The Bride Price by Anne Mallory

Although I love historical novels, I've never been a historical purist. I'm more interested in characters that seem to have historical attitudes than I am about the specific facts of a book (particularly if the author changes them for a reason). Although I know all historical romances skip over a lot of unpleasant realities, I get a little annoyed by historical characters who have modern attitudes toward society, sex, etc. (For example, all the heroines who jump in bed with virtual strangers and never think of the dire consequences of unwed pregnancy during the period.)

The author admits that the "contest" of this book never happens, but I found it intriguing, and it allowed the author to explore the roles of illegitimate sons during the period. To me, that's a successful historical. But I'm curious to look online and see how the historical purists reacted to this book. (On the Regency list, perhaps?)

The Bride Price by Anne Mallory
(2008, Regency Historical) 12/10/08
Grade: 3.5

Sebastian Deville, the illegitimate son of a Duke, is thrown into a competition sponsored by his father - the contestants are all bastards and younger sons, and the winner will receive a title, an estate (which happens to be Sebastian’s family home) and a wife. Sebastian is determined to win, but will his attraction to widow Caroline change his mind?

This was a frustrating book, because it had a lot of good points, but a major weakness as well. I was fascinated by the hero - his frustration and rage at his treatment by his father and by society, his determination to never let his feelings show, his hidden depths. And the contest was also an interesting idea, and I loved the interplay between the bastards and the spares, and how the competition played out between Sebastian and his legitimate brother. However, there was a glaring problem with the book - the heroine. I just didn’t believe her as a character. The “witty banter” between the hero and heroine in the first chapters felt flat, and their instant sexual attraction felt forced. Her actions didn’t make a lot of sense, and although the author kept telling me that she saw “another side” of Sebastian, it didn’t ring true for most of the book. It felt like she was just doing things because the plot required it. I found myself groaning when the action moved from the contest to the heroine. Things finally improved slightly in the last section, but I just didn’t find this book successful as a romance. The contest was a really cool idea, though, and I wish it had featured a better heroine.

Although I'm not a huge fan of continuing series, I was just a little disappointed to discover that the contest was over within a single book. There were other contestants who were also interesting - Anne Mallory's web site doesn't say anything about future books, but it would be hard to write another book about the contest since it was fully resolved in this one.