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Bayou Bride
Sherry Mason fully intended to refuse the plea of her weak-willed friend, Paul Villeré, that she be his pretend fiancée during a visit to his Louisiana home. Let him stand up to his arrogant older brother Lucien and refuse to marry the girl chosen for him! But that was before she received the late-night phone call from Lucien and heard his scathing opinion of her character and relationship with Paul.
Still, she underestimates Lucien's determination to prevent her appearance at the family gathering -- until he spirits her away to an isolated bayou mansion. To submit to this abduction is impossible; Sherry makes every effort to thwart Lucien's plan. But how can she escape the unwilling desires of her own heart?
Still, she underestimates Lucien's determination to prevent her appearance at the family gathering -- until he spirits her away to an isolated bayou mansion. To submit to this abduction is impossible; Sherry makes every effort to thwart Lucien's plan. But how can she escape the unwilling desires of her own heart?
182 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 28, 1979
36 people are currently reading
211 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Blake
174 books542 followersA pseudonym used by Patricia Maxwell.
Jennifer Blake has been called a “pioneer of the romance genre”, and an “icon of the romance industry.” A New York Times and international best selling author since 1977, she is a charter member of Romance Writers of America, member of the RWA Hall of Fame, and recipient of the RWA Lifetime Achievement Rita. She holds numerous other honors, including two “Maggies”, two Holt Medallions, multiple Reviewer’s Choice Awards, the Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times BookReviews Magazine, and the Frank Waters Award for literary excellence. She has written over 60 books with translations in 20 languages and more than 30 million copies in print worldwide.
Jennifer and her husband reside in a lakeside Caribbean-style retreat in North Louisiana where they often entertain family and friends. Always a gardener, she spends much of her time encouraging her garden to bloom with her favorite daylilies and antique roses. She also enjoys walking her two dogs, Buffy and Lucky, and indulging in needlework, painting, and travel.
Jennifer Blake has been called a “pioneer of the romance genre”, and an “icon of the romance industry.” A New York Times and international best selling author since 1977, she is a charter member of Romance Writers of America, member of the RWA Hall of Fame, and recipient of the RWA Lifetime Achievement Rita. She holds numerous other honors, including two “Maggies”, two Holt Medallions, multiple Reviewer’s Choice Awards, the Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times BookReviews Magazine, and the Frank Waters Award for literary excellence. She has written over 60 books with translations in 20 languages and more than 30 million copies in print worldwide.
Jennifer and her husband reside in a lakeside Caribbean-style retreat in North Louisiana where they often entertain family and friends. Always a gardener, she spends much of her time encouraging her garden to bloom with her favorite daylilies and antique roses. She also enjoys walking her two dogs, Buffy and Lucky, and indulging in needlework, painting, and travel.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 24, 2017
Everything I despise in a romance. The story would have been unacceptable in a historical setting, but in a modern one is simply ugly.
Hated the boring details, and even more the heroine. I wanted to murder her slowly and painfully. Hey, I'm brutal, I know, but if other readers can dream their book boyfriend, why can't I dream to be Dexter? *grin*
Read again in 2017. I think a bonfire of this kind of books should (almost) be welcome. As I said before ugly. Heroine is detestable in her lack of brain and spine. Pride might be a sin, but a total lack of it it's way worse.
Hated the boring details, and even more the heroine. I wanted to murder her slowly and painfully. Hey, I'm brutal, I know, but if other readers can dream their book boyfriend, why can't I dream to be Dexter? *grin*
Read again in 2017. I think a bonfire of this kind of books should (almost) be welcome. As I said before ugly. Heroine is detestable in her lack of brain and spine. Pride might be a sin, but a total lack of it it's way worse.
August 22, 2017
Sherry Mason comes across as a normal girl who finds herself in an abnormal situation when her friend Paul presents her to his older brother Lucien as a fiance.
Leaving St. Louis to fly to New Orleans in support of Paul she never expected she would end up at the mercy of Lucien when he decides to step in and keep the pair apart.
The predictability of what happens next was inevitable but the real fly in the ointment was Lucien himself with his high-handed treatment of Sherry which did not lend me favorably to her falling in love with him despite his sometimes unforgivable treatment of her.
The message sent in this story is not exactly one of romance to me it is more like an abuse of power in the name of love, which does not jive together at all.
I did love the setting, especially the Bayou Plantation and the sight seeing scenes in New Orleans were interesting as well but did not make up for other shortcomings in the story.
Leaving St. Louis to fly to New Orleans in support of Paul she never expected she would end up at the mercy of Lucien when he decides to step in and keep the pair apart.
The predictability of what happens next was inevitable but the real fly in the ointment was Lucien himself with his high-handed treatment of Sherry which did not lend me favorably to her falling in love with him despite his sometimes unforgivable treatment of her.
The message sent in this story is not exactly one of romance to me it is more like an abuse of power in the name of love, which does not jive together at all.
I did love the setting, especially the Bayou Plantation and the sight seeing scenes in New Orleans were interesting as well but did not make up for other shortcomings in the story.
October 6, 2019
Waaaaay too many incorrect words. They were spelled correctly (thank you, spell check) but they were the wrong words. A good proof reader should have caught these errors.
February 23, 2020
Great narrator, great location but I was not interested in the couple. The romance was lacking, the history of the region was not rich enough to fall in love with such a cultural wealth area.
February 26, 2020
VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS STORY.
October 22, 2012
I enjoyed this one, even though it was a bit contrived at times. Picked it up on a Kindle giveaway and really glad I did because it introduced me to a new author.
In Bayou Bride the heroine Sherry is convinced by her friend and sometimes casual date Paul to pose as his fiancee so he can dodge an engagement he entered into as a very young man. She agrees, but with misgivings. Her fake fiancee's older brother Lucien wants him to honor his obligation, or at least give the girl he once loved a chance. When Sherry arrives in New Orleans to help Paul scotch the engagement, Lucien kidnaps her and absconds to a remote bayou retreat where they proceed to become attracted to one another with the expected escape attempts and building sexual tension.
A quick, easy read, with light romance. The story is a tad farfetched, and the characters could have been more developed, but overall well written and entertaining.
In Bayou Bride the heroine Sherry is convinced by her friend and sometimes casual date Paul to pose as his fiancee so he can dodge an engagement he entered into as a very young man. She agrees, but with misgivings. Her fake fiancee's older brother Lucien wants him to honor his obligation, or at least give the girl he once loved a chance. When Sherry arrives in New Orleans to help Paul scotch the engagement, Lucien kidnaps her and absconds to a remote bayou retreat where they proceed to become attracted to one another with the expected escape attempts and building sexual tension.
A quick, easy read, with light romance. The story is a tad farfetched, and the characters could have been more developed, but overall well written and entertaining.
October 27, 2012
This story had pluses and minuses. One plus that kept me reading was the fantastic descriptions of New Orleans and the Bayou. It became in my thinking a most beautiful place. However, the sentences went against every writing rule I have studied. There was too much use of "be" verbs (had, has been, was, were). There were also telling verbs such as "felt" and "begun to" throughout the book. The over-abundance of these really hurt the story tremendously. The plot itself was a bit vague. I was confused at times by the language as to exactly what Sherry or Lucien were saying to each other, especially in some of her personal thoughts. The romance itself was very clean, which I appreciated. There wasn't as strong of an attraction between the characters as I like, but this was, again, probably because of the poor sentence structure. Overall a so-so read.
January 30, 2013
This was another Amazon freebie. I actually liked this one much more than most freebies lately thought its not saying much.. I loved the descriptions of New Orleans and the bayou. I’ve never been (it’s on my bucket list) but I felt like I was there. I also feel I should point out I’m territorial over things like New Orleans in the fact that I love it so much, and if you can’t do the area justice with a good description, you lose a star automatically. The grammar needs adjustment, and by that I mean a completely different editor. Or just an editor in general, as I’m thinking the author might have self published without one?
So other drawbacks? The story is a bit vague- and the romance is a little too clean for my liking sometimes, but overall it’s not bad. I mean I don’t think I’d BUY it, but hey, it was a freebie so I don’t think I’ll complain too hard.
So other drawbacks? The story is a bit vague- and the romance is a little too clean for my liking sometimes, but overall it’s not bad. I mean I don’t think I’d BUY it, but hey, it was a freebie so I don’t think I’ll complain too hard.
June 24, 2013
Not sure what to think of this story. I read it because it satisfies a requirement in the Goodreads RT Convention Author challenge. Basically, the premise is off. Now I realize that this was originally published in 1978 but still. There is actually a reference to "stopping milk delivery" which I found odd because no one I know was still having milk delivered in 1978...1968 probably but not 1978. The pretend finace thing isn't the issue but I think the extremes that Lucien went to and Sherry's acceptance were what put me off.
June 23, 2013
I did like this story but I did find it to be very implausible and anti-climatic at times. Events that could have pulled emotions and extended interest seemed to have fallen flat which is quite disappointing as the potential is there. The characters are good but not remarkable and it just seemed that whenever Lucien kissed her, she never responded, yet she fell in love with him...?
It's the first book i've read by Jennifer Blake and I'm hoping her others are more developed. If not, I'm not going to even bother with the other freebies of hers that I picked up from Amazon.
It's the first book i've read by Jennifer Blake and I'm hoping her others are more developed. If not, I'm not going to even bother with the other freebies of hers that I picked up from Amazon.
October 23, 2012
A good read.I finished reading in one night.From the start to the end,I was so involved in this story wondering when the hero Lucien will realize that the heroine Sherry is not engaged to his brother Paul and she is not the type of the person he just assume. Love the intense moments between them.And mostly the ending too.:)
March 10, 2015
Meh. She's had better.
Also, some of the content is dated (one can tell it is not within the past 20 years, at least) ... such as the portrayal and inner monologue regarding women's roles in society.
Anyway, it was quicker to get through than usual for her books, probably due to not being the thorough historical fiction she tends to write.
Also, some of the content is dated (one can tell it is not within the past 20 years, at least) ... such as the portrayal and inner monologue regarding women's roles in society.
Anyway, it was quicker to get through than usual for her books, probably due to not being the thorough historical fiction she tends to write.
March 31, 2016
This was an exciting story about a girl who agrees to help one brother out but who lands up being kidnapped by his older brother.
It tells of the cat and mouse game between them and how they gradually fall in love.
It is beautifully written and the narration of the audiobook enhances and embraces the story. A great marriage of very talented people!
It tells of the cat and mouse game between them and how they gradually fall in love.
It is beautifully written and the narration of the audiobook enhances and embraces the story. A great marriage of very talented people!
May 22, 2013
The descriptions of places/scenes were great, but kind of ran on and on... Overall flow was ok,randomly paced...
March 7, 2013
I started this right after I read The Royal Seduction. It was a complete 180 degree turn! I found this book sweetly romantic and satisfying from beginning to end.
June 28, 2015
I know I can always count on Jennifer Blake to write a good book and this book is no exception.
June 3, 2015
just ok. No vivid sex scenes....kinda disappointed about that.
October 31, 2016
review coming
kindle-i-own-to-read
October 17, 2012Amazon Freebie 10/17/2012
November 2, 2012
bah wasn't interesting at all but what do you expect from a free book
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews