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Accidental Bride
The tall, dark, angry Austrian who helped Samantha Rivers after a skiing accident -- and gave her a blistering telling-off in the process! -- was, Samantha thought and hoped, just a 'ship that passed in the night'. She never expected or wanted to see him again. But she did meet him again much later, and in very different circumstances. For when her aristocratic school friend Elisabeth van Ultz invited Samantha to stay with her in the family castle in the Austrian Alps, Elisabeth's brother, the imperious Baron Stephan von Ultz, turned out to be none other than Samantha's angry acquaintance of the skiing incident. And Samantha like him no better than she had before....
- GenresHarlequin Romance
158 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Susan Barrie
49 books7 followersOne of many pseudonyms used by Ida Julia Pollock, née Crowe.
Mrs. Pollack was a British writer of several short-stories and 125 romance novels that were published under her married name and under a number of different pseudonyms: Joan M. Allen; Susan Barrie, Pamela Kent, Averil Ives, Anita Charles, Barbara Rowan, Jane Beaufort, Rose Burghley, Mary Whistler and Marguerite Bell. She has sold millions of copies over her 90-year career. She has been referred to as the "world's oldest novelist" who was still active at 105 and continued writing until her death.
Ida and her husband, Lt Colonel Hugh Alexander Pollock, DSO (1888–1971), a veteran of war and Winston Churchill's collaborator and editor, had a daughter, Rosemary Pollock, who is also a romance writer.
Mrs. Pollack was a British writer of several short-stories and 125 romance novels that were published under her married name and under a number of different pseudonyms: Joan M. Allen; Susan Barrie, Pamela Kent, Averil Ives, Anita Charles, Barbara Rowan, Jane Beaufort, Rose Burghley, Mary Whistler and Marguerite Bell. She has sold millions of copies over her 90-year career. She has been referred to as the "world's oldest novelist" who was still active at 105 and continued writing until her death.
Ida and her husband, Lt Colonel Hugh Alexander Pollock, DSO (1888–1971), a veteran of war and Winston Churchill's collaborator and editor, had a daughter, Rosemary Pollock, who is also a romance writer.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 9, 2021
I very much enjoyed this book despite the exceedingly silly and implausible plot. Samantha goes to stay with an old schoolfriend in the family's Austrian schloss, and ends up in a bizarre fake engagement with her brother Stephan.
The reason? There are two. The first is that because Samantha has overheard Stephan slagging her off, he feels compelled to propose marriage to her. WTF?!
The second reason is that the schoolfriend, despite being a young widow, isn't allowed to marry again until her brother does. She has "promised" her Aunt Grizel this. Then Aunt Grizel comes to stay, and the silly charade begins.
There's also some silly and very pointless backstory about Samantha and Stephan (literally) bumping into one another on a Swiss ski slope 12 months ago. (This makes no sense since the book is set in summer, so there wouldn't have been a ski season a year ago). The point of it seems to be to establish that Stephan is continually rude to Samantha. But he "justifies" it in the last few pages as being a cover for his love etc etc:
This is fair enough, by the way, since Samantha is exceedingly silly and stupid, much like the plot. If Stephan really had "fallen in love at first sight" with her on the ski slopes, for the first time in his life, why never try to approach her? Why not instantly recognise her a year later?
What I liked about this book was the Austrian setting. Even though it's very much a Romance novelist's notion of a what an Austrian schloss and Austrian aristocrats are like. But it was very scenic. Susan Barrie has apparently used a slew of pen-names, and I wonder if she's more at home writing Victoria Holt-style period Gothic romance.
I ended up more interested in Susan Barrie than this particular book, she was known as the "world's oldest novelist" who wrote until her death at 105, and I'm keen to read more of her work.
The reason? There are two. The first is that because Samantha has overheard Stephan slagging her off, he feels compelled to propose marriage to her. WTF?!
"There is only one thing I can do to make the situation seem a little less intolerable, both from the point of view of our family pride and your natural pride in yourself as a young woman with every right to hear nothing but good of herself... I must make you a serious proposal of marriage... which I now do!"
The second reason is that the schoolfriend, despite being a young widow, isn't allowed to marry again until her brother does. She has "promised" her Aunt Grizel this. Then Aunt Grizel comes to stay, and the silly charade begins.
There's also some silly and very pointless backstory about Samantha and Stephan (literally) bumping into one another on a Swiss ski slope 12 months ago. (This makes no sense since the book is set in summer, so there wouldn't have been a ski season a year ago). The point of it seems to be to establish that Stephan is continually rude to Samantha. But he "justifies" it in the last few pages as being a cover for his love etc etc:
"Then listen to me, you sweet and adorable idiot... you utterly enchanting and appallingly stupid young woman. I'm in my thirties but I've never been in love before. I had to wait until I met you! And then, when I met you, I was so annoyed because there was something about you that set you apart from any member of your sex that I'd met before that I went out of my way to be rude to you..."
This is fair enough, by the way, since Samantha is exceedingly silly and stupid, much like the plot. If Stephan really had "fallen in love at first sight" with her on the ski slopes, for the first time in his life, why never try to approach her? Why not instantly recognise her a year later?
What I liked about this book was the Austrian setting. Even though it's very much a Romance novelist's notion of a what an Austrian schloss and Austrian aristocrats are like. But it was very scenic. Susan Barrie has apparently used a slew of pen-names, and I wonder if she's more at home writing Victoria Holt-style period Gothic romance.
I ended up more interested in Susan Barrie than this particular book, she was known as the "world's oldest novelist" who wrote until her death at 105, and I'm keen to read more of her work.
February 11, 2022
Another Susan Barrie European H (minor aristocracy) who doesn't know how to behave. This time, though, the frosty h dishes it right back with extra helpings of icy scorn. She makes sure to insult his honor, which for some reason this overbred hothouse flower finds offensive. The h hightails it out of town but tragically, does not escape.
Two stars, barely, for her dismantling his pretenses in their penultimate scene.
Two stars, barely, for her dismantling his pretenses in their penultimate scene.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2022
3 Stars ~ This is one of those sweet Harlequins that help to pleasantly pass an hour or two. Susan Barrie (Ida Pollack) was a prolific writer. Her scenic settings add a charm to her stories that enrich her characters.
Samantha and Stephan had a brief encounter on the slopes in Switzerland, that each remembered quite vividly when they meet again more than a year later. Unknown to Samantha the arrogant rude man she'd met is actually the brother of a woman she'd went to boarding school with. When Elizabeth invites her to holiday in her alpine Austrian home, Samantha accepts eagerly. Samantha is alone in the world and renewing her girlhood friendship with Elizabeth helps fill a void of loneliness. Austria suits Samantha, but Elizabeth's brother does not. Again from the moment they set eyes on each other, they seem to spark and not in any pleasant way. Stephan is as arrogant as she remembers, and Samantha surprises him when she doesn't hold back her own verbal punches.
While we are not given Stephan's point of view, Ms. Barrie does show us that some of Samantha's barbs do hit home. They battle wits and dance around each other, and then they get their lovely HEA.
Samantha and Stephan had a brief encounter on the slopes in Switzerland, that each remembered quite vividly when they meet again more than a year later. Unknown to Samantha the arrogant rude man she'd met is actually the brother of a woman she'd went to boarding school with. When Elizabeth invites her to holiday in her alpine Austrian home, Samantha accepts eagerly. Samantha is alone in the world and renewing her girlhood friendship with Elizabeth helps fill a void of loneliness. Austria suits Samantha, but Elizabeth's brother does not. Again from the moment they set eyes on each other, they seem to spark and not in any pleasant way. Stephan is as arrogant as she remembers, and Samantha surprises him when she doesn't hold back her own verbal punches.
While we are not given Stephan's point of view, Ms. Barrie does show us that some of Samantha's barbs do hit home. They battle wits and dance around each other, and then they get their lovely HEA.
October 12, 2013
Hard to swallow
September 4, 2016
Another one of those "I was attracted to you so I acted like a rear end and treated you like dirt" books. The guy is rude on their first meeting and did not improve on their second meeting one year later. She accidentally overhears a conversation between him and his sister which is very derogatory about her on his part. And we are to believe after all of this nastiness and petty immaturity that she is inexplicably in love with him.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews