Forever His

Stolen Brides Series, Volume 1

By: Shelly Thacker

Narrated by: Julia Motyka

Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

On New Year's Eve, she tumbles 700 years back in time - and into the bed of a darkly handsome knight.

Sir Gaston de Varennes wanted a docile bride who would fit into his plans for vengeance and justice, but a trick of time finds him married to a thoroughly modern American lady who turns his castle, his life, and his heart upside down. Will her desperate secret tear them apart after only a few bittersweet weeks of stolen passion - or will they conquer mistrust, treachery, and time itself to discover a love that spans the centuries?

Winner of the National Readers Choice Award: Best Historical Romance of the Year

The Stolen Brides Series: One falls through time and finds herself married to a dark stranger...one may never reach her royal wedding if she can't resist her rugged protector...one is abducted by a mysterious swordsman and swept away to a secret island paradise. Three regal brides are about to discover that falling in love with a warrior is the most dangerous adventure of all.

©1993 Shelly Thacker Meinhardt (P)2013 Shelly Thacker Meinhardt

Fantastic!!

Where does Forever His rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best!!

What other book might you compare Forever His to and why?

No comparison, it is unique...

What does Julia Motyka bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She has a very melodic and relaxing voice.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When the hero declared his love.

Any additional comments?

I have listened to many audiobooks during these past years, but sometimes I just listen to them because I need to be entertain (I have to admit that I have an addiction). However, this book was different. The story is very believable and complex. It is unpredictable and engaging; I cannot wait to read the other two in the series.

Wondrrful

I loved this book. captivated me from the beginning. the author and narrator are excellent

2.5; Sensual but needy heroine

This time-traveling romance started out great, that is before it became a time-traveling story. I generally don’t like time-traveling romances, so maybe I should’ve stuck with that usual choice to avoid these types of books. But I was drawn in by the listening excerpt b/c the book is narrated very well. And, if you like time-traveling romances, maybe you will like this book more than I did. In it, Celine travels from 1993 to 1300 and meets Gaston.

My biggest complaint is that much of the movement of the book was based on the heroine being “needy” and requiring the hero to come to her rescue. And I don’t mean in physical need, like she needed to fight someone, but emotionally needy. And I can’t stand a whiny, overly-vulnerable and weak female. Everyone has weaknesses and vulnerabilities, but she was too much. And, once it became a time-traveling story, almost all of the movement of the story depended on her neediness. The only thing that kept me listening was there being a hint of strength in her that showed up in small bits at rare times. It primarily came in the form of her complaining about being unused to a man telling a woman what to do, rather, a husband telling a wife what to do and expecting her to obey. So it was barely enough to make up for her constant neediness.

Another complaint is that the author didn’t show how love between Celine and Gaston developed. The trajectory amounted to them accidentally meeting, having an immediate attraction, time passing where, in much of it, they avoid each other, lust growing and becoming more and more apparent, and then, magically, there was love. But you never see the love develop; its presence is a bit of a surprise. Still, w/in their relationship, the story included some very nice romanticism; for some it might be a bit too much, but I didn’t find it mushy. And some of the phrasing is very common to romantic tales, but, thankfully, there weren’t too many of them b/c the sex scenes weren’t over done in this story nor was the romantic dialogue. But the last sex scene—of the two in the story—was very, very drawn out, unnecessarily, but I maintain my statement about no mushiness. Though, some of what is said between the h and H in that scene could rightly be considered over-the-top and certainly eye-rolling worthy to some listeners. Some might even say dumb. The story was also sensual. This is, essentially, another tale about a man changed, softened, surprisingly, by the love of and for a woman. And I think some might consider this a bodice ripper, though sex is not overdone in this story with only 2 sex scenes very spread out in the story and not started at the beginning of this tale. However, it is highly romantic and sensual. So there is kissing and very intimate touching throughout, but the first sex scene doesn’t occur until the story has been going on for about 8 hours. And the second sex scene is about 2 hours before the 15-hour+ story ends.

A third complaint is that Celine too easily conformed to the 14th century from living in the 20th century. She tried to recreate some tools from the 20th century, especially ones used in the kitchen, but she never spoke of having a problem with the hugely different way of living, beyond wanting a daily bath. And she had very little struggle leaving her family back in 20th century America.

And my final complaint is about the use of a word and it’s synonym in a way that far, far, far too many authors fail to recognize and change. And it is high-time that they did. I love the rare times I listen to a story where this error is not made. But, alas, it’s all too rare. The error I’m speaking of is the use of “dark,” “black,” and synonyms of the two words, to primarily or only portray negative and bad aspects of life and persons. You don’t have to be a social activist or linguistic historian to recognize the negative history and, some would argue, present problems surrounding the idea that black, dark = bad. You only have to care. And far too many simply don’t. The English language is full of other words writers can use to talk about negative and bad things. They only have to be insightful enough and care enough to identify and use them. In this story, the author wrote that Gaston was called “Blackheart” b/c of his brutality and that he had a “black soul” as a result. And she also talked about the “black depths of hell.”

On the positive side, I like how the author acknowledged and addressed how Celine’s actions in the past might impact the history of the past that has already occurred and been recorded. And the author did a good job of creating angst and posing two important problems without answers that were too obvious but that were also not surprising and made sense. I correctly guessed an answer to one of the problems but not the other, so the story was not predictable regarding the important questions. You knew it would be a HEA, but you didn’t always know how.

Expected more

This story could if been a lot better with one simple change... Change the narrator! Every time she spoke the role of Celion (sp?) it was like listening to nails on a chalk board. The story would of come together with more excitement if she had more fire. She made it very difficult to listen to the end.

Enjoyed this time traveling romance!

I truly enjoyed listening to this book. At times it was predictable but it still kept me captivated and interested in the story line enough to keep listening to the end.

I will be probably listen to more books by Shelly Thacker as well as listen to books preformed by Julia Motyka. The one improvement she could do would be to read in an accent when they book is talking about a person having a Texas accent. Other than that I think it was great.

Good time travel book.

It's been a long long time since I have listen to one of these books, but I enjoyed this one. Not sure I could listen to several back to back, but a nice change. So when I am in the mood for this type I will go looking for this author. Well done.

I want to travel back in time..

Would you consider the audio edition of Forever His to be better than the print version?

The storyline would be good in print or audible version. The narrator did a wonderful job of creating romance with her narration, creating such feelings for the characters.

Which scene was your favorite?

I love how Saline never gave in to the demands of Gaston, cleaning, cooking, chicken coops she holds her head high to prove her worth, her point. I thought when Terrel and the nuns arrived that Christian would be discovered

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did read the book in a day, Audible has me addicted!

Any additional comments?

I guess I must read on .....in the series. I do enjoy books that are in series so there is more if I have enjoyed the first book in the series.

good listen

struggled to the end.
exotic , nice history and descriptions.
weak women don't appeal to me in this type of story. the 'bride' is weak of character and pitiable

Wordy

Some of the scenes are a little wordy and over done but overall it was a good story.

Medieval tale with time travel. Excellent narrator

Would you listen to Forever His again? Why?

No. I don't often reread books, or in this case, relisten. It's 15 hours long, so that's a big commitment.

What other book might you compare Forever His to and why?

I'm not sure. This is the only book I have read like this. It might have some elements similar to Outlander, since it is a modern woman traveling back to medieval times.

What about Julia Motyka’s performance did you like?

She was very good with the French pronunciations. She did an excellent job distinguishing all the characters with her voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Some of the moments when you weren't sure how Celine's health would hold up were tense and sad. Celine also had a good sense of humor about her situation. And I loved to hate the bad guy!

Any additional comments?

This unusual medieval tale features a modern woman who unexpectedly travels back in time to the year 1300. She winds up in the bed of a dark lord named Gaston. He thinks she is the ward of his enemy whom the king is forcing him to marry in a bid to keep the peace. He's not about to trust her, and her ridiculous story about being from the future only leads him to think she may be mad. But Celine is very lovely and through her hard work and helpfulness, she gains the trust and devotion of his servants. Soon Gaston can't deny his attraction to her, but for a man who has never known love, it is almost impossible to admit what he feels. Meanwhile, Celine must find a way to get back to her time to avoid a life-threatening medical condition, even though she will leave her heart behind with Gaston.

The story has many humorous moments as she tries to convince people who she is and then starts "inventing" gadgets to make their lives easier. But there are also dark moments when Gaston suspects her of plotting with his enemy, and when that enemy moves to take care of them both and take everything Gaston holds for himself. I enjoyed the glimpse into medieval life. The sex was pretty hot, yet much more tender than you would expect from a fierce warrior.