Secrets of a Wedding Night

Secret Brides, Book 1

By: Valerie Bowman

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Young, widowed, and penniless, Lily Andrews, the Countess of Merrill, has strong opinions on marriage. When she spots a certain engagement announcement in The Times, she decides to take action. She will not allow another hapless girl to fall prey to a man - particularly the scoundrel who broke her heart five years ago. Anonymously she writes and distributes a pamphlet entitled "Secrets of a Wedding Night," knowing it will find its way into his intended's innocent hands.

Devon Morgan, the Marquis of Colton, desires a good wife and mother to his son - someone completely unlike Lily Andrews, the heartless beauty who led him on a merry chase five years ago only to reject him. When Devon's new fiancée cries off after reading a certain scandalous pamphlet, he vows to track down the author and make her pay. But when he learns it's his former fiancée Lily, he issues a challenge: write a retraction or prepare to be seduced - to find out how wonderful a wedding night can be....

©2012 Valerie Bowman (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Bowman's engaging sense of characterization, gift for creating sexual chemistry, and graceful writing style give her debut romance a splendidly satisfying emotional depth." ( Booklist Starred Review)

Great Historical Romance..

I completely enjoyed this book. The hero and heroine were both great strong characters, funny and witty. The story was good and there was some hot and steamy sex, it was not constantly full of sex and sex thoughts as some books are but there was enough to satisfy a reader that enjoys sex in a book, (just needs a tad bit more sex to be the perfect amount without over doing it). This book was very credit worthy and I have already ordered the next two books in the series. The narrator did a very good job.

On a side note it was interesting that the author lives in Jacksonville Florida and that is where I live. Nope don't know her but thought it was kind of cool.

Regency romance with secrets, scandals & seduction

Beware - this is a runaway listen - once you start you just can't stop.

I hadn't heard of Ms Bowman before so this was a gamble that happily paid off. The chemistry and tension between the two main likeable characters was (bang) right there from the start then the author brings in a plot that was funny, romantic and passionate, but also tragic and traumatic as the story unfolds and we see the effects the cruel deception committed by others in their past had on their lives.

Good secondary characters that I hope we will visit in future books but this story of Devon and Lily's journey as they battle out their mutual dislike, misunderstandings and distrust of each other to finally find friendship and desire shouldn't be missed.

Worth a credit? Yes it was well worth it.

Meh...

What did you like best about Secrets of a Wedding Night? What did you like least?

Light listen, perfect for my short commute to work. The story is predictable, and never had me riveted. I was never sorry I had to shut off my device so I could tend to other things. For me this story was very take-it-or-leave-it... if I found out what happened to the characters in the end, good. If the download had suddenly disappeared from my device, I probably wouldn't have cared. Overall, it was a cute-ish story, and entertaining enough for what it was, but I'll be moving on. The writing was good, easy to follow and understand without being completely dumbed down. The sex scenes were pretty steamy, yet classy. The one thing I could've done without was the narrator's annoying male lead's voice. Worth a credit? Sure, why not, if you have tons to spare.

A Mixed Bag

The writing is good. The characters, dialog and situations are both fun and engaging. The only problem is the premise of the book. The pamphlet that started the entire story in motion makes no sense. We never even get to hear excerpts of the salacious pamphlet that lead to a woman breaking off an engagement to a very sought after Marquis. 🤨 Quite hard to believe this tale would have merit. Leading one to acknowledge that the author doesn't even believe the foundation is solid. Then there are all the thin, questionable tendrils that lead out from the pamphlet to bring this couple back together. Why would, how could the Marquis guess it was the pius Countess write this pamphlet? Certainly there were many unsatisfied women of the TON, so why after not having contact for over 5 years would he assume it was her? How could noone know of her true circumstance? Afterall, her husband has been dead for 5 YEARS ... meaning his heir has held the title & purse strings all this time. Why now has he decided to kick her out? How could she have survived for 5 years without money and no gossip emerged from creditors, solicitors, etc...? None of it makes any sense. HOWEVER, if you can look past the ridiculous plot and all its many failings, there is a pretty cute and heartwarming love story buried there. I wish the book had better editing. I think it several readers would give up before this plot turns into the point of the tale. That being, the bond of true love never dies.
Nice HEA, and fun epilog that gives a great setup for the next book. Also, as always, outstanding narration from a constant professional.
I reccommend with some caveats.

A good romance is a good romance

This book has humor, romance, good strong characters and believability. Neither of the key characters shows any of the sometimes sick characteristics displayed in so many romance novels. Instead they are normal people responding normally to life.

Justine Eyre is the perfect narrator for this story.