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The Bartered Bride
Contract--one wife!Reid Kennard is a ruthless financier used to buying and selling stocks, shares and priceless artifacts. But now Reid has his eye on a very different acquisition--Francesca Turner.
Left destitute by her father's recent death, Francesca had walked into Reid's bank looking to extend her overdraft rather than for a marriage proposal! As Fran needs money and Reid needs a wife, he proposes the perfect barter: he'll rescue her and her family if she'll agree to marry him! But in this marriage of convenience can Fran ever be anything more than a bartered bride?
Of "A Marriage Has Been Arranged: "
"Talented writer Anne Weale's...masterful character development and charming scenes create a rich reading experience."
--"Romantic Times"
Left destitute by her father's recent death, Francesca had walked into Reid's bank looking to extend her overdraft rather than for a marriage proposal! As Fran needs money and Reid needs a wife, he proposes the perfect barter: he'll rescue her and her family if she'll agree to marry him! But in this marriage of convenience can Fran ever be anything more than a bartered bride?
Of "A Marriage Has Been Arranged: "
"Talented writer Anne Weale's...masterful character development and charming scenes create a rich reading experience."
--"Romantic Times"
ebook
First published August 1, 1998
About the author
Anne Weale
229 books49 followersJay Blakeney
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 3, 2022
The "hero" of this story is a banker who likes to collect all sorts of things: real estate, antiques, works of art, and now he wants to add a socialite wife of convenience to his collection. He actually proposes to the heroine by handing her a scrapbook with pictures of all the possessions he has accumulated over the years. Guess whose picture is on the last page???
Hero's bargain is that he is going to pay all her father's debts and ensure she and her widowed mom will continue to enjoy the lavish lifestyle they are accustomed to. In exchange, heroine will keep his bed warm and dutifully churn out heirs to preserve hero's long, illustrious line of English merchant bankers. Heroine puts up the required protestations before caving in pretty quickly.
She convinces herself she would never have let herself be bought like a cheap trinket if it weren't for saving her poor, frail mother. The old dear apparently is all set to suffer a nervous breakdown if she is evicted from their stately manor home, particularly the garden she has lovingly grown for decades, because she doesn't have any friends, and the only things she talks to are her plants. LOL Rich people problems!
On their honeymoon, hero is absolutely furious that the heroine turns out to be a virgin. He wanted a lady in the living room and a whore in the bedroom and he has no time to train a virgin for Pete'sake.
This basic asshole decides to change hotels and order a double room with two twin beds for the rest of their honeymoon because he is so horrified at her "deception" and the prospect of deflowering a virgin. LMAO. As he looks at his wife's long legs clad in tiny shorts and hiking boots, he reminisces about the short-term affair he had with a sexy French climber on a previous vacation, before she regretfully had to go back to her job. Such class...
They go on like this until thehorny self-sacrificing heroine finally ends up seducing him. Fortunately for hero, his virgin wife turns out to be one of those women with a natural aptitude for sex. Jackpot! (And totally believable). Now that the bedroom business is all set, time to turn to the emotional side of their marriage. Lucky for heroine, watching her husband dangle precariously while climbing a rock cliff triggers an epiphany: She luuuuurves him!!!
However, she is tortured by the BRAND NEW PIECE OF INFORMATION that this is a marriage of convenience only and the hero will never reciprocate her love. So our heroine runs away....
All the way...
Far, far away...
to…
his grandmother's house.
Unsurprisingly, he comes thundering after her. She very maturely hides in the pantry where lo and behold! She eavesdrop his very conveniently timed confession to his grandmother that he is in love with her too. Egads! Heroine burst out of her hiding place and they have a tearful reunion. But wait, there's more!
Hero has had another epiphany simultaneous to the one where he realized he was in luuuuuurve with his bought, formerly virgin and currently Sex Goddess wife of convenience. He wants to quit the banking business and become a full time professional climber. Heroine is eager to follow him to the ends of the earth in his pursuit of his dream, since she has no ambitions, interests or dreams of her own.
Blech :(
Hero's bargain is that he is going to pay all her father's debts and ensure she and her widowed mom will continue to enjoy the lavish lifestyle they are accustomed to. In exchange, heroine will keep his bed warm and dutifully churn out heirs to preserve hero's long, illustrious line of English merchant bankers. Heroine puts up the required protestations before caving in pretty quickly.
She convinces herself she would never have let herself be bought like a cheap trinket if it weren't for saving her poor, frail mother. The old dear apparently is all set to suffer a nervous breakdown if she is evicted from their stately manor home, particularly the garden she has lovingly grown for decades, because she doesn't have any friends, and the only things she talks to are her plants. LOL Rich people problems!
On their honeymoon, hero is absolutely furious that the heroine turns out to be a virgin. He wanted a lady in the living room and a whore in the bedroom and he has no time to train a virgin for Pete'sake.
This basic asshole decides to change hotels and order a double room with two twin beds for the rest of their honeymoon because he is so horrified at her "deception" and the prospect of deflowering a virgin. LMAO. As he looks at his wife's long legs clad in tiny shorts and hiking boots, he reminisces about the short-term affair he had with a sexy French climber on a previous vacation, before she regretfully had to go back to her job. Such class...
They go on like this until the
However, she is tortured by the BRAND NEW PIECE OF INFORMATION that this is a marriage of convenience only and the hero will never reciprocate her love. So our heroine runs away....
All the way...
Far, far away...
to…
his grandmother's house.
Unsurprisingly, he comes thundering after her. She very maturely hides in the pantry where lo and behold! She eavesdrop his very conveniently timed confession to his grandmother that he is in love with her too. Egads! Heroine burst out of her hiding place and they have a tearful reunion. But wait, there's more!
Hero has had another epiphany simultaneous to the one where he realized he was in luuuuuurve with his bought, formerly virgin and currently Sex Goddess wife of convenience. He wants to quit the banking business and become a full time professional climber. Heroine is eager to follow him to the ends of the earth in his pursuit of his dream, since she has no ambitions, interests or dreams of her own.
Blech :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
July 12, 2017The story reviews itself:
Expecting him to be a middle-aged toad, Francesca was surprised when the man who rose from behind the large orderly desk was a tall, dark thirtysomething, not precisely handsome but undeniably personable.
Reid "You're in trouble, I hear."
Francesca "Why did you send for me?"
Important to note: Her dirtbag father was in a financial mess and then he unexpectedly died leaving his family in debt.
Reid "I need a wife. You need financial support. I had you checked out, very discreetly, by a private detective. If you agree to marry me, your mother won't have to move and you won't have to worry about her future. I'll take care of that."
Francesca refused.
...the next evening, after showing up on her doorstep, unannounced:
Reid "I'll call you in the morning. After you've slept on the idea, you may find it more appealing."
Francesca "Thanks for the warning. I'll take the phone off the hook."
They live in Harlequin-land and get married. He expects sex and she is a virgin but she failed to tell him this. And she believes she loves her childhood friend even though the guy was clueless and married someone else.
Have I moved into HPlandia yet?
I promised myself I wouldn't write any spoilers though I am chomping at the bit to do so. Because of my decision, I feel I can't rate the story and I won't go overboard on my tags. If you love HP romances, read the story and then let me know what you think of it.
Expecting him to be a middle-aged toad, Francesca was surprised when the man who rose from behind the large orderly desk was a tall, dark thirtysomething, not precisely handsome but undeniably personable.
Reid "You're in trouble, I hear."
Francesca "Why did you send for me?"
Important to note: Her dirtbag father was in a financial mess and then he unexpectedly died leaving his family in debt.
Reid "I need a wife. You need financial support. I had you checked out, very discreetly, by a private detective. If you agree to marry me, your mother won't have to move and you won't have to worry about her future. I'll take care of that."
Francesca refused.
...the next evening, after showing up on her doorstep, unannounced:
Reid "I'll call you in the morning. After you've slept on the idea, you may find it more appealing."
Francesca "Thanks for the warning. I'll take the phone off the hook."
They live in Harlequin-land and get married. He expects sex and she is a virgin but she failed to tell him this. And she believes she loves her childhood friend even though the guy was clueless and married someone else.
Have I moved into HPlandia yet?
I promised myself I wouldn't write any spoilers though I am chomping at the bit to do so. Because of my decision, I feel I can't rate the story and I won't go overboard on my tags. If you love HP romances, read the story and then let me know what you think of it.
April 26, 2011
I really liked this one. I found the writing fresh and unpretentious. The characters are pretty likable, with realistic viewpoints. For her young age, Francesca has a very good head on her shoulders. She’s a very grounded young woman, and she’s no pushover. I like that she can and does stand up to Reid, who has a very forceful personality.
I appreciated getting Reid’s viewpoint in this story. He thought he had things all figured out. It’s funny that Francesca knows herself better than he does himself, even though he’s more than ten years older than her. She’s comfortable with who she is, and doesn’t need to put on facades or to live up to what other’s expectations of her were. Granted, Reid had a lot more responsibility on his shoulders at a younger age.
However, Francesca’s life wasn’t without its bumps, despite being the daughter of a rich businessman. Her father wasn’t a good father and certainly wasn’t a good husband, despite the outward appearances of being a generous man. He was a cheater, and the whole family knew it. It probably was part of why Francesca was sexually circumspect, although I believe she used her devotion/crush on Julian, the chauffeur’s son as an excuse. Deep down, I don’t think that was really her style, even though she didn’t think of herself as an old-fashioned girl.
Only one thing bugged me about this book:
A WTH moment was for me when he expected Francesca to sleep with him in his stuffy grandmother’s house before they were married. I think that would kill any girl’s libido, but that’s just me. In many ways, Reid was such a guy, for a banker type. But it turns out that he’s a lot more than that. I like the way hints are dropped about Reid being more than just a stuffy businessman throughout the story. Francesca and the reader come to a conclusion that Reid is more than he appears to be, and we turn out to be right.
I’m not sure I’ve read a lot of Anne Weale, but I forsee reading more of her books in my future. I found this book definitely worth my time. She’s a good writer.
Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.
I appreciated getting Reid’s viewpoint in this story. He thought he had things all figured out. It’s funny that Francesca knows herself better than he does himself, even though he’s more than ten years older than her. She’s comfortable with who she is, and doesn’t need to put on facades or to live up to what other’s expectations of her were. Granted, Reid had a lot more responsibility on his shoulders at a younger age.
However, Francesca’s life wasn’t without its bumps, despite being the daughter of a rich businessman. Her father wasn’t a good father and certainly wasn’t a good husband, despite the outward appearances of being a generous man. He was a cheater, and the whole family knew it. It probably was part of why Francesca was sexually circumspect, although I believe she used her devotion/crush on Julian, the chauffeur’s son as an excuse. Deep down, I don’t think that was really her style, even though she didn’t think of herself as an old-fashioned girl.
Only one thing bugged me about this book:
A WTH moment was for me when he expected Francesca to sleep with him in his stuffy grandmother’s house before they were married. I think that would kill any girl’s libido, but that’s just me. In many ways, Reid was such a guy, for a banker type. But it turns out that he’s a lot more than that. I like the way hints are dropped about Reid being more than just a stuffy businessman throughout the story. Francesca and the reader come to a conclusion that Reid is more than he appears to be, and we turn out to be right.
I’m not sure I’ve read a lot of Anne Weale, but I forsee reading more of her books in my future. I found this book definitely worth my time. She’s a good writer.
Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.
February 5, 2017
Genre: category romance
Sensuality: PG
Tags: older man (12 yrs), virgin h, MOC, the Pyrenees
Sensuality: PG
Tags: older man (12 yrs), virgin h, MOC, the Pyrenees
June 5, 2020
Contract—one wife!
Reid Kennard is a ruthless financier used to buying and selling stocks, shares and priceless artifacts. But now Reid has his eye on a very different acquisition—Francesca Turner.
Left destitute by her father's recent death, Francesca had walked into Reid's bank looking to extend her overdraft rather than for a marriage proposal! As Fran needs money and Reid needs a wife, he proposes the perfect barter: he'll rescue her and her family if she'll agree to marry him! But in this marriage of convenience can Fran ever be anything more than a bartered bride?
Reid Kennard is a ruthless financier used to buying and selling stocks, shares and priceless artifacts. But now Reid has his eye on a very different acquisition—Francesca Turner.
Left destitute by her father's recent death, Francesca had walked into Reid's bank looking to extend her overdraft rather than for a marriage proposal! As Fran needs money and Reid needs a wife, he proposes the perfect barter: he'll rescue her and her family if she'll agree to marry him! But in this marriage of convenience can Fran ever be anything more than a bartered bride?
August 6, 2026
3 stars
The Bartered Bride was an okay read, but it took me quite a while to become invested, and I never really warmed to the characters. By the end it felt less like an organically developed romance and more like a collection of ideas stitched together without a strong emotional foundation.
I kept reading because I enjoy the basic setup: an alpha, domineering hero who effectively buys himself a bride, only to discover she isn't quite what he expected and gradually falls for her. That sort of emotionally distant, controlling hero usually works very well for me.
Unfortunately, the execution didn't.
The heroine, Francesca, never became particularly relatable. She wasn't unlikeable, but she also didn't have many defining qualities beyond being a sheltered rich girl caught in difficult circumstances.
After her father dies, Francesca discovers he has left almost no money. She and her mother face losing their home, and Francesca is convinced the shock would seriously damage her mother's already fragile health.
The problem is that the book barely shows this supposed fragility. Her mother appears perfectly well throughout, so Francesca's motivation for accepting the hero's proposal never felt as compelling as it should have.
Reid is portrayed as one of life's great go-getters. When he wants something, he simply acquires it. After seeing photographs of Francesca in society magazines and commissioning an investigator to learn about her circumstances, he summons her to his office and proposes marriage.
They are complete strangers.
He bluntly explains that she needs money, he wants a wife, and he always gets what he wants. In return for solving her financial problems and saving her family home, she will marry him.
I found his motivation rather muddled.
If his primary concern is a physical relationship, why insist on marriage? We are later told he wants children before he becomes too old, yet by the end of the novel his great ambition is to abandon banking and become a mountaineer. The two goals never seem comfortably reconciled, making his motivations feel inconsistent.
Francesca initially tells him exactly where to go.
For reasons I never found especially convincing, however, she changes her mind surprisingly quickly.
Reid believes he is marrying an experienced society beauty.
In reality, Francesca is a virgin. She has loved her family's chauffeur's son since she was fifteen and had intended to marry him, only to discover that he has chosen another woman instead.
Unfortunately, this previous romance never carries much emotional weight. Rather than feeling like genuine heartbreak, it comes across as another plot device designed to make Francesca more sympathetic.
She mainly feels like a sheltered young woman who has drifted through life without developing many practical skills, ambitions or interests of her own. She isn't spoiled in an unpleasant way, but she often feels more like a decorative ornament than a fully realised character.
SPOILERS
After they marry, Reid takes her to France for their honeymoon.
Francesca hides the fact that she is a virgin, and when they are finally about to consummate the marriage she bursts into tears. Reid is unexpectedly kind, comforts her and simply tells her to sleep.
Various interruptions delay their first night together, but when he eventually discovers the truth about her virginity he reacts by storming out of the bedroom.
This entire sequence felt strangely artificial.
His anger never seemed to match either the situation or the emotional journey the novel had been building.
Part of his objection is that she deliberately allowed him to believe she was sexually experienced. Later he concludes that she must either be prudish or still in love with another man, and eventually learns it is the latter.
That is understandable.
What didn't work for me was the intensity and timing of his reaction.
By this point they had already shared considerable physical chemistry. They had kissed passionately, enjoyed extensive foreplay and clearly desired each other. His sudden outrage therefore felt disconnected from everything that had come before.
The bigger structural problem is that this central conflict arrives far too late.and is resolved too quickly.
From the blurb, I expected the story to revolve around Reid believing he had married an experienced woman, reacting badly when he discovered otherwise, and the emotional consequences of that misunderstanding.
Instead, the novel spends well over half its length reaching that point.
Much of the earlier story concerns wedding preparations, family introductions and minor tensions with Reid's relatives that never develop into meaningful conflicts. The pacing feels oddly delayed before finally arriving at the premise the book seemed to promise.
Once the misunderstanding is resolved, the remaining conflicts feel equally slight.
Francesca eventually sleeps with Reid, who rather absurdly concludes that she is simply one of those women who is naturally gifted in bed.
That felt ridiculous.
A young woman who is deeply attracted to her husband, guided by a confident and experienced partner, does not need to be portrayed as some kind of naturally gifted sexual prodigy. The whole idea felt artificial.
From there the story becomes largely about Francesca realising she has fallen in love with Reid while believing he feels only physical desire for her.
Again, the conflict never felt emotionally substantial. Most of it amounted to relatively minor misunderstandings and poor communication rather than genuine emotional obstacles.
The final storyline concerns Reid deciding he no longer wants to remain a banker because his true dream is mountaineering.
Once again, this seemed disconnected from everything established earlier. It simply became another plot thread rather than the natural culmination of his character arc.
By the ending I felt the novel never established a solid emotional foundation.
Rather than one central conflict developing naturally into the next, it felt like unrelated ideas being introduced one after another without fully connecting.
The romance itself never convinced me. I wasn't especially invested in whether Reid and Francesca reunited, and the ending left me largely indifferent.
I'm giving The Bartered Bride 3 stars. It wasn't a bad book, and I remained curious enough to finish it, but I never found it compelling. Too many character motivations felt underdeveloped, the central conflict arrived far too late, and the romance never came together in a way that felt emotionally authentic.
The Bartered Bride was an okay read, but it took me quite a while to become invested, and I never really warmed to the characters. By the end it felt less like an organically developed romance and more like a collection of ideas stitched together without a strong emotional foundation.
I kept reading because I enjoy the basic setup: an alpha, domineering hero who effectively buys himself a bride, only to discover she isn't quite what he expected and gradually falls for her. That sort of emotionally distant, controlling hero usually works very well for me.
Unfortunately, the execution didn't.
The heroine, Francesca, never became particularly relatable. She wasn't unlikeable, but she also didn't have many defining qualities beyond being a sheltered rich girl caught in difficult circumstances.
After her father dies, Francesca discovers he has left almost no money. She and her mother face losing their home, and Francesca is convinced the shock would seriously damage her mother's already fragile health.
The problem is that the book barely shows this supposed fragility. Her mother appears perfectly well throughout, so Francesca's motivation for accepting the hero's proposal never felt as compelling as it should have.
Reid is portrayed as one of life's great go-getters. When he wants something, he simply acquires it. After seeing photographs of Francesca in society magazines and commissioning an investigator to learn about her circumstances, he summons her to his office and proposes marriage.
They are complete strangers.
He bluntly explains that she needs money, he wants a wife, and he always gets what he wants. In return for solving her financial problems and saving her family home, she will marry him.
I found his motivation rather muddled.
If his primary concern is a physical relationship, why insist on marriage? We are later told he wants children before he becomes too old, yet by the end of the novel his great ambition is to abandon banking and become a mountaineer. The two goals never seem comfortably reconciled, making his motivations feel inconsistent.
Francesca initially tells him exactly where to go.
For reasons I never found especially convincing, however, she changes her mind surprisingly quickly.
Reid believes he is marrying an experienced society beauty.
In reality, Francesca is a virgin. She has loved her family's chauffeur's son since she was fifteen and had intended to marry him, only to discover that he has chosen another woman instead.
Unfortunately, this previous romance never carries much emotional weight. Rather than feeling like genuine heartbreak, it comes across as another plot device designed to make Francesca more sympathetic.
She mainly feels like a sheltered young woman who has drifted through life without developing many practical skills, ambitions or interests of her own. She isn't spoiled in an unpleasant way, but she often feels more like a decorative ornament than a fully realised character.
SPOILERS
After they marry, Reid takes her to France for their honeymoon.
Francesca hides the fact that she is a virgin, and when they are finally about to consummate the marriage she bursts into tears. Reid is unexpectedly kind, comforts her and simply tells her to sleep.
Various interruptions delay their first night together, but when he eventually discovers the truth about her virginity he reacts by storming out of the bedroom.
This entire sequence felt strangely artificial.
His anger never seemed to match either the situation or the emotional journey the novel had been building.
Part of his objection is that she deliberately allowed him to believe she was sexually experienced. Later he concludes that she must either be prudish or still in love with another man, and eventually learns it is the latter.
That is understandable.
What didn't work for me was the intensity and timing of his reaction.
By this point they had already shared considerable physical chemistry. They had kissed passionately, enjoyed extensive foreplay and clearly desired each other. His sudden outrage therefore felt disconnected from everything that had come before.
The bigger structural problem is that this central conflict arrives far too late.and is resolved too quickly.
From the blurb, I expected the story to revolve around Reid believing he had married an experienced woman, reacting badly when he discovered otherwise, and the emotional consequences of that misunderstanding.
Instead, the novel spends well over half its length reaching that point.
Much of the earlier story concerns wedding preparations, family introductions and minor tensions with Reid's relatives that never develop into meaningful conflicts. The pacing feels oddly delayed before finally arriving at the premise the book seemed to promise.
Once the misunderstanding is resolved, the remaining conflicts feel equally slight.
Francesca eventually sleeps with Reid, who rather absurdly concludes that she is simply one of those women who is naturally gifted in bed.
That felt ridiculous.
A young woman who is deeply attracted to her husband, guided by a confident and experienced partner, does not need to be portrayed as some kind of naturally gifted sexual prodigy. The whole idea felt artificial.
From there the story becomes largely about Francesca realising she has fallen in love with Reid while believing he feels only physical desire for her.
Again, the conflict never felt emotionally substantial. Most of it amounted to relatively minor misunderstandings and poor communication rather than genuine emotional obstacles.
The final storyline concerns Reid deciding he no longer wants to remain a banker because his true dream is mountaineering.
Once again, this seemed disconnected from everything established earlier. It simply became another plot thread rather than the natural culmination of his character arc.
By the ending I felt the novel never established a solid emotional foundation.
Rather than one central conflict developing naturally into the next, it felt like unrelated ideas being introduced one after another without fully connecting.
The romance itself never convinced me. I wasn't especially invested in whether Reid and Francesca reunited, and the ending left me largely indifferent.
I'm giving The Bartered Bride 3 stars. It wasn't a bad book, and I remained curious enough to finish it, but I never found it compelling. Too many character motivations felt underdeveloped, the central conflict arrived far too late, and the romance never came together in a way that felt emotionally authentic.
November 27, 2023
Sabe quando uma história é tão ruim, tão mal planejada que você é incapaz de largar o livro? Pois é esse aqui.
Lauren era uma herdeira rica que de repente se viu na miséria, mas... seus problemas acabaram! Charles Kennard oferece-se para comprá-la como esposa e depois de alguns protestos bem fracos, ela aceitou.
A coisa toda se torna ainda mais hilária durante a noite de núpcias quando Charles descobre que Lauren, horror dos horrores, é virgem e ele achou que tinha comprado uma puta (piada não proposital).
Não gaste seu dinheiro aqui, mas se gastou, divirta-se com o desastre.
Lauren era uma herdeira rica que de repente se viu na miséria, mas... seus problemas acabaram! Charles Kennard oferece-se para comprá-la como esposa e depois de alguns protestos bem fracos, ela aceitou.
A coisa toda se torna ainda mais hilária durante a noite de núpcias quando Charles descobre que Lauren, horror dos horrores, é virgem e ele achou que tinha comprado uma puta (piada não proposital).
Não gaste seu dinheiro aqui, mas se gastou, divirta-se com o desastre.
March 25, 2024
Okay this was a really short read and I have to review this because it took a turn at such a bizarre moment, it left me appalled. While it was decently paced for the first half of the book it felt so incredibly rushed once he found out she’s never slept with someone dAYS into their honeymoon. It was incredibly unbelievable I had to laugh. I felt this book needed at least another couple chapters since they decided to rush the emotional aspect of their relationship and took wAY too long to establish their physical— and it wasn’t even that worth it either.
January 19, 2025
Francesca Turner is in a pickle, used to being spoiled and well off when her father dies she finds out she and her mother are left with little.
In desperation she goes to see a financier, Reid Kennard.
Instead of financial advice he offers her a bargain, become his wife and he will look after her and her mother.
But can she become a bartered bride and marry where there is no love?
A good plot and characters, whimsical and romantic.
In desperation she goes to see a financier, Reid Kennard.
Instead of financial advice he offers her a bargain, become his wife and he will look after her and her mother.
But can she become a bartered bride and marry where there is no love?
A good plot and characters, whimsical and romantic.
October 12, 2020
OK but a little boring.
July 27, 2024
"The Bartered Bride" is the story of Francesca and Reid.
Very boring marriage of convenience story with loads of drama. I skimmed most of it.
Safe
2/5
Very boring marriage of convenience story with loads of drama. I skimmed most of it.
Safe
2/5
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January 23, 2018Una Proposición Sorprendente
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