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The Bawdy Bride
Accompanying her new husband, the result of an arranged marriage, to his ancestral home, Anne Davies is embroileded in a world of intrigue and adventure in which she must discover who killed her new brother-in-law. Original.
416 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1995
About the author
Amanda Scott
177 books384 followersAmanda Scott, USA Today Bestselling Author and winner of Romance Writers of America’s RITA/Golden Medallion (LORD ABBERLEY'S NEMESIS) and Romantic Times’ Awards for Best Regency Author and Best Sensual Regency (RAVENWOOD'S LADY), Lifetime Achievement (2007) and Best Scottish Historical (BORDER MOONLIGHT, 2008), began writing on a dare from her husband. She has sold every manuscript she has written.
Amanda is a fourth-generation Californian, who was born and raised in Salinas and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in history from Mills College in Oakland. She did graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in British History, before obtaining her Master’s in History from California State University at San Jose. She now lives with her husband and son in northern California.
As a child, Amanda Scott was a model for O’Connor Moffatt in San Francisco (now Macy’s). She was also a Sputnik child, one of those selected after the satellite went up for one of California’s first programs for gifted children. She remained in that program through high school. After graduate school, she taught for the Salinas City School District for three years before marrying her husband, who was then a captain in the Air Force. They lived in Honolulu for a year, then in Papillion, Nebraska, for seven. Their son was born in Nebraska. They have lived in northern California since 1980.
Scott grew up in a family of lawyers, and is descended from a long line of them. Her father was a three-term District Attorney of Monterey County before his death in 1955 at age 36. Her grandfather was City Attorney of Salinas for 36 years after serving two terms as District Attorney, and two of her ancestors were State Supreme Court Justices (one in Missouri, the other the first Supreme Court Justice for the State of Arkansas). One brother, having carried on the Scott tradition in the Monterey County DA’s office, is now a judge. The other is an electrician in Knoxville, TN, and her sister is a teacher in the Sacramento area.
The women of Amanda Scott’s family have been no less successful than the men. Her mother was a child actress known as Baby Lowell, who performed all over the west coast and in Hollywood movies, and then was a dancer with the San Francisco Opera Ballet until her marriage. Her mother’s sister, Loretta Lowell, was also a child actress. She performed in the Our Gang comedies and in several Loretta Young movies before becoming one of the first women in the US Air Force. Scott's paternal grandmother was active in local and State politics and served as president of the California State PTA, and her maternal grandmother was a teacher (and stage mother) before working for Monterey County. The place of women in Scott’s family has always been a strong one. Though they married strong men, the women have, for generations, been well educated and encouraged to succeed at whatever they chose to do.
Amanda Scott’s first book was OMAHA CITY ARCHITECTURE, a coffee-table photo essay on the historical architecture of Omaha, written for Landmarks, Inc. under her married name as a Junior League project. Others took the photos; she did the research and wrote the text on an old Smith-Corona portable electric. She sold her first novel, THE FUGITIVE HEIRESS - likewise written on the battered Smith-Corona in 1980. Since then, she has sold many more books, but since the second one she has used a word processor and computer. Twenty-five of her novels are set in the English Regency period (1810-1820). Others are set in 15th-century England and 14th- through 18th-century Scotland, and three are contemporary romances. Many of her titles are currently available at bookstores and online.
Amanda is a fourth-generation Californian, who was born and raised in Salinas and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in history from Mills College in Oakland. She did graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in British History, before obtaining her Master’s in History from California State University at San Jose. She now lives with her husband and son in northern California.
As a child, Amanda Scott was a model for O’Connor Moffatt in San Francisco (now Macy’s). She was also a Sputnik child, one of those selected after the satellite went up for one of California’s first programs for gifted children. She remained in that program through high school. After graduate school, she taught for the Salinas City School District for three years before marrying her husband, who was then a captain in the Air Force. They lived in Honolulu for a year, then in Papillion, Nebraska, for seven. Their son was born in Nebraska. They have lived in northern California since 1980.
Scott grew up in a family of lawyers, and is descended from a long line of them. Her father was a three-term District Attorney of Monterey County before his death in 1955 at age 36. Her grandfather was City Attorney of Salinas for 36 years after serving two terms as District Attorney, and two of her ancestors were State Supreme Court Justices (one in Missouri, the other the first Supreme Court Justice for the State of Arkansas). One brother, having carried on the Scott tradition in the Monterey County DA’s office, is now a judge. The other is an electrician in Knoxville, TN, and her sister is a teacher in the Sacramento area.
The women of Amanda Scott’s family have been no less successful than the men. Her mother was a child actress known as Baby Lowell, who performed all over the west coast and in Hollywood movies, and then was a dancer with the San Francisco Opera Ballet until her marriage. Her mother’s sister, Loretta Lowell, was also a child actress. She performed in the Our Gang comedies and in several Loretta Young movies before becoming one of the first women in the US Air Force. Scott's paternal grandmother was active in local and State politics and served as president of the California State PTA, and her maternal grandmother was a teacher (and stage mother) before working for Monterey County. The place of women in Scott’s family has always been a strong one. Though they married strong men, the women have, for generations, been well educated and encouraged to succeed at whatever they chose to do.
Amanda Scott’s first book was OMAHA CITY ARCHITECTURE, a coffee-table photo essay on the historical architecture of Omaha, written for Landmarks, Inc. under her married name as a Junior League project. Others took the photos; she did the research and wrote the text on an old Smith-Corona portable electric. She sold her first novel, THE FUGITIVE HEIRESS - likewise written on the battered Smith-Corona in 1980. Since then, she has sold many more books, but since the second one she has used a word processor and computer. Twenty-five of her novels are set in the English Regency period (1810-1820). Others are set in 15th-century England and 14th- through 18th-century Scotland, and three are contemporary romances. Many of her titles are currently available at bookstores and online.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 5, 2015
2.5 stars.
I found the second half of this book, to be far more interesting than the first half. In fact that's where most, if not all, of the stars come from.
The first half (certainly the first 35%) is frustratingly boring and packed full of such condescending behaviour that I wanted to punch through time and several layers of reality to cause people some serious pain. I honestly can't see why Anne's husband would want to marry her so she could take care of the household and his newly acquired young wards and then repeatedly give her a metaphorical pat on the head and tell her not to worry her pretty little head about anything difficult, like managing those same children and running the household. Considering that making sure the household ran as smoothly and economically as possible was one of the key duties expected of a lady of the time it seems like a weirdly out of place attitude for him to take, especially since the author was delighting in cramming down our throats the fact that women of the time didn't really have rights, were supposed to never talk back or speak in anger, and couldn't even divorce their husbands for being abusive, philandering bastards.
I was gratified that my initial assessment of who the was ended up being correct , though there was a time when the waters became suitably muddied that I began to doubt myself .
The writing was overall quite pleasant to read, but there were some strangely persistent issues that got on my nerves. Like referring to Juliette, Anne's kitten, as an "it" on numerous occasions . Objects are its, people (and anything with a personality) are not (unless you're trying to be deliberately rude). Also the otherwise well spoken people had a tendency for using "don't" when they otherwise meant "won't" or "doesn't". I'm not sure if this was an attempt to add a bit of a Derbyshire accent to things, but if it was it didn't work very well when everything else they said was so perfectly correct in that starchy aristocratic manner.
Overall I'm left with no great desire to re-read this (then again I very rarely return to a romance anyway), but it was entertaining enough once I managed to jump that first hurdle to keep me going. If you like (not a proper) Regency romances, and if you're reading this I'll assume you do, with a refreshing lack of Secret Tragic Pasts or Willfully Stupid Misunderstandings then you may want to give this a go. Bring a stress ball though if, like me, sexist condescending attitudes make you want to hit things.
I found the second half of this book, to be far more interesting than the first half. In fact that's where most, if not all, of the stars come from.
The first half (certainly the first 35%) is frustratingly boring and packed full of such condescending behaviour that I wanted to punch through time and several layers of reality to cause people some serious pain. I honestly can't see why Anne's husband would want to marry her so she could take care of the household and his newly acquired young wards and then repeatedly give her a metaphorical pat on the head and tell her not to worry her pretty little head about anything difficult, like managing those same children and running the household. Considering that making sure the household ran as smoothly and economically as possible was one of the key duties expected of a lady of the time it seems like a weirdly out of place attitude for him to take, especially since the author was delighting in cramming down our throats the fact that women of the time didn't really have rights, were supposed to never talk back or speak in anger, and couldn't even divorce their husbands for being abusive, philandering bastards.
I was gratified that my initial assessment of who the was ended up being correct , though there was a time when the waters became suitably muddied that I began to doubt myself .
The writing was overall quite pleasant to read, but there were some strangely persistent issues that got on my nerves. Like referring to Juliette, Anne's kitten, as an "it" on numerous occasions . Objects are its, people (and anything with a personality) are not (unless you're trying to be deliberately rude). Also the otherwise well spoken people had a tendency for using "don't" when they otherwise meant "won't" or "doesn't". I'm not sure if this was an attempt to add a bit of a Derbyshire accent to things, but if it was it didn't work very well when everything else they said was so perfectly correct in that starchy aristocratic manner.
Overall I'm left with no great desire to re-read this (then again I very rarely return to a romance anyway), but it was entertaining enough once I managed to jump that first hurdle to keep me going. If you like (not a proper) Regency romances, and if you're reading this I'll assume you do, with a refreshing lack of Secret Tragic Pasts or Willfully Stupid Misunderstandings then you may want to give this a go. Bring a stress ball though if, like me, sexist condescending attitudes make you want to hit things.
February 12, 2019
Good story but too wordy
Ignore the silly title. The bride is not bawdy at all.
I like that the author wrote the dialogues as near authentic as the way they were spoken back then. The story is intriguing, the main characters are likeable, their dialogues are sometimes entertaining and funny. But they are also often lengthy and I found myself skipping passages to get to the points that matter.
Overall a good read.
Ignore the silly title. The bride is not bawdy at all.
I like that the author wrote the dialogues as near authentic as the way they were spoken back then. The story is intriguing, the main characters are likeable, their dialogues are sometimes entertaining and funny. But they are also often lengthy and I found myself skipping passages to get to the points that matter.
Overall a good read.
April 29, 2020
My "convenient marriage" spree is off to a good start, apparently.
I'm super duper glad I took risks by ignoring the low rating of this book. 3.58*? IMO that almost screams "skip this shit and get the hell out of here." And I did nearly skip this until I read the reviews.
WHY I LIKED TBB?
1. No love-at-first-fucking-sight
2. No love-at-first-fucking-sex (yes, this is actually a thing where the MC finds the love interest difficult/cold/arrogant/a bitch/a jerk, and yet the instant they have sex (for whatever reason) well..they'd think they're in love and that they're perfect for each other) ~ what a load of cringey shit.
3. PLOT >>> SEX SCENES. Yes folks.
4. Mystery. Red herring. Suskoday I love it.
5. And main FC is not a mary sue, is not TSTL, and is most definitely not a bawdy bride.
I'm super duper glad I took risks by ignoring the low rating of this book. 3.58*? IMO that almost screams "skip this shit and get the hell out of here." And I did nearly skip this until I read the reviews.
WHY I LIKED TBB?
1. No love-at-first-fucking-sight
2. No love-at-first-fucking-sex (yes, this is actually a thing where the MC finds the love interest difficult/cold/arrogant/a bitch/a jerk, and yet the instant they have sex (for whatever reason) well..they'd think they're in love and that they're perfect for each other) ~ what a load of cringey shit.
3. PLOT >>> SEX SCENES. Yes folks.
4. Mystery. Red herring. Suskoday I love it.
5. And main FC is not a mary sue, is not TSTL, and is most definitely not a bawdy bride.
May 31, 2011
I have seen some crazy titles, but this one is the worst. I was afraid I was going to have bodice ripping, graphic sex and all that, but the story was very tame, almost Christian in its purity. I good story about a lass who travels to meet her future husband and also tries to find out who has killed his brother. If it had been what I though I would never have rated it so high. The bride is not way bawdy, or even somewhat that way.
October 6, 2018
This book had an interesting start. It promised something different though sort of predictable but different nonetheless. Do not want to be spoiler just want to say that editors are supposed to check for scenes that contradict themselves later in the narrative. enough said. I'm sorry the book was not more realistic. I was disappointed!
January 29, 2021
3.5*
This was an ok book, but you know how when you read something, and the writing style reminds you of the 70s and 80s and the book is written in another decade altogether? This is it... This had marriage of convenience and a bot of Gothic thrown in, I had fun reading it.
This was an ok book, but you know how when you read something, and the writing style reminds you of the 70s and 80s and the book is written in another decade altogether? This is it... This had marriage of convenience and a bot of Gothic thrown in, I had fun reading it.
March 11, 2021
There's absolutely nothing bawdy about the bride, the book is the usual trope, arranged marriage, a villain, an inattentive, always busy husband, a serene but capable wife, maids, pets, gardens, like I said, the usual.
October 31, 2014
The story starts with a bang—a murder, from the POV of the victim. It's quite a grabber.
Our heroine, meek and dutiful
(not usually promising characteristics in a heroine, imo, but she sorts herself out by the end)
Anne Davies, meekly and dutifully marries virtual stranger, Lord Michael St. Ledgers. He's a former rake who, owing to the death of his older brother, now has guardianship of his young nephew, the Duke of Upminster, and his oddly silent sister.
The bridal night is predictably awful, and the relationship develops in fits and starts, with hints that there might be more to Michael than meets the eye (and not in a good way). There are issues at this house. For one, the silent sister wasn't always silent, and when a little kid is suddenly mute, well, you know there's some dark secret. And then there are the really, really, reallystuck-in-their-ways servants, who just do not want listen to their new mistress, even tho she's, like, the boss. And then there's the servant who went missing a while back—nobody knows what became of her. And there's a mysterious problem with the estate's finances, which has Michael frantic (but not frantic enough to support Anne's efforts to cut unnecessary household expenses). And there's a lot of obsessing over what it means for Anne to be an obedient wife.
In other words, there were several pretty good mysteries, and I kept turning pages. If you want to know where the "bawdy" comes in, it happens very, very late in the story. I'll give this one 4 stars.
October 1, 2016
A rather dull read. The dialogue irritated me quite a bit, it dragged. The plot dragged. I agree with other reviewers that it made no sense for Micheal to marry Anne in a hurry to raise the kids and hold down the estate, then he completely dismisses her. It picks up a bit at the very end so that earned three instead of two stars. Also the title made no sense whatsoever.
July 4, 2014
I love Amanda Scott's writing and she did not disappoint in this book!! Anne and Michael were ment for each other!! About half way through the book I figured who Lord M was!!! Great read, know onto another Amanda Scott book!!!
October 6, 2014
Boring. Too much talking.
January 10, 2016
This is a strong 3.5. Once again I wish we were able to give an extra half star to books that deserve it.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews