His Bluestocking Bride: A Regency Romance

Branches of Love Series, Book 3

By: Sally Britton

Narrated by: Rachael Beresford

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

He vows to never risk his heart again. She hides her love to avoid rejection. A marriage of convenience is not what either of them wished for.  

Overlooked by society and underappreciated in her family, Ellen Bringhurst has resigned herself to spinsterhood and a life of reading. Until her match-making friends contrive to reintroduce Ellen to the man she has secretly loved since their shared childhood.   

As the younger son to an earl, Marcus Calvert must wed in order to inherit his estate. Still nursing a broken heart, he prefers a practical approach to matrimony rather than romantic love. When Ellen is presented as a possible bride, he proposes a marriage of convenience.   

Ellen accepts his hand, hiding her feelings rather than risking her husband's rejection. Marcus, though determined not to expose his heart again, finds more to admire in his childhood friend with each passing day. What began as a sensible arrangement now has the possibility to become so much more. But is Marcus willing to risk his heart a second time?

©2018 Sally Britton (P)2018 Tantor

Worth reading, especially with the shortage of clean romances.

The book is enjoyable, though a little typical in storyline. This author has some outstanding stories and some average. This is a fair, clean read worth picking up but not one of the outstanding ones. In general, the narration was fine, and I liked both characters; however, I wish the narrator had given the heroine a less breathy, mousy demeanor. More spark in her voice and personality would have made this a more enjoyable listen. And sometimes, Marcuses voice was a little too high, such as when he was conversing with his brother. So it was a little inconsistent. One writing pet peeve of mine is frequent blushing. I rarely see a person blush, yet in this book (as in many others), the heroine can hardly converse without flushing red. Is there no other option available? Another pet peeve that almost every book in this genre includes is repetitious internal monologue. In the second half, I just want to tell the author that, “Yes, I remember that from the last time he/she thought it a few pages back. And now I remember it again, and yet again.” Seems the writer fell back on that one tool too often as as filler. I’d rather enjoy the path of the tension playing out without having it re-explained and repeated through internal thoughts as though I lack the wits to keep up. It does not move the plot along but rather keeps it static.

Okay

WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Overlooked by society and underappreciated in her family, Ellen Bringhurst has resigned herself to spinsterhood and a life of reading. Until her match-making friends contrive to reintroduce Ellen to the man she has secretly loved since their shared childhood.

As the younger son to an earl, Marcus Calvert must wed in order to inherit his estate. Still nursing a broken heart, he prefers a practical approach to matrimony rather than romantic love. When Ellen is presented as a possible bride, he proposes a marriage of convenience.

Ellen accepts his hand, hiding her feelings rather than risking her husband’s rejection. Marcus, though determined not to expose his heart again, finds more to admire in his childhood friend with each passing day. What began as a sensible arrangement now has the possibility to become so much more. But is Marcus willing to risk his heart a second time?

MY TAKE
This was a bit of a tough read. I thought Ellen was a stronger character than she turned out to be. At first, there were memories of when they were younger and were friends. But then they both threw up walls that really began to wear on me. Later in the book, Marcus's brother makes a suggestion on how to fix things between them, making an excellent point that they had not idea how much time they might have. I expected him to court her. But Marcus does nothing. When he does try to talk to Ellen, she pushes doesn't give him a chance. It's something a simple conversation would have remedied. Some misunderstanding I could handle, but this just went too long.

Love this author!

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and many of this author's other works. Love conquers all.

An enchanting novel

I enjoyed this book greatly, it was pleasantly light and sweet, without risking bordering on insipid.
The plot line while comfortably predicting a happy ending - as this sort of novel provides, had enough twists and turns to keep my headphones glued to my ears!
The characters are all well rounded and their blunders are endearing rather than frustrating, aiding the plot line. I was left on the edge of my seat, without wanting to give the characters a good telling off.

If you are looking for a few hours pleasant escapism, without the overuse of 'Heaving Bussoms' so often present in other historic novels, this audio book is perfect.