Twice wed and twice widowed, Lady Caterine Keith has no need for a champion. She can fend off unwanted suitors on her own and guard her Scottish stronghold without the help of any man. But her sister, knowing better, sends a make-believe husband a knight with a battle-scarred face almost too frightening to behold. Sir Marmaduke Strongbow has a secret ambition. He wants not Caterine's land but her hand in marriage and her heart to own. With tantalizing caresses, he will show her how a real champion lays siege...and how love is impossible to fight.
Sue-Ellen MacDuffie was born and raided in Florida. She is a card-carrying Scotophile whose burning wish to make frequent (free) trips to the land of her dreams led her to a twenty year career with the airlines. Bi-lingual, she flew international all those years, working her flights as foreign language speaker. Her flying career allowed her to see the world, but it was always to Scotland that she returned.
Now a full-time writer, she’s quick to admit that she much prefers wielding a pen to pushing tea and coffee. She spent fifteen years living in Europe and used that time to explore as many castle ruins, medieval abbeys, and stone circles as possible. Anything ancient, crumbling, or lichened caught her eye. She makes annual visits to Scotland, insisting they are a necessity as each trip gives her inspiration for new books.
Proud of her own Hebridean ancestry, she belongs to two clan societies: the MacFie Clan Society and the Clan MacAlpine Society. In addition to Scotland, her greatest passions are medieval history, the paranormal, and dogs. She never watches television, loves haggis, and writes at a four-hundred-and-fifty year old desk that once stood in a Bavarian castle.
Sue-Ellen is married and currently resides with her husband and Jack Russell Terrier in Florida. Readers can learn more about her and the world of her books at: www.welfonder.com.
2.5☆ Empecé bien con este libro pero me ido desinflando. No está mal escrito, pero me ha faltado más chicha entre los protagonistas. Y solo ha habido casi al final del libro y tampoco es que haya sido para tirar cohetes. Por lo demás una trama entretenida y poco más. Ella, la protagonista ha veces se me ha hecho pesada, cabezona a más no poder.
I loved the character and the romance of the male lead - Marmaduke - even if he had a terrible name. He's a man with ambition but also with a heart and a soul, and he wants to be loved. He had that love once with another woman and it was lost in a tragedy. I liked that she didn't betray him but was killed. Too many times the hero in a story is suffering from bitterness and uncertainty from betrayal. Marmaduke only suffers from a broken heart. When he finally meets Caterine he says to her "I would slay your dragons, if you let me." That's probably one of the most gut wrenchingly romantic things I've read in years.
Caterine is what makes this book only "good" and not great. She is a widow twice over and has suffered greatly at the hands of an Englishman in her past. However, even though Marmaduke foreswore his English side decades ago and is fully Scottish in every way, she REFUSES to look past his heritage to see the man inside. What could have been, in my opinion, a fantastic "desert island keeper" instead became just another historical romance.
Good book, although it dragged in parts, and I felt like it took Caterine a bit on the long side to come around, although I did understand her issues with what she has suffered in the past. I really liked Marmaduke, and his insecurities about his scarred face endeared him to me and made him more realistic. As a fan of medievals and Scottish romances, I will definitely read more by this author.
Rating: 3,5 * Marmaduke is sweet, protective, loyal knight and he is wonderful character. But .... Many questions are still unanswered (for example we don`t know a lot of Caterine`s past), plot twist and outcome are weak, so yes, I expected much more from this story.
This was kind of a two and a half stars read for me, but I rounded up because I loved Sir Marmaduke so much in the first book in this series.
I feel like there was a serious lack of communication between the two main characters in this book, and while I understood it, I still wish that they had just had a heart-to-heart ONCE (which they never did, which left me feeling rather meh about the ending). Sir Marmaduke never tells Caterine (on page) that he's struggling with his looks and feeling like she won't ever love him because he's scarred, and Caterine never tells Sir Marmaduke (on page) about what had happened to her in the past and how she struggled so much with it still.
In Caterine's case, I really did understand why she was keeping the to herself, but at the same time, I didn't think it was fair for Sir Marmaduke to not know what she needed to feel safe and secure in their relationship. She kind of just expected him to figure it out by the looks she sent him and what scared her, and that wasn't fair. Plus, without a big reveal and a big talk, I felt like the book was lacking in emotion. I'm here for the feels, dang it, and they were missing.
I just finished rereading Marmaduke and Caterine's story. I fell in love with Marmaduke in Devil In A Kilt and he continues to be my favorite hero of Sue-Ellen's books. She never fails to transport me to a different time and place with her writing. I am there in every book, feeling the wind blow, smelling the peat burn, hearing the sounds and feeling the emotions of the characters as they find their hearts. In Bride Of The Beast, Sue-Ellen has taken two very scarred people (both physically and emotionally) and given them a story that grabbed my heart so profoundly that I picked it up for a second read. I urge you to read this book and be swept away to the highlands and a love story that will grasp you from beginning to end. If you are looking for an author who writes so eloquently about a place that you feel as if you can actually reach out and touch the sights, sounds and smells, and who gives you more than just dialogue but also the emotions the characters feel from deep within, so you come to KNOW the characters deeply, then Sue-Ellen is your author! Her hard work and heart felt emotions about the place and characters she writes about comes alive in the pages of her books.
Lady Caterine is a widow, and sore in need of a champion. Marmaduke Strongbow has known love, but lost her and his good looks to treachery.
Duncan MacKenzie sends Marmaduke to Lady Caterine to protect her from a rogue bent on stealing her castle, and wedding her against her will. Once Sir Marmaduke sets eyes on our heroine he is hopelessly lost and works to earn her trust, and her heart.
This book is the second in the MacKenzie series, and is not as good as the first- however it is a great read. It is fast paced, has well thought out characters that are easy to love, and it is a good story.
Lady Caterine Keith has already been widowed twice and isn't eager or willing to go for a third time. Thre is a unwanted suitor who only desires to get a hold of her Scottish stronghold. One whom repels her so and se is stunned when a battle scarred Knight come sto her as a protector. Sir Marmaduke Strongbow is determined to show Caterine the path of her passion....and a everlasting love, where he goes about to claim hold of her heart and her love. Bride of the beast is the second book in the Mackenzie series written by Sue Ellen Welfonder. I have recently discovered this author, and have just loved what she has written so far, which includes Bride of the Beast. Since I love the first one so much I thought I would try and see how I would like this one, and I just fell in love with it. I truly enjoyed reading Marmaduke's story...it was enchanting. I found the interaction between the characters engaging and filled with a emotional intensity that will take your breath away. A most entertaing read!!!
Original read October 23, 2011 & Re-read March 8, 2013
Scared, one-eyed, battle-scarred Sir Marmaduke Strongbow travels to the keep of the twice widowed Lady Caterine Keith to be her champion and protect the strong hold. She only wants to pretend to be married to fend off her English neighbor to the south, Sir Hugh, who is pushing her to marry him. But Sir Maraduke says he will only marry in truth. It is the typical Beauty and the Beast, Girl denies wanting man, man wants girl, they are forced to marry and end up falling in love with each other. But the dialog and writing is top notch and the story, although formula works and is enjoyable to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
To secure her land, Lady Caterine Keith must marry, and who better to choose than a knight sent by her sister? Sir Marmaduke Strongbow might be scarred from past battles, but his heart is sturdy and faithful. Can she convince him that he’s meant to be loved? Can he win her affection as well as her hand in marriage? As the two struggle to come to terms with their feelings for each, a dire threat looms by means of a neighboring landholder who covets the lady’s property. If you like classic historical romance, you’ll enjoy this story.
Caterine and Strongbow were meant for eachother from the first time they were inroduced to us. I felt it, you'll know it and it is clear by the end of the book that it's going to be a "Happy Ending"~so that was a plus. I really enjoyed the flirtatious courting that took place between the couple, before they combined their lives. It wasn't a quick intro and an instant love fest, this was a slow romance, unfolding on the page through each set back that visited them along the plotline. I really enjoyed that.
Great book, it took me a bit longer to finish cause I was a bit busy. Anyway I lived marmaduke he's was just fantastically amazing, I kinda hated Catrine cause she kept dodging marmaduke and keeping her heart from him, and how her suffering kept her from him, but the whole time I was like see here lady u weren't the only one suffering he did suffer too. And one thing I noticed was that she never called him my his name.
A very cute novel! In reading some of the GR reviews, I can't believe someone would give this book bad marks based of Maramaduke's name! It's a great name and if you read the acknowledgements page, you'd understand why Welfonder chose it.
But anyway, I enjoyed this read. I loved the angsty internal dialog of Marmaduke, and really enjoyed having him as a primary or dare I say, main character.
I can't even explain how great it was to see Sir Marmaduke Strongbow have a book of his own. Although I love Duncan, I have to say one of my fav. characters so far n the series is Sir Marmaduke. I had so many emotions running rampant through this story. I would suggest to anyone that loves a great historical romance to read this series..oh and make sure to have a tissue handy on this one.;)
El segundo libro de una saga que me llamó la atención por su sinopsis y que me gustó medianamente, más por el personaje masculino que por el femenino. El final me pareció demasiado sencillo y rápido, no me dejó satisfecha y el mundo histórico no está tan recreado como a mí me gusta. Una novela para entretenerse pero que no va más allá.
Oh my, I'm in love... Marmaduke has to be the sexiest Highlander yet... AND I loved the scattered updates on Duncan and Linnet thru-out the book... A Must-Read...
I loved the characters. I especially loved Marmaduke, although I was not found of his name. I saw him as I would envision a true Knight and all the romance that goes with that!
This is a good Highlander romance, and a good follow-up to Devil In A Kilt. I really liked Sir Marmaduke in the first book, and absolutely loved him here. Caterine was a bit harder to like, with her determination to never give her heart to another man -- but her past trauma did explain her behavior.
If rape is a trigger for you, this book is not for you. Caterine was gang raped years earlier, and her husband was murdered in front of her -- and she has not recovered from that trauma. Even though the rape is not explicitly described, Caterine's pain and fear are mentioned, and her fear of loving again is due to that horrible experience.
Sir Marmaduke is just a sweetheart, so loyal and protective, even though he has many demons of his own. He is terribly scarred, and wonders how anyone could ever love someone like him. So when Caterine tells him she cannot give him her heart, he is convinced that his scars are the reason.
I understood Caterine's reluctance to give Marmaduke her heart, given her tragic past. She obviously suffers from PTSD, because of her terrible trauma. I did think, however, that she should have explained to him why she felt that way. Since she didn't, he automatically assumed his scars were the reason.
The part about the ghost was a bit odd, and I didn't realize immediately that she was Sir Marmaduke's first wife. At first, I thought she was just his imagination, but it seems like her ghost was really there. It was sweet how she was trying to help him find happiness again. It left me feeling sad for her, since she obviously still loved him -- but she also wanted him to move on and find love again, and was trying to help him do that.
This book does have a lot of sexual situations, and they are quite descriptive. So if that bothers you, this book is not for you. I felt like those sexual situations fit the story, as Caterine needed to learn how to embrace her sexuality -- she needed this to help her recover from having been gang raped.
My rating system is below. 1 star -- Hated it, or did not finish. I usually only give this rating if some of the content is truly objectionable to me, like if one of the main characters does something really awful, and gets away with it. 2 stars -- Didn't like it. This rating usually means that I thought the writing wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, I didn't like the characters, or it had other major flaws. 3 stars -- I liked it, but had some minor issues with it. This rating means that there were minor editing issues, the story needed more character development, it was just too unrealistic, or had some other fairly minor issue. The majority of books I read get this rating – I do not consider it a bad rating. 4 stars -- I liked it a lot. This is a high rating for me, and I rarely give a higher one. 5 stars -- I loved it, and will probably read it again. Very few books are good enough to get this rating from me. The ones that do are usually classics.
This ebook is a rewrite of a book Sue Ellen Welfonder has published few years ago, and I read the first time out, and I loved the parts that were rewrote.Bride of the Beast is a great follow up to Devil in a Kilt, I really enjoyed both these stories! Caterine needed a knight to save her from the another man trying to make advances towards her, Marmaduke Strongbow comes to help her. Marmaduke is a seasoned Knight from many battles, and has many scars, Catherine doesn't like him not because of his scars but because he is English Caterine has many issues because she was raped,and her husband was murdered in front of her. Marmaduke would like to slay her dragon's and marry her, Marmaduke has issues of his own that makes this a wonderful story. The characters in story are very well written,the sexual scenes are well written and add to the story, I enjoyed hearing about Duncan and Pinned and how their life was going. I felt this book was outstanding, powerful wrote by Sue Ellen Welfonder. I would recommend you to read this book,I'm sure you will enjoy as much as I did, gave it a four stars, I received this ebook as ARC for my honest opinion and I can say I enjoyed the second time reading as much as the first time I read it.
Friend from book one gets asked to to marry heroine from book 1's sister to protect her from an evil Englishman. Friend is an Englishman but lives that Scottish life. Sister wants nothing to do with Englishman or men really because of a past sexual assault but is willing to do a marriage of convenience, no bedroom action.
Friend shows up and is instantly in love with sister because she reminds him so much of his buddy's wife. Could have been juicy but wasn't. He will not agree to marriage of convenience no bedroom action because wants the real thing. Listen, if Pinterest was around in this guy's time, he'd have a Marriage board, complete with dream dress and ring, just insert any bride.
The eyes were a glazing but Friend being a good boy (his name was Marmaduke, could think of nothing else but good boy doggie) trying to convince sister to marry him, get her to leave her castle to her step-son and come live at his castle, a traitor lurking around, a Laird's Stone and the friend's first wife's ghost because why not some fun thrown in supernatural.
Written fine but bored me to tears because the heroine could have been anyone and the hero was going to "love" her and just too much ho-hum diddly-do nothing happening.
Caterine has two goals: avoid a third marriage and keep her lands. She's inherited from her second husband and holds her Scottish lands in trust until her stepson is strong enough to become laird. All the while she's avoiding the advances of the cruel Hugh de la Hogue. When her sister sends a champion to defend the keep, Caterine at first finds the prospect of marrying Sir Marmaduke appealing despite his scars. Until he speaks and reveals himself as an Englishman. Caterine is immediately put off due to past traumas, but Sir M will do whatever it takes to win the lady's heart. Caterine is a strong female character who says what she means and isn't shy about voicing her desires. I understood her hesitancy in giving her heart, however once the pair grew close I felt confiding in him would have gone a long way in avoiding misunderstandings and undo hurt. Sir M definitely insta-loved a bit, but Caterine was such a strong force it worked. The tension was palpable and love scenes steamy! I'd definitely read more by this author.