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Bridgethorpe Brides #1
His Impassioned Proposal
Librarian's note: This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN: B009I41WB0.
Book Length: Novella
She's ready to love...
Jane Marwick has waited six years for the man she hopes to marry to return from the war and propose to her.
The wounded hero comes home...
When Stephen Lumley finally speaks his heart, he is so far in his cups as to not remember the event the next morning. It's not the beginning he'd planned.
Can he ever live down his impassioned proposal?
Jane fears she has wasted her love on the wrong man. Stephen isn't sure he's capable of being a good husband to any woman, but he only has a few months to convince himself and Jane he is worthy of her love, or she'll be off to London to find a man who is. He's not certain what his future will bring, only that he needs Jane in it.
Book Length: Novella
She's ready to love...
Jane Marwick has waited six years for the man she hopes to marry to return from the war and propose to her.
The wounded hero comes home...
When Stephen Lumley finally speaks his heart, he is so far in his cups as to not remember the event the next morning. It's not the beginning he'd planned.
Can he ever live down his impassioned proposal?
Jane fears she has wasted her love on the wrong man. Stephen isn't sure he's capable of being a good husband to any woman, but he only has a few months to convince himself and Jane he is worthy of her love, or she'll be off to London to find a man who is. He's not certain what his future will bring, only that he needs Jane in it.
105 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 26, 2012
57 people are currently reading
252 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 25, 2013
The author is obviously a talented wordsmith, as long as you don't stop to consider what a totally selfish scrunt the heroine is. Jane was such a dipstick that she ruined any other good points the story had and really necessitates a whole new category of despicable romance heroines below the Too Dumb To Live stereotype--one that includes at least one swear word. Wounded warrior, Stephen, drags his pain-wracked body home expecting a joyous homecoming and finds out that his home had just burned, killing both his parents. He gets drunk during the uncle's party on the heels of his only brother's death (see, Regency decorum says to proceed with a party while in mourning as long as the bodies are still warm and the invitations are already sent...ooo-kay) and proposes to Jane. Because the fact that she felt the proposal wasn't romantic enough matters more to her (and apparently his callous family) than such silly unimportant trivialities as pain, disability, and death, she decides she can never marry him because he is just like her abusive, drunken uncle. Huh? She grew up with this guy, knows he is a total sweetheart, but she is such a narcissistic bimbo that the only thing that matters in her shallow world is that on one occasion during a moment of intense despair he inadvertently hurt her teensy feelings! Had to re-read that scene to see if I missed anything...nope. She actually gets worse. The obnoxious Jane decides that she'll go to London and hunt down a stranger she doesn't love to marry, even if she has no idea if the stranger might be a covert drunken gambler who tortures puppies, at least he won't be Stephen, who is now a committed teetotaler to prove to her that the one mistake he made during the throes of agony was a fluke. This is just the beginning; we still have the rest of the novella for her to find even crazier excuses to abuse him. On the plus side, the writing style is pleasant, all the other characters were exceptionally well developed with rich dialogue and personality (except for one really ridiculous scene when the rest of his family acted as callous as Jane, abusing the seriously bereaved Stephen over his not giving the skank a romantic enough proposal while still in shock over his beloved parents' brutal deaths--huh!), Stephen and David were such adorable sweeties, and even though the heroine was a stupid narcissistic dipstick, she had a sane mother, father, and best friend who told her as much, although it didn't sink in. After such a beginning, the only thing that could make this novella salvageable would be if sweet Stephen grew a pair and just told Jane, "so long B****, I gotta go marry a sane woman with a brain and heart." Dare we hope?
March 20, 2014
Stephen Lumley has returned from the wars scarred in body and scarred in spirit. He arrives at Bridgethorpe to see his family only to learn that his parents perished in a devastating fire the day before. He had hoped to marry the beautiful Jane Marwick, his childhood friend and neighbor, but now has has nothing to offer. His depression makes him drink too much and when Jane finds him having a pity party for one in his uncle's study, she is not amused. Jane tries to make Stephen be sensible and see how much he means to her, but he's too far in his cups and ends up offending Jane. Jane is devastated. She realizes she may have made Stephen into a hero of her imagination. She has held on to his memory for too long and rejected all other suitors. She now resigns herself to finding any husband that will suit. Stephen, realizing his mistake (with the help of his cousins), knows he has an uphill battle to win Jane's heart. Something is holding her back and he's determined to overcome whatever it is and be the husband of her dreams. It may be an uphill battle, but he knows she's the one for him.
This novella introduces characters that will appear later in the series. I liked the Lumley family very much, especially the silly, spunky Hannah. They're all such a loving family and rally around Stephen, yet they're comfortable enough with each other to tell it like it is. Stephen needs to hear that. He's a wounded soul who needs to get back to as normal a life as possible. He's an admirable man and I liked him. I just didn't love him. Jane is sensible and kind. She has scruples and I admire them. I would probably feel the same way and fear the same things in her situation. She seems like a nice girl, but there's no chemistry between she and Stephen. They knew each other as children but there's really nothing that suggests they're in love or why. The story is just too short to build a relationship naturally. Months go by without any plot and suddenly Stephen is his old self trying to woo Jane. I liked the inclusion of the politics of the time but it felt a bit out of place in such a short book. I think the story deserved more than it was given. It is similar to a Carla Kelly plot and could have made a nice full length novel. I liked it well enough but not enough to want to read David's story or any more about the Lumleys.
This novella introduces characters that will appear later in the series. I liked the Lumley family very much, especially the silly, spunky Hannah. They're all such a loving family and rally around Stephen, yet they're comfortable enough with each other to tell it like it is. Stephen needs to hear that. He's a wounded soul who needs to get back to as normal a life as possible. He's an admirable man and I liked him. I just didn't love him. Jane is sensible and kind. She has scruples and I admire them. I would probably feel the same way and fear the same things in her situation. She seems like a nice girl, but there's no chemistry between she and Stephen. They knew each other as children but there's really nothing that suggests they're in love or why. The story is just too short to build a relationship naturally. Months go by without any plot and suddenly Stephen is his old self trying to woo Jane. I liked the inclusion of the politics of the time but it felt a bit out of place in such a short book. I think the story deserved more than it was given. It is similar to a Carla Kelly plot and could have made a nice full length novel. I liked it well enough but not enough to want to read David's story or any more about the Lumleys.
February 20, 2014
I agree with reviewer lola4. This story just did not grab me like the others because the heroine was so unbelievably unsympathetic. The only thing she can think about is receiving a romantic proposal from a guy she hasn't seem since she was 14, and when the guy comes back from 6 years of war, scarred and weary, only to learn his parents died in a fire and his home is destroyed, and she expects him to spout pretty words?! Are you insane? The poor guy can barely take it all in and the heroine is too juvenile to see it or support him. There were so many other ways this story could have played out, and it disgusts me that there are so many books out there with this same storyline (Joan Wolf's His Lordship's Desire was like this--the guy even offered a romantic proposal and she still was mad at him...WTF authors?!) anyway, Why the poor guy even bothers to care is beyond me. Did not finish.
February 9, 2015
DO NOT DRINK AND PROPOSE..........
The young, recently returned from war to find his parents dead, scarred (and scared) David Lumley is intent on drinking himself to a haze, when the woman he loves interrupts him. unfortunately, alcohol does have a tendancy to lower inhibitions, and he makes a total -- well, let's just say, he really hurts his chances.
The characters are loveable and well-filled, the locales nicely described. I was very impressed, for example, with the description of the burnt house...
This is a relatively short story, but I still cried at the end (that is a compliment, the highest I can give.)
The young, recently returned from war to find his parents dead, scarred (and scared) David Lumley is intent on drinking himself to a haze, when the woman he loves interrupts him. unfortunately, alcohol does have a tendancy to lower inhibitions, and he makes a total -- well, let's just say, he really hurts his chances.
The characters are loveable and well-filled, the locales nicely described. I was very impressed, for example, with the description of the burnt house...
This is a relatively short story, but I still cried at the end (that is a compliment, the highest I can give.)
October 23, 2013
I'm sad to say I was bored to tears. Jumbled in historical detail and language, nothing really caught my attention. The only redeeming feature was the scarred hero, and even this perk wasn't played to full effect.
November 9, 2023
This is a quick but good read! The heroine knew the hero her whole life and knew at the age of 15 she would marry him someday. Then Stephen goes to the continent to fight with Wellington then everything changes. He gets hurt and disfigured and the day before he comes home his parents die in a fire. He pushes her away and she begins to doubt that he is the same man who left. Heartwarming. R. K. Carulli
July 8, 2024
Both main characters have traumatic pasts and are currently working through it while trying to go forward from their childhood affection. Love would give them strength to overcome, if they only realize it in time. Short and encouraging tale of love and healing.
November 19, 2013
Aileen Fish is really talented at world building, so I'm not sure why she wrote this as a novella without the space to develop the romance between the wounded war hero Captain Lumley and his childhood friend Jane Marwick. The manufactured obstacle preventing Jane from accepting Lumley () wasn't really necessary, since they hadn't seen each other for two years and had only really known each other as children. There was surely enough to overcome just in that to provide tension between their desire to be together and their current circumstances. It looks like this was designed to be a free novella that entices people to buy the subsequent books, and I did find the background characters and the unresolved mystery of the lost prize horse a lot more interesting than the central romance, but not interesting enough for me to consider buying the next entry in the Bridgethorpe Brides.
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December 9, 2016I love stories that have a wounded hero returning home and this one was good. I liked how everyone was like a huge family and knew that they were meant to be together and tried to help. It covers a few months, but it's not jumpy and flows nicely.
Jane is a sweet girl that has always loved Stephen, but something she witnessed in the past and seeing him drunks causes fear to come between them. I liked her, but also didn't like her because she kind of played with him by going back and forth.
Stephen is a wounded man physically and emotionally. He comes backs wounded thinking no woman would have him and then is hit with more bad new that sends him into his cups. He had to prove to himself that he was worth something.
Jane is a sweet girl that has always loved Stephen, but something she witnessed in the past and seeing him drunks causes fear to come between them. I liked her, but also didn't like her because she kind of played with him by going back and forth.
Stephen is a wounded man physically and emotionally. He comes backs wounded thinking no woman would have him and then is hit with more bad new that sends him into his cups. He had to prove to himself that he was worth something.
July 26, 2015
I love historical romance and this book didn't disappoint me. From the first page I loved Stephen and he has so much to overcome, but before he can catch his breath from all that has happened while he at war, his childhood love, Jane, enters the room and nothing else matters. If only she had stayed away until he was sober and ready to face the world, so they could be together once and for all.
I hope you read it I really enjoyed it.
I hope you read it I really enjoyed it.
November 8, 2015
To tell the truth, I was a little disappointed with this novella. Perhaps, because it was a novella. It felt as if it was too quick to draw to a close and that there could have been so much more to tell. I realize that this is just a precursor to the rest of the Brigethorpe Brides series, but I really liked these characters, and I felt as if I wasn't getting the whole story. I really like the way Fish tells a story though, so I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
July 27, 2016
This was a very well written romance. When Stephen is drowning his sorrows, and in his cups, he botches the long awaited proposal to his childhood love, Jane. She has had a bad experience with a drunken man, and suddenly finds herself questioning the man she thought she knew. It is up to Stephen to earn her love all over again.
October 25, 2015
A lovely HEA, but wasn't Jane whiney - poor Stephen. Have read better from AF, but still a nice short story.
As a footnote: I was pleasantly surprised with the kindle edition cover. It actually corresponds with the story - blonde-haired Jane and patch-wearing Stephen.
I love it when this happens (not often enough though).
As a footnote: I was pleasantly surprised with the kindle edition cover. It actually corresponds with the story - blonde-haired Jane and patch-wearing Stephen.
I love it when this happens (not often enough though).
March 21, 2016
Sweet Clean Romance Series
This series was inventive and a pleasure to read and since it is cleAn with no sex I recommend it for all age groups. I first read Aileen Fish stories in the Danby Duke Anthologies and loved them! _Barbie
This series was inventive and a pleasure to read and since it is cleAn with no sex I recommend it for all age groups. I first read Aileen Fish stories in the Danby Duke Anthologies and loved them! _Barbie
November 28, 2013
Glad it wasn't to long to get to the end. If not for Stephen and his side of the story I wouldn't have read it to the end.
October 25, 2013
Good quick and interesting read. Only criticism was the ending seemed too quick.
March 4, 2014
Interesting read.
This was an ok book. missing some minor details, or backstory. Not bad otherwise!
Will look forward to more in the series.
This was an ok book. missing some minor details, or backstory. Not bad otherwise!
Will look forward to more in the series.
March 25, 2014
A fluffy regency read. Short and cute. I didn't feel like I was cheated out of a story so good for a novella.
Moral Note: Some drunken behavior, and talk of spousal/child abuse.
Moral Note: Some drunken behavior, and talk of spousal/child abuse.
May 14, 2015
It was an ok read
The story was just umm. The Hermione was whiney and childish and really started to get on my nerves. But I enjoyed the writing.
The story was just umm. The Hermione was whiney and childish and really started to get on my nerves. But I enjoyed the writing.
April 15, 2017
This book is a fairly average Regency with an under-theme of spousal abuse. I had trouble suspending disbelief. The notion that a girl would decide that her life-long crush could be abusive because of one evening when he was drunk just didn't work for me. Maybe if I were younger or more impressionable, it would.
I'm afraid I was left with a "meh" reaction. It isn't good, nor is it bad. I think there are better Regencies out there.
I'm afraid I was left with a "meh" reaction. It isn't good, nor is it bad. I think there are better Regencies out there.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews