Marcus Weatherton, the Duke of Autenberry, desperate to
leave London behind him, got himself into a spot of trouble,
and woke up in gaol, filthy and reeking of horse dung.
Still, he must reach his estate in Kilmarkie, near
Inverness. On his way, he is utterly shocked to witness a
wife auction. Alyse Bell had an agreement with her friend
Yardley that he would buy her, but he is not there, and she
is terrified of the prospective grooms ogling her. She sees
what might have been her last chance at freedom evaporate
before her very eyes. Marcus, who has two sisters, cannot
abide to let the poor woman to this horrible fate and buys
her with the intent to release as soon as he can. Alas,
Alyse has nowhere to go, and so Marcus, who is not known for
his tender heart, will see to Alyse's safety. It will only
be for a short while, after all.
Before you roll your eyes at the premise, wife auctions were
a fact, once upon a time, and Sophie Jordan does a terrific
job! I expected a lot from this story, and THE DUKE BUYS A
BRIDE succeeds beyond my wildest imaginings. There are
several startling turns of events, the story is fast paced
and well balanced, and the romance progressed very
convincingly. I loved how Marcus and Alyse interacted: they
were uncomfortable at the situation they found themselves
in; they remained civil to each other, and they weren't
consumed instantly by an uncontrollable lust, which was one
of the highlights of the romance, but when lust hits, hang
on to your fans! Alyse was in a desperate situation but she
behaved rationally, waiting to see how her "Not Husband"
acted before she decided on what to do next: leave or stay
with him, and I admired her for it; in this, she differs
greatly from a majority of heroines. Marcus is a marvel of
complexity: he is not a happy man, he never wanted to
acquire a wife this way, and he never thought he had it in
him to take care of a woman in need. He is undemonstrative,
aloof; it's how he has learned to cope with what life dealt
him.
THE DUKE BUYS A BRIDE was everything I hoped for and so much
more! It was devoid of all the clichés I thought I would
encounter, and Sophie Jordan demonstrates once again her
ability to weave exciting, original, and oh so romantic, tales!
The last thing Marcus, the Duke of Autenberry, expects to
see after sleeping off a night’s drunken shenanigans is a
woman being auctioned in the village square. Before he can
think about the ramifications, he buys her, thinking he’s
winning the girl her freedom. Instead, he discovers he’s
bought a wife.
A duke wasn’t in hers . . .
Alyse Bell is almost rid of the shackles that bound her in
a name-only marriage, but the day her friend promised to
purchase her in a wife auction, he vanishes, leaving her to
face a mob of unsavory bachelors intent on owning her body
and soul. But the appearance of a wicked, wealthy stranger
changes her path forever.
The road to ruin . . .
Marcus doesn’t know what to do with the impertinent chit
who clearly isn’t duchess material! Insisting their
marriage isn’t legitimate, they leave for his estate in
Scotland, hoping to devise a plan to get rid of each other.
However, on a journey fraught with misadventure, their
attraction grows and Marcus realizes he’ll do anything to
keep this fiery woman for his own.
This one is definitely going on the list to be read very soon. I've read just recently about wife auctions and it interested me. This marriage of inconvenience should prove fun! (Cynthia Netherton 9:20pm July 17, 2018)
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