The Perfect Bride

The deWarenne Dynasty #8

by Brenda Joyce

A woman without passion…
A childhood trauma has left Lady Blanche Harrington incapable of all emotion, least of all love. Now circumstance demands she marry, and Blanche dreads choosing from her horde of fawning suitors. For one very eligible gentleman has not stepped forward…

A man without hope.
A war hero and a recluse, Rex de Warenne has long admired Lady Blanche. Though fate and his own dark nature have robbed him of any hope for the kind of future such a lady deserves, Rex is determined to aid her—and keep his feelings to himself. But when their growing friendship leads to a night of shocking passion, Blanche’s newfound memories threaten their fragile love…and Blanche’s very life.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Regency, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Regency Romance

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 17, 2007

About the author

Brenda Joyce is the bestselling author of forty-one novels and five novellas. She has won many awards, and her debut novel, Innocent Fire, won a Best Western Romance award. She has also won the highly coveted Best Historical Romance award for Splendor and Two Lifetime Achievement Awards from Romantic Times BOOKreviews. There are over 14 million copies of her novels in print and she is published in over a dozen foreign countries.

A native New Yorker, she now lives in southern Arizona with her son, dogs, and her Arabian and half-Arabian reining horses. Brenda divides her time between her twin passions—writing powerful love stories and competing with her horses at regional and national levels. For more information about Brenda and her upcoming novels, please visit her Web sites: www.brendajoyce.com, www.thedewarennedynasty.com and http://mastersoftimebooks.com.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this thing 0 stars, I definitely would have.
The title and the description are way off base.
I’m not sure what I expected from this book, but I thought Blanche was a refined and independent woman from the brief time she appeared in A Lady at Last, because she chose not to marry and seemed to be going against the grain.
And what do I find when I open the book?
She’s always liked Rex, he’s always liked her, but neither one has done a thing about it, so someone purposely leads her to Rex’s house when she’s supposed to visit someone else, and that is when things went downhill for me.
The minute she gets to his house, she walks in on him having sex with the maid. That is absolutely DISGUSTING. I thought I was going to throw up. But no, Blanche, being the lady that she is, seems not to find much wrong with that at all. The man she likes was just seen sleeping with a lowly maid, and she agrees to stay there with him.
I’m not sure if I was supposed to feel sorry for Rex, because of his stumpy leg, or the fact that he thought no ladies would have sex with him so he only got with “willing maids,” but my sympathy must have taken a hike when I read this book, because I did not feel sorry for him in any way, shape or form.
I find it inexcusable that he liked Blanche, but stuck with that little piece of crap maid because he didn’t think he was good enough for the mighty Lady Blanche. There again, I wasn’t feeling sympathetic in the least.
To really top off the wonderfully romantic love story, she throws in some “traumatic” experience that resurfaces years after the actual event happened and makes it seem like Blanche has gone crazy.
I’m never reading this book again. I barely got through it the first time, and I honestly don’t think I can put myself through that again.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read: 9/5/25
Setting: 1822 England
Trope: friends to lovers, second chances, PTSD issues
3.0 stars

This was probably my least favorite book of this series so far. Slow pacing and misunderstandings ruined a lot of the story for me.

plot:
Childhood trauma has haunted Blanche since she was a little girl. It has left her incapable of emotions. Now that her father is dead, she needs a husband to handle her vast fortune. Blanche has over 200 suitors, but there is only one man that she feels anything for, and she hasn't seen him in 2 years.

Later, Blanche's bff tricks her into going to Cornwall to see a property it turns out she doesn't own. The only friend in the area is Sir Rex's. She shows up unannounced to his home and catches him having coitus with his mistress/housekeeper 😳.

Sir Rex is humiliated. He hates to lose the respect of the one woman he admires. Rex has had a hard life. He lost his leg in the war, saving a friend who betrayed him with his fiancée. Rex also has a son who is being raised by his ex friend. It hurts him so much to not be able to see the boy. So he hides his pain in his far away estate in Cornwall.

After Blanche learns of her friend's trickery, she decides to stay with Rex for a week. One week tuns into another, and a strong friendship develops between them. Then love and a marriage proposal. Finally, these two lonely people will have someone.

Unfortunately, Blanche is starting to remember what happened when she and her mother were attacked by a mob when she was 6. These memories happen at the worst times. She gets a shooting headaches and faints. Blanche feels she is going insane and blames her her feelings for Rex for causing her pain. If she leaves him, everything will go back to normal, right? That's just what she does.

liked:
1. The MC were emotionally damaged in their own way. The author does a pretty good job of flushing out the characters.
2. I liked this couple. It was nice to watch their friendship develop into a romance. They balanced each other well, and you feel like the relationship was earned.
3. The book was well written, but that's not a surprise. This author rarely writes a bad books.


dislike:
1. The plot had a strong beginning but became a little tedious halfway through. Some of the characters' decisions made no sense.
2. Blanche! I liked Blanche for the most part. She was a little too perfect sometimes but still likable. Then She freaks out and leaves Rex. It was cruel, and it made no sense. I get she hoped to become emotionless again to keep the memories at bay, but she should have been honest with him. Instead, she leaves him extremely heartbroken. After all he has been through, that act was hard to forgive. The author does redeem her a little at the end, but the damage was already done.
3. I get why Blanche needed a husband. She is now the richest heiress in England. What bothers me is that Blanche didn't want to ever marry. Fine, but maybe in 8 years, you could have learned about your property and investments before your father died. 🤷‍♀️
4. Blanche stays 2 weeks at a bachelor's home with ONLY a maid. Really? She even invites neighbors over. Does the author think that the rules don't apply because the h is 28 years old? That's just asinine!
5. Rex has been sleeping with his housekeeper. She continued to work for him while Blanche was staying in his house. This didn't bother me because he never touched her again, but it's a hot issue for some readers.

Conclusion: I've read most of the books in the series but went back to finally read Blanche and Rex's story. On its own, this isn't a bad book, but if you compared it with the other books in the series, it's a major disappointment.

[Tenley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out strong but fizzled halfway through.

In this story, we meet Blanche, a wealthy heiress who fancies herself different than other females because she doesn't feel any emotion. She went through a traumatic experience as a child and it left her feeling very little. Though she doesn't have an emotional range, she is thought to be extremely kind and classy.

Then we meet Rex, a knight who was awarded land for his heroic actions during a war that left him without a leg. He is supposed to be broody, quiet and anti-social (yum).

Blanche and Rex met 8 years ago when Blanche was briefly engaged to Rex's brother. I didn't read that book, but everyone seems to still be friends and there are no hard feelings from that relationship not working out. Anyway, Blanche and Rex have only been around each other a handful of times or so, but they are both fond of one another and hold one another in high esteem.

When Blanche's wealthy father dies, she finds herself needing a husband because she needs someone to handle all of her father's complicated business dealings (sigh - I'm going to ignore the helpless female problem here, because that's ridiculous. If she didn't want to learn, she could have hired someone to handle the accounts since she certainly had money to spare). ANYWAY, Blanche has hundreds of suitors (like, 227 to be specific) and she knows they are after her money. She doesn't think she is capable of love or passion so she doesn't care.... or so she thinks.

Things happen and she ends up staying with Rex and they fall for one another, except something is going on with Blanche and it threatens to tear them apart. And then it does tear them apart, but it's a romance novel, so don't worry, things work out.

I really enjoy Joyce's knack for creating OTT drama. I'm a sucker for soaps and she has a lot of soapy-like scenes in this book (if soaps existed in the 1800s). I think some of the conflict in this book played out way too long, which made the book drag. Once everything was resolved, I was eagerly waiting for the epilogue and was very disappointed there wasn't one.

Going by GR, there are a lot of people who didn't like this book. While I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either. I enjoyed the drama and liked the characters well enough. I got a little confused regarding Rex's nieces and nephews, because I hadn't read the other books in this series except for one and I had a hard time following whose children belonged to who but that wasn't a big issue.

Also, Brenda Joyce overuses two words in this book. Everyone is constantly "dismayed" and when they aren't being dismayed, they "started" in surprise. Don't play a drinking game with these words, you'll end up blind drunk by chapter 4.

[🐝 Shaz 🐝 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice story about two people who struggled with their emotion.
Had liked each other from for years and finally got together

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent narration by Jennifer Van Dyck. Good story but not greatly uplifting or funny. 3.5 stars. See quibbles at the bottom.

My heart went out to Sir Rex de Warenne, a wounded war hero with an amputated leg and grieving heart. His ability to maneuver, make love, and ride horse was credible, given that he only lost his lower leg, and he has a mechanical crutch. Life served him some bitter brew but he wasn't vengeful. Just lonely. I felt angry for him, that the Duke treated him so badly regarding his son. Wanted Rex to be happy. Thoroughly enjoyed the scene when Sir Rex took out the nasty fortune hunter, Dashwood.

I also liked the heroine, Blanche Harrington, an über-wealthy heiress of mixed parentage. She suffered from her own nightmares. PTSD rears it's ugly head, 20 years after the fact, and Blanche started acting very strangely. Somewhat credible, yet slightly overdone here -- it consumed too many pages.

I loved Blanche's best friend, Bess. Would read her story.

Quibbles: Too much time in the heroine's head. Also, the story does not jive with the conventions of British society, circa 1820. No way would a merchant-class family become leaders of the aristocratic ton -- no matter how rich they are. No way would a single woman (albeit 28 yeas old) reside in the same house as a single man, with only a maid as chaperone. No way would a commoner like our villain be allowed into a fine establishment. No way would said villain attempt that nasty scheme in person, in the open, against his "betters" ( and no way would Sir Rex have let the two villains get away with blackmail -- especially not the farrier.) .

I wanted an epilogue, with young Stephen visiting, and with their new baby.

[Abril Camino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Por alguna razón que desconozco, esta novela llevaba años en mi Kindle, supongo que de la época en que compraba o cogía en Kindle Unlimited cualquier novela romántica de regencia porque estaba un poco enganchada. Decidí darle una oportunidad, a pesar de que hace años que apenas leo ese género, sin saber que era la octava (¡nada menos!) de una serie. Bueno, no está mal. Sin más. Me ha entretenido y ha tenido un par de puntos interesantes (el trato de la enfermedad de ella, por ejemplo), pero no ha sido tampoco nada del otro mundo.

[Plethora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brenda Joyce's historicals are usually a riot, but this one is so packed with glaring anachronisms (the one I remember, because it made me split my sides, was 'hello, Your Grace', absolutely hilarious) that I couldn't enjoy the story. The trauma theme was so badly and crassly handled that I almost gave up reading to the end.

I have read quite a few (not all) of Joyce's de Warenne books and so far this was my least favourite. It got an extra star from me because of the heroine's walking in on the hero having sex with his housekeeper (vintage Brenda Joyce). A scene I enjoyed for its lewdness as much as for its courage to go against the grain and challenge all those readers who, for reasons I will never understand, demand of their historical romances to be litanies of innocuous cliches about love. I personally hate it when a) disabled heroes are portrayed as celibate recluses saving themselves for the heroine, or b) the heroine only hears about the hero's rake escapades but never actually witnesses any of these (all those rakes are rakes off page. As soon as they have a look at the heroine they turn celibate monks). Todays editors would have demanded BJ (!!!) removed that scene. The peculiar situation we are faced with today is that the scenes between hero and heroine have become far more sexually explicit (I don't object to that) but the whole ambiance, mood and style of the book much more prudish and moralistic. So I'm glad this was written at the time when editors did not demand writers toe the line of the vociferous prudes who reach for their smelling salts when they come across a hero humping another while the heroine watches fascinated. Because everything in historical romance has become much more prudish in its ideas while more explicit in its representations (like those awful tabloids who screech and preach about 'family values' and 'patriotic duty' while ogling bums and tits) we are now plagued by ardorless, colorless boring farts passing for super-rakes and heroines who have to be thanked every time they kiss the hero.

Anyway, this comes from a time before all that and it is worth reading for that one scene alone, and for not much else.

[Sally Jask-eh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rex and Blanche’s story turned into an all nighter. Rex always was the beefcake brother of all the Dewarrenes, big, dark brooding and an occasional doofus. Blanche was an 28 yr old virgin heiress on the run from suitors and her past. Both characters had big secrets and Ptsd. The OW living and lurking in the same darn household kept this from being the PERFECT weekend read. Otherwise this book was a page turner with suspenseful plot and inspired Cornwall location. Wish I had more of Sir Rex and B in their HEA days

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to finish this book

Not because it was bad or problematic, but because of some elements that just didn't work for me, personally.
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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[Corduroy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read very little of this before quitting, so this is for my own information should I ever forget that I tried this and try it again (am I the only one who does this?)

A couple of problems jumped out at me in the first pages: the prose is stilted, the dialog is stilted, the characters are cardboard versions of what the book wants them to be: eg, the heroine is supposed to be someone who is so damaged she can't feel any emotion, but she experiences plenty of emotion in the first pages, primarily "annoyance" and "loathing of suitors". Well, those are emotions. So what is the framework for this character, exactly? Not being sarcastic. I just don't understand how the character works within the rules the book is establishing.

Also found that the setup contains way too many historical inaccuracies for me - from technical ones, like the heroine having a title she would not have had if her father was who the book says he is - to ones that bother me more strongly, because it makes it seem that the book is more interested in sticking to its blurb than in being even semi-accurate, historically: eg her family's fortune is from trade, and her father was raised to the aristocracy because he was so very wealthy, but now everyone feels that she is of the best Ton. Which isn't even just wrong (it is also wrong) but seems to me to miss a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE opportunity to instill some stakes in the story right off the bat.

Books that are not interested in at least feeling semi-real in terms of character development and behavior and historically accuracy=not for me.

[Steelwhisper · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was... sub par.

[MisskTarsis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rex es un personaje encantador. Lleno de demonios y fantasmas, lleno de mucho dolor. Aunque es un héroe de guerra, perdió mucho más que una pierna, perdió a su prometida y entregó su hijo a otro hombre por un bien mayor. Por otro lado, Blanche ya no tiene excusas para evitar casarse luego de la muerte de su padre hace seis meses, así que abre las puertas de su mansión a todos aquellos pretendientes que la consideren candidata para ser su esposa. Más de 200 hombres optando por su mano. Pero el único hombre al que ella le ha dedicado un segundo pensamiento, no está entre esa lista. Ni siquiera se ha molestado en darle el sentido pésame. Está confinado en su finca al sur, ajeno de la sociedad y de las buenas costumbres. Lugar a donde ella decide ir a pasar unas pequeñas vacaciones... y por inconvenientes debe compartir con él.

JAJAJAJAJA, epic el inicio. La cara de ella. La vergüenza de él. No todos los días encuentras al señor de la casa, en su estudio, teniendo una aventura sexual con su criada, lo cuál está muy mal visto. Pero el hecho de que ella pudo hacerse la loca, habla mucho de su carácter. Lo que más me gustó del libro es la actitud de Rex. Porque él la admira y quiere ser lo más correcto posible con ella, pero simplemente, la pasión se le desborda al estar a su lado.

ME ENCANTÓ cuando la cazó mirándolo... cuando él se estaba recuperando. ¿Hacia donde estaba viendo Blanche? Fue incómodo y gracioso. También me gustó la decisión final de Rex con respecto a Stephen, él merece tenerlo en su vida.

[Susan (the other Susan) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update: I liked it. Endearing beta hero Sir Rex deWarrenne is a true hero, a war hero, who lost part of his leg in battle while rescuing another soldier. That soldier, many years later, is an arrogant Duke who is raising Rex's son as his own, having married the woman who jilted Rex without letting him know she was pregnant... There's a lot for Rex to be bitter about, but it hasn't made him mean or sarcastic or dangerous as with so many Tortured Heroes. Instead, it's made him lonely as he isolates himself from polite society and drinks a bit too much at his country house. He also tups the maid, believing that sex without attachments or expectations is preferable to falling in love. You're thinking, "Good luck with that, pal," and you are right.

Enter the heroine, a young friend of the deWarrenne family, who has recently inherited her father's fortune and needs to marry (because, well, math and business.) Tired of fending off the fortune hunting gentlemen camped at her door in London, Blanche takes refuge at Sir Rex's country house on some trumped-up premise, renews an old friendship, and begins to think he might just be the answer to all her problems. He's kind, wise, stalwart, doesn't drink nearly as much as the gossips claim... and despite her having walked in on a maid-tupping session (horrors!) Blanche and Sir Rex get along well. Too well, actually... When she begins to have passionate feelings for him, the rush of emotion strips away the facade of calm that has been protecting Blanche from a horrific childhood memory.... She begins having painful headaches, blood-drenched memory flashbacks and "fits" that feel like a descent into madness. If she marries a man who brings her emotions to the surface, Blanche fears she will go insane... Recommended for romance readers who like a bit of angst and especially those of you who love strong beta heroes. Sir Rex for President of Romancelandia!



Before: Another long-ago audiobook brought up from the basement of my Audible library. The story might be better if not for the narration, a distracting sing - song breathy read by an actress who ruined a few audiobooks for me before I learned my lesson.

[BJ Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blanche wanted to be an ordinary woman, capable of feeling deep emotions and strong passions. But she is 26 years old, and the only thing she feels strongly about is her charity work. Then her father dies and she’s a rich orphan who must marry to have someone to manage her estate. Suddenly she has 228 fortune-hunters wanting to woo her, and she is so overwhelmed she flees to the countryside. But the estate she thought to escape to isn’t hers after all, so she ends up staying at Land’s End, which is owned by Rex DeWarenne, the brother-in-law of the man she was engaged to marry 8 years ago. After a week at his estate, Blanche and Sir Rex have gotten along so well that she decides he’s the perfect man for her, so she proposes marriage to him – a marriage of ‘convenience and economy’ with her living in town and he spending most of his time in the country. And she is stunned that he’s insulted at this offer! And Rex is already a bitter man – he lost half a leg in the war, his son legally belongs to another man, and he despises society. How could they ever suit?!

Now the emotional journeys begin, and Blanche discovers she’s not so emotionless after all, but that comes with a price as her emotions come back with a vengeance. She begins having nightmares and fainting spells and flashes of memory of an event that happened when she was 6 years old – an event that has been locked away from her conscious mind. All these things cause her to think she’s losing her mind.

Although the story eventually grabbed me, this author’s writing style did not initially make it easy for me to get emotionally involved in the characters – they felt ‘cardboard’ to me for too long to say that I enjoyed the entire book, but I am glad I stayed with it – the 2nd half was worth the read.

[Wendy Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this book many times over the years and just downloaded a copy to my Kindle. It's a wonderful love story I just can't seem to get enough of!

[Karla✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5🌟
🌟𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙴𝙽̃𝙰
Aunque senti que todo ocurrió muy rápido me gusto.

[Aneca · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I had picked up one of Brenda Joyce's titles, her heroes were turning too alpha and I found that my tastes had definitely changed. However I looked at this one the other day and the review seemed interesting so I picked it up. I haven't regretted it. It was an interesting read with a heroine suffering post traumatic stress disorder and a hero who seemed less alpha than her usual type.


The hero and heroine already know each other when the story starts as Blanche was once the bride of one of Rex's brothers. In a way this can also be considered a friends to lovers story as they do develop a friendship before going any further. In that sense I felt the first scene where Blanche catches Rex with another woman was quite unnecessary and they could be brought together in some other way but I guess sex sells so there has be a certain amount of scenes.


After a first awkward moment Rex and Blanche find that they do like to spend time together. They both have difficult pasts, he was crippled in the war against Napoleon and saw the woman he loves marry someone else and she saw her mother being murdered when she was a child although she has repressed the memory.


Their friendship eventually develops into an attraction and they eventually give in to their passion. However Blanche starts to remember what really happened with her mother and the new emotions are overwhelming making her believe she is mad. To spare Rex from seeing her go mad Blanche runs away to London where she keeps getting worse.


I thought interesting that Joyce could create such a tortured heroine. By doing so she also deals with the problem of married women whose riches would then be the husband's property while they could be conveniently disposed of in a hospice and similar.


Rex eventually finds out that Blanche is not mad and that she is hiding from him, not because she doesn't love him but because she wants to protect him. Seeing some similarities between what is happening to her and what happened to some of the soldiers in the war he decides to help her. I thought all this was much better, and much more interesting, than your usual romance novel and was quite happy to have picked it up.

Grade: 4/5

[Chem&Comp · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible author..not because of this book alone but all her books are really terrible. Reading her books did sure make me one time give up reading romance. A detailed sex scene with OW right in chapter 2. Can't get myself stop thinking about that chapter which makes the entire book unsatisfactory. And the maid/OW stayed with them all through out the book. For f***s sake I don't believed myself shallows. That maid who still served him as maid has his penis inside his mouth and vagina has been interacting with h and H, all through out the book.

Also read conqueror 13 years ago or something and I'm not picky with book that time, Conqueror has the same unsatisfactory ending. H is not in love with h. He was looking for her, when he ask himself if it's love he dismissed that thought and said answered it with 'surely it cannot be love' or similar lines, H found h. Heroine forced Hero to say I love you, seriously H didnt'twant to say it. A year after, they got married. AMAZON CUSTOMER DISCUSSION still present that time and answerers are giving big BUTS about conqueror having H that cheats and ffending off some possible readers...since I wasn't picky I was still go through with conqueror.. This was the 2nd and last book I read from her. Every books I check authored by her has a tag Hero cheats. Just wanna know exactly what's on her mind she had this "romantic" mentality..,

[Iris Campos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book, still does not beat "A Lady at Last" though- that's my ALL TIME FAVORITE!In this novel Brenda Joyce tells the story of Sir Rex De Warenne and Lady Harington, and how they grow to love one another. If you're reading the De Warenne chronicals for the first time I would recommend reading this one last when reading this generation. In this generation there are 5 books, and if you want to go in order start with
"The Prize" - Devlin O'neil
"The Masquerade" - Tyrell De Warenne
"The Stolen Bride" - Sean O'neil & Elenor De Warenne
"A Lady at Last" - Cliff De Warenne
"The Perfect Bride" - Rex De Warenne
-Happy Reading!

[Marla'dan Alıntılar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The DeWarenne Dynasty serisinin okunma sırası:
1. Gönülçelen
2. Gülün Sözü
3. Oyun
4. Bir Avuç Aşk
5. Maskeli Balo
6. Kaçak Gelin
7. Aşka Yelken Açanlar
8. Kusursuz Gelin
9. Tehlikeli Aşk
10. İmkansız Aşk
11. Yemin

Serinin Maskeli Balo’dan sonra en sevdiğim kitabı Kusursuz Gelin oldu. Zaten karakterler Maskeli Balo’dan tanıdık. Henüz Maskeli Balo’yu okumayanlar için aşk yaşayan karakterlerin adını vermeyeyim de spoiler olmasın. İkilinin aşkını büyük bir keyifle okudum.

https://suleuzundere.blogspot.com/201...

[Hamza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rex ve Leydi Blanche'ın hikayesi. Doğrusu tam da beklediğim gibiydi. İki karakterin de geçmişinde yaşadığı sıkıntılar okuyucuya çok güzel aktarılmış . Amanda ve Cliff kadar etkileyici değildi ama iyiydi yine de :) Yazarın dili mükemmel. Okunuyor hemen yormuyor insanı. Yazarı okumaya devam edeceğim.

[Aysu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Güzel ve duygusal bir hikayeydi.Ama Maskeli Balo kadar sevemedim. Rex daha mesafeliydi sanki. Bu seride facori çiftim hala tyrell-lizzie çifti:) Şu blanche'ın Rex'e sör Rex demede inat etmesi başlı başına saçmalıktı zaten:P Neyse sonuç evli-mutlu-çocukluydu.Okuyun okutun :D

[Cheesecake · Rating 1 out of 5]

wow, got one word for this story... ick!
Not romantic, despite Rex being such a promising hero. Anne was pervasive rot throughout the story and made my skin crawl. Especially since she never gets her just deserts and Rex doesn't even tell her off. Very sad.

[Karen Darling · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quit reading after the so called hero was introduced. He is an imperfect hero who uses a crutch, he has a nine year old child who he has never met, he is a crier, and what made me despise him is he is having sex with his maid. That was a turn off for me.

[Danette · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 A REALLY, REALLY, good story. Loved both the Hero and Heroine. She caught him with his house maid when she came to call.....This story grabs you and sucks you in. HOT.

[Sandra Moreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book! I always thought Rex and Blanche will be together, since the Masquerade! 🤭 This story is engaging, well written, with great characters. The PTSD trope was interesting and well exploited and a nice add to the plot.

Once again the writer hooks us from the beginning to the end. I always liked B. and the way she act, specially when she gives up of Tyrell when he falls in love with Lizzie. Rex is a strong man, with great honor and empathy. Loved it!

[Yumru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aslında üç yıldızlık neyse Sör Rex hatırına 😃 fena değil inişli çıkışlı bir hikayeydi.... şu kitaplarda uyuz hizmetçiler olmasa çok daha iyi olurdu.Okundu bitti ve tekrar okunmamak üzere kitaplığa kaldırılmıştır.Tranvalarla dolu sahnelerin yoğunluğu yordu beni biraz ama geri kalan bölümler iyiydi.

[Cristina Contilli]

La mia recensione su literary:

Blanche Harrington è una ricca ereditiera nella Londra del 1822, ma è anche una donna di ventotto anni, saggia ed equilibrata che, dopo la morte del padre, desidera trovare un marito onesto e affidabile che non sia interessato solo alla sua dote. E’ convinta, infatti, di essere una persona troppo chiusa e controllata per lasciarsi andare alla passione, ma le sue due migliori amiche, Felicia e Bess, vedendo che Blanche è attratta da Rex De Warenne, un nobile trentenne che ha perduto una gamba in guerra e che da allora vive un’esistenza solitaria, occupandosi dell’amministrazione della sua tenuta in Cornovaglia, riescono con un pretesto a spingere Blanche proprio nella selvaggia Cornovoglia, ospite di Rex.

La Joyce ha costruito un romance intimista, dove non accade nulla, perché gli eventi decisivi nella vita dei due protagonisti riguardano il passato e da questo passato entrambi sono ancora pesantemente condizionati: Blanche ha, infatti, perduto la madre, quando aveva appena sei anni, durante un tumulto, mentre Rex ha perso la gamba salvando la vita in guerra ad un amico che, però, gli ha portato via al ritorno in patria la donna, di cui era innamorato.

Gran parte del libro si basa dunque sulle discussioni di Blanche e Rex che da una parte faticano ad aprirsi e a rivelare i propri sentimenti, mentre dall’altra si sentono attratti reciprocamente. Rex tuttavia è convinto di non essere il marito adatto per Blanche, perché non ama come lei la mondanità, possiede una proprietà non troppo grande, essendo il secondogenito di una numerosa famiglia, e soprattutto ha alcune cattive abitudini, come bere troppo quando si sente solo e soprattutto consolarsi tra le braccia di una delle sue cameriere.

Blanche d’altra parte vede in lui un uomo che non sfrutta i fittavoli della sua proprietà, che sa essere sincero e generoso e che, nonostante i suoi difetti, potrebbe essere un marito accettabile per un unione costruita sulla collaborazione e sulla solidarietà più che sull’amore. All’improvviso però Blanche che aveva rimosso i ricordi legati alla morte tragica della madre comincia a soffrire di incubi e di emicranie ed iniziano a riemergere anche contro la sua volontà i ricordi di quel trauma che l’aveva segnata da bambina e così decide di rompere il fidanzamento con Rex e di accettare come futuro marito un uomo che è solo interessato alle sue ricchezze, pensando che l’accetterà come moglie anche se i ricordi del passato a volte la fanno comportare in modo strano. Rex, però, riceve una lettera dalla sorella che lo informa dei problemi di salute di Blanche e si precipita a Londra…

La Joyce è partita da uno spunto buono: scegliere come protagonista maschile un eroe non ideale come accade spesso nei romance, ma pieno di difetti, anche se d’animo sensibile e generoso, segnato più che dal trauma della guerra e dalla perdita di una gamba dal tradimento del suo migliore amico e della sua ex fidanzata che si sono sposati, mentre lui era ricoverato in un ospedale militare, ma non è riuscita a gestire bene una materia così complessa, resa ancora più impegnativa dalla misteriosa malattia di Blanche che ha dei sintomi strani, un incrocio tra attacchi di panico ed emicranie di natura psicologica, ma che guarisce in modo troppo semplice e rapido nel finale del libro, solo grazie all’amore di Rex.

[Fani *loves angst* · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one started ok and I liked it initially although I didn't love it either. However, at some point, the heroine started making one stupid decision after another, for the shake of moving the plot I guess. I tried to go on reading but in the end, it was too grating on my nerves. I read romances in order to enjoy myself, not become angered.

Blanche is a very wealthy heiress, who after her father's death has decided to look for a husband that will help her manage her enormous inheritance. Being unable to choose among her 200+ suitors who all come to pay her a visit at the same afternoon(!!!), her friends plot for her to become stranded in Sir Rex de Warrane's estate in Cornwell, to whom she seems moderately interested. When she arrives there unexpectedly, she catches a glimpse of Sir Rex making love to his housekeeper and is appalled but also aroused at the same time.
Rex invites her to stay at his house for a while and she accepts. The longer she gets to know him, the more attracted she becomes to him while it turns out that he isn't indifferent to her either. Their attraction grows but they also come to respect one another, and in the end Blanche proposes to him. But they both have secrets and while Rex tells everything to her, Blanche decides to hide hers from him.


SPOILERS
How stupid is a woman, who after dismissing the housekeeper who's jealous of her her, orders her as her last chore in the house to prepare a formal dinner and expects that all will go smoothly?

And even more, why does she decide to hide her past and fears from him when he's been so honest with her?

Blanche has a traumatic past, being present at her mother's death in the hands of an enraged mob. She's forgotten almost anything about it but suddenly she starts having hallucinations of being there and reliving that terrible day. At Rex's questions she claims she just has some nasty headaches(!) and refuses to tell him anything in case he considers her mad. Her decision is to stop those hallucinations by pure will(!!!) because she doesn't want to remember what happened that day. In the end, after another powerful hallucination just after the night she made love with Rex, she decides that the unleashing of her emotions because of her love for Rex is responsible for her downfall and decides to leave him, because a) she'll be able to forget everything again after getting away from him and closing her emotions again, and b) it would be unfair for Rex to marry a mad woman.

END OF SPOILERS


This is the point where I stopped reading, so I don't know what happens next and when she finally decides to confess the truth to Rex, who having being through much on his own was a very understanding man anyway.

Did I also mention that Blanche was not a shy debutante but a mature and wise woman of 28 years of age? No one could have guessed it from her actions I believe. I can accept a certain amount of machinations to move the plot or extend the tension, but in this case they were so improbable that they only succeded in making Blanche look stupid and weak. Had she been an 18 years old girl just out of schoolroom it could perhaps make sense; not in this case. I don't believe I'll go back to finish this; In the unfinished pile it goes:(

[Zoe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think I have just set a new record: finishing a full-length romance novel in less than 2 hours.

I confess that I did not really read the second half of the book. I did however, read the first half. I liked the first 30% well enough that I downloaded another book from Brenda Joyce. I now regret the premature decision. I did, however, managed to flip through to the last page. My skimming allowed me to see that nothing happened. At least, nothing that could have changed my opinion about the book happened.

I have absolutely no problems with the plotlines. I do not mind that Rex is a one-legged recluse, or that Blanche is a disturbed heroine. I do not mind that Blanche walked in when Rex was having sex with his housemaid, which seems to bother a lot people. I could work with a lot of ridiculous, unusual plots, if the couple manages to catch my attention.

Naturally, my 1 star rating speaks for itself. I was bored out of my skull waiting for something to happen. And I do not mean sex. You do not have to throw in sex to attract readers' attention. But anything, anything that tells me that they want to be together, the crushing fears of not being enough and the daring hopes of believing that you just might be. All the emotions that make a budding relationship beautiful. I just did not feel the pull. Something very important is missing in this story. It has all the standard things: a hot hero, a beautiful heroine, desires, kisses, and finally sex scenes. But I just cannot bring myself to care about them, which is a shame because I really like Rex as a hero. But Rex and Blanche together could not catch my attention. I just want to get it over with. It is a book that features characters with severe traumas, both of them. But I just do not feel their struggles. They are just puppets on the stage reading a script. That is how they are like in this book. Rex and Blanche are just 2 puppets. And I get tired of watching puppets reciting lines Ms. Joyce has assigned them.

I think I am too upset right now to write a meaningful review. I get annoyed just thinking about it. Maybe I will come back to the review at a later time when my frustration with the book has ebbed. Right now, I just wish I did not bother with this book.