with her thoughts because her previous lover had treated her so horribly. As I watched the hero and heroines relationship unfold I felt the angst and desire with them. I was so glad by the end, I was practically giddy. There are some things in the novel that weren't finished in my opinion though.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews