Destiny's Bride

Brides of Montclair #8

by Jane Peart

Even while Randall was speaking, it was Pietro I saw, the tenderness in his dark eyes looking at me, the caress in his soft voice. In Randall's voice there was not a shred of emotion; nor was there any in his expression. How should I respond? What should I say? I knew this was the hardest decision I would ever have to make. Either choice would demand a different price. Was I prepared to pay it? Was love enough in the one to bridge all the other differences of nationality, religion, and heritage? Was family loyalty, future security enough to decide for the other? What was my destiny? The heroine of Destiny's Bride is Druscilla Montrose, who first meets Randall Bondurant when she is a bridesmaid at his wedding to her cousin Alair Chance. Eight years later, after Alair's mysterious death, they meet again in a chance encounter. This leads to a strange series of events in which Druscilla debates, then accepts the position offered her by Alair's widower. Against all advice, Dru becomes governess to her two motherless little cousins, a difficult decision because of the suspicions and accusations of family and friends that Randall might have been responsible for his wife's death. She travels with the family to Italy. Here against the romantic background of nineteenth-century Europe, Druscilla receives two unexpected offers: One is a love that will mean giving up her heritage; the other requires a decision more important than any she has ever had to make before. Dru's choices bring her into conflicts of loyalty, challenges of faith and duty, and threatened danger, as well as romance.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Christian, Historical Romance, Fiction, Historical

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Jane Johnson Peart of Asheville, North Carolina, Humboldt and Marin counties, California, and in recent years, Hawaii, passed away in 2007. She was the author of more than 60 works of suspense, historical fiction and romance, which touched the hearts and minds of thousands of readers whose correspondence she treasured. She wrote for the secular and Christian market, and is best known for the Brides of Montclair series.

Reviews

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did, since it was of the governess-falls-in-love-with-Byronic-employer type of story, but it was ultimately pretty weak. The tension near the end came from such dumb decisions that I lost patience with the heroine. It's irritating when someone is making obviously bad choices about whom to trust, and it dilutes what can otherwise be a fun plot.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one takes place simultaneously with the previous one in the series, actually ending chronologically before the prior one. It has some slightly gothic, mysterious overtones to it. The hero never really came to life for me, making me wonder why exactly she fell in love with him, but no matter.

[Penny Simms]

It was written in the first person having Dru Montrose telling the story first hand. It bridges the gap and tells how the Montclair plantation comes back into the Montrose family.