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Celtic Legend #2

The Faery Bride

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Cursed by fate and hiding his scarred face behind a mask, medieval Welsh warrior Rhys ap Gruffydd abducts Aileen O'Conaire, a beautiful young woman whom he believes can heal him. Original.

344 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

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629 people want to read

About the author

Lisa Ann Verge

31 books110 followers
Lisa Ann Verge was a PhD candidate in organic chemistry when she began writing emotionally-intense romances about hot men and dangerous women and, as Lisa Verge Higgins, penning life-affirming, critically acclaimed women’s fiction. Published worldwide in eighteen languages, Lisa has earned a Bean Pot and a RITA nomination and is the winner of three Golden Leaf trophies and five RT Book awards. When not writing, she hunts wild mushrooms, studies Turkish, and keeps tabs on the antics of her three wild-and-talented daughters.

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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Donna Sweeney.
661 reviews15 followers
January 17, 2016
Kindly provided with an ARC by the author in exchange for an honest review.....

Absolutely Amazing !!!

This is Rhys and Aileen's story and it is book 2 in the series. Really quickly as honestly this book just needs to be read (and book one !)......Rhys is a Welsh Lord and has been cursed. Aileen is a poor peasant (Gah I hate that bleeding word, as if she is the lowest of the low) but it really is the only way to describe Aileen's background. Aileen lives with her parents and her siblings a simple life in Ireland.
Well Aileen has a "gift" she is a healer due to having fae blood in her. Rhys is told about her skills and he sets off to seek her aid.........well not so much seek, more like just take !! Rhys kidnaps her and this is where our tale begins.

Lisa Ann does a wonderful job of teasing you along this journey between Rhys and Aileen. I just cannot wax on enough how well she does this. There were so many times I mentally commanded Rhys just to show us his curse and give the full tale to Aileen so she could get on with the healing .......(we could also add a bit of ole Marvin Gays sexual healing as well ;0) ). Anyway, but nope.....didn't happen when I commanded.....how rude !!

I am actually glad Rhys decided to reveal to Aileen at the part he did and in the manner he did......Rhys's revelation had much more impact than when I wanted the job done !.

If you think for one second it was then a quick "hands on from Aileen and praise be Rhys has been healed" then you would be sooooo wrong !!. There was a much bigger issue that needed tackling !!....nope not saying any more on that subject xx
This was such a well written paranormal and historical romance it was like all my Christmas and Birthday treats rolled together !. I just NEED more......many more !!!

5 SPECTACULAR "Aileen the Red" Stars from me xx

A huge well done Lisa Ann x

Later peeps x
Profile Image for Karen Laird.
114 reviews4 followers
March 9, 2015
REVIEW

After weeks of “heavy”, although delightful, reading through some rather thick tombs of historical fiction, what a delight to take an afternoon and evening of a cold wet sleety day and curl up with one of my favorite authors. This time I went back and actually read her first publication from her college years…back when her head was still filled with chemistry formulas and other academia, though you would never know it to read this hot and steamy novel.
Set in Wales the end of the 1200s when England was still a wild land and the Throne of England did not truly include the land of Wales…There Once Was A Prince of Wales…. While a historical romance in its’ truest form, Faery Bride also was a bit of fantasy and enlarged on the strong superstitions of the local Welsh people of the era. Aileen, the young “doctor” or healer that was kidnapped from an island off the coast of Ireland and whisked away to the highlands of Wales to heal the Prince of the land, Rhys, was absconded because of the rumors of her healing skills beyond the “normal”. The Prince of the land had tried every healer and cure available for the last years to no avail and this was his last resort for a cure for the malady that had turned him from a tall handsome prince to a masked monster. In truth, she had come from an ancient line of healers and there was healing in her hands.
On the way to the healing, there was one small misadventure…Rhys was blindsided by Aileen’s beauty and instead of seeking healing, kidnaped her. Oops. One small descriptive about Aileen, she was a long tall red-headed firestorm (beauty is always in the mind of the beholder). Her temper and spirit matched her fiery mane and the rest of the delightful rollicking story kept me in stitches or fanning my fancy to the final pages as happily ever after finally came to the rescue of the remainder of castle and its population.
This earlier work was totally different from the modern women’s literature that Lisa has been writing in the last few years. Her personality and storyline were just as mesmerizing and entertaining as I rolled through the pages, figuratively and otherwise (smile wink). I look forward to Lisa continuing to re-release some of her original works for our continued enjoyment in the coming months. My smile will continue to widen in delight.

INTERVIEW
Hello Lisa, I love getting a chance to catch you between exciting books. Just a couple of questions.
Don’t you have a new book being released in a few days? Can you give us a blurb about it?

Hello, Karen, thanks so much for welcoming me to Shade Tree Book Reviews!
I do have a new book coming out, writing as Lisa Verge Higgins – another novel about the warmth and complexity of women’s lives and women’s friendships. SENSELESS ACTS OF BEAUTY is about three women—two high school friends who grew up in very different parts of their hometown, and the fourteen-year-old daughter one of them gave up for adoption.
Tess has a secret: For fifteen years she has been furtively following the life of the daughter she gave up as an infant for adoption. But when Sadie runs away from home determined to find her birth mother, Tess has no choice but to hunt down the desperate girl in the one place she dreads—Pine Lake, where a terrible, buried secret threatens to destroy them both.
It’s being released on March 10th, can’t wait!

Other than “because I needed to earn money”. What made you think to try your hand at writing a book in the middle of your post-graduate work? Geez, my daughter is in the middle of hers and she can’t see straight, she is so busy.
Graduate school is grueling, as your daughter knows, and I didn’t actually write while I was working on my Ph.D. It was only after I took a leave of absence that I put pen to paper (actually, fingers to manual-Smith-Corona! Anyone remembers those days?) Than the stories flooded out of me. I wrote with no expectation of publication, only to use the creative side of my brain which I’d apparently have to suppress while doing lab work, teaching introductory chemistry, and taking a few classes of my own. It was such a relief to have time to write!

What is the next book from your delightfully youthful and wicked past? How many did you write while you were in graduate school and just after, before “retiring”?
There’s an old story about Pavarotti. Apparently, he intended to become a teacher in his youth, but he loved to sing. So he studied and he sang and agonized about which career path to follow. He finally asked his father for advice. His father said: You can’t sit in two chairs.
Thankfully, Pavarotti sat in the right chair!
That’s sort of how I felt after I wrote (and sold) three historical romances. Should I stick with my stable job as a chemist? Or should I strike out and make a go at writing? Although I miss the lab now and again, I’ve never regretted my choice.
As for my next book from my wicked past . . .I recently released HEAVEN IN HIS ARMS, which is a twist on the mail-order bride theme set in colonial North America. Genny is a “King’s Girl,” one of dozens of women swept off the streets of Paris to be shipped to the colonies to marry settlers. Except the man she’s married off to is an explorer with big plans and no intention of settling. But city-smart, determined Genny has traveled across an ocean to start a new life, so she sets off into the wild to track him down.
How cool…new book on my stack J

With your wonderful recent success in Women’s fiction and literature, do you think you will ever be tempted to return to historical romance again? If so, What century would we find you in next?
Funny you should ask, because during a recent one-month writing challenge, I penned about a third of the sequel to The Faery Bride! It follows the adventures of Aileen’s dreamy, favored sister Cairenn, who stumbles across a mysterious man washed up on the shores of her island. It was a lot of fun to write!
That book – if I finish it! – will be the fourth installment in the Celtic Legends Series. I enjoyed returning to that world—the world of The Faery Bride, Twice Upon A Time, and The O’Madden—where there’s always love and magic in the air.
Something tells me, Lisa, that no matter what genre you tackle you would make it something that wraps around our hearts and minds and gives each of us readers a bad case of “gotta have more of this!”

Thank you for taking the time from your hectic schedule to once again drop by and say high. You are always welcome.

Thanks so much Karen! The pleasure is mine.
67 reviews
August 12, 2022
Rhys is a medieval Welsh lord with a mysteriously disfigured face that no amount of money and no healers seem to be able to cure. As a last resort, Rhys kidnaps Aileen from her island village in Ireland, bringing her to Wales in hopes that her reputation as a healer can help his affliction. Despite this beginning, Aileen is drawn to him, but she is unable to heal him. He thinks she is holding out on him. She believes that Rhys and his community have disrespected the land and invoked the wrath of the fae. I was surprised it took her as long as it did to figure out what had caused his affliction. It is sort of a Beauty and the Beast story, although Aileen believes she’s no beauty. I think her beauty is in her heart. Rhys certainly is reminiscent of the Beast in his behavior and attitude. It was an engaging story.
Profile Image for Eliska.
105 reviews2 followers
January 13, 2023
not for me

I had a hard time with this story. I just didn’t like the so-called hero. He was nothing but horrible to her until almost the last page. I don’t care how tormented he was, it doesn’t excuse his behavior. It really must have been the faery magic to make those two fall in love. Just once I’d like to read a story where the second-in-command gets the girl because he’s the better person. This would have been so much better had she chosen kind Dafydd.

If you like endless, remorseless lust and self-doubting women who fall for hulking men with nothing much to recommend them, you’ll probably like this. As for me, I was disappointed, especially after liking the first book so much.
Profile Image for Holly Bargo.
Author 42 books145 followers
November 25, 2020
Beautifully written

Beautifully written with a lyrical, poetic turn of phrase, this story unrolls like mist through enchanted hills and valleys. Because it's a romance, we know the inevitable destination, however the journey is well worth reading. This author has a true gift for storytelling.
323 reviews4 followers
May 27, 2022
Nicely Paced and A Page Turner

What’s a red headed young woman with a fairie gift for healing to do when she meets a disfigured prince who needs her healing but instead of asking for her help kidnaps her instead? To make matters worse, he inadvertently becomes the man of her dreams yet stubbornly doesn’t share her beliefs? What a conundrum.
Profile Image for iStarr.
111 reviews5 followers
September 10, 2024
Captivating!

The first book in the series was Meh!😑 This second book was amazingly well written. A ‘Beauty and the Beast’ tale of an Irish healer and a leper Lord of Wales.

Truly a good read that I had a difficult time putting down. I read it in less than a day.

Admittedly, the faery stuff is redundant. Who doesn’t love stories of magic and triumph?
Profile Image for teri jones.
10 reviews
October 18, 2019
I’m hooked on this series ! I truly feel like I know these characters. It’s fast paced , entertaining , and believable.
I appreciate the research into the language and culture. Well worth a read.
Profile Image for Kaitlin.
73 reviews16 followers
June 24, 2024
Holy Moly, I actually won a giveaway!

Ok. So now time for my review!

So this book wasn't the best thing I've ever read, nor was it the worst. It was that kind of book that you read on a rainy day when you have nothing better to do.The story had a "beauty and the beast" quality to it and I'm sure that was very intentional by the author.

If I could describe the book in one word it would be "cliche"

We've got the main character Alieen is the typical plain jane who somehow attracts the attention of the main love interest

Rhys is the big tough guy with a complex who is smitten with the fiery, quick witted main gal.

They somehow magically fall in love and everything works out in the end

I pretty much knew how this book was going to end right away. It was pretty dang obvious. [again: see "beauty and the beast"]

I think my main issue with the book was that I really, really hated Rhys. He was a pretentious, selfish idoit and I just couldn't warm to him. This maybe has something to do with the fact that I hate meaty, huge guys. I like me some thin, scrawny boys (again, this maybe from my obsession with manga, but that is a topic for another day). Even when Rhys had his cliche epiphany, I still didn't like him *shrugs*

Aileen was a strong, feisty woman and I appreciated that. I'm really into strong heroines and loved that she spoke her mind.

All in all, this book was a decent read and I'm glad I read it.
Profile Image for kreekree.
84 reviews1 follower
January 5, 2015
Another Amazon freebie that was fairly well written. I was thinking that I was on a lucky streak getting some pretty good reads from Amazon, but apparently this book was originally written in 1996 and was probably sold for profit beforehand.

Rhys is a lord in Wales with an affliction on his skin that is spreading slowly. Hearing about Aileen's mystical ability to heal against all odds, he kidnaps her so that she will heal him. Rhys is your typical "I know what's best" noble, though with a deep, tortured side. Aileen is a good match for him because of her fiery, stubborn nature who doesn't give up on him. It was interesting seeing them pitted together.

There is some fae magic involved, but not the glitz and glamour that we are used to with "Harry Potter"-style. All magic mentioned in the plot are more subtle, and describe magic as more of a "feeling" or a "sense." So if you are looking for incantations or spells or things blowing up, you may be in for a disappointment. But the author does a pretty good job making the fantasy backdrop a plausible stage in which those living in it are affected.

Profile Image for Karen.
207 reviews
May 9, 2016
I had marked this book to read nearly two years ago, and never bothered to take the time to download a copy and read it until recently. Now I wish I'd read it years ago. This was by far one of the best books I've ever read. The writing was unique, yet quick paced and intriguing. The characters, Rhys and Aileen wrenched my heart all the way through. And the actual storyline and associated romance were unique and perfect. I loved the idea of Aileen being kidnapped by a "monster" of a man, with each having their own faults and each having their own saving graces. Very beautifully written, and with great romance between the two.
Profile Image for Sherry.
346 reviews8 followers
December 9, 2014
TOUCH

A woman who only wants to be accepted, not only for herself but desired as well. She thinks she is just plain, lanky, with wild crazy red hair. But she has magic, but only for those who seek her out, whether intentionally or otherwise.

Can she heal a man who will not believe in what is right in front of him?

I don't know to me this was a heart wrenching story, She wants to feel the ocean breeze, he wants to feel....

Thank you for a delightful story.
Profile Image for Rita.
31 reviews
August 11, 2015
I won a signed copy of this book on the Goodreads Giveaway. I normally don't read Romance but this book was classified as Historical Romance. I absolutely love Historical Fiction and I figured I would enjoy it. I was pleasantly surprised! A quick, entertaining read...with just the right touch of fairy-tale romance amid Welsh history! Truly enjoyed it!
Thank you Lisa Ann Verge!
5 reviews
January 27, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this book- for me the character development kept my attention (although it was subtle it definitely occurred throughout the book), the characters themselves were captivating- especially Rhys- and the book was a very easy read (although obviously not for children).
Would recommend!
4 reviews9 followers
March 24, 2015
I just finished this book, and oh my goodness, I could not put it down! I was so excited to win a copy, and that excitement just grew as I got wrapped up in this story. If you believe in magic, and the power of love, get lost in these characters you won't regret it!
Profile Image for A.R. Von.
Author 32 books1,177 followers
November 19, 2014
I enjoyed this magical 'Beauty and the Beast' romance very much. It actually left me wanting more :)
It's fun, exciting, touching and all in all, a memorable story that many fans of the genre will enjoy!
Profile Image for Kathy Brickert.
3,517 reviews17 followers
January 24, 2017
Wonderful tale!

I really enjoyed this second book in the series. This follows the oldest daughter born to the couple in the first book, Connor and Deirdre. More fairy magic, more adventure and a dose of romance make this one a keeper. Good read!
80 reviews2 followers
November 17, 2016
Loved It!

I could not put down. The interaction between the two main characters was believable and tragic at the same time.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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