The Banished Bride

Intrepid Heroines, Book 1

By: Andrea Pickens

Narrated by: Amanda Benzecry

A drunken laugh, a roll of the dice... and Aurora Sprague finds herself a child bride, married in haste to a young man she's never met to settle her father's gaming debt. Moments after the ceremony, the new groom gallops off to the army and Aurora is banished to a remote estate, married in name only.

Years later, Alex Fenimore, now a top intelligence officer, is on a secret mission when a fiery young lady helps him escape an attack.

He has no idea of her real identity—or that the sparks of desire between them are about to ignite a dangerous passion...

©2002 Andrea Pickens (P)2025 Andrea Pickens

Good Character Development

I think the only drawback was the emotional disconnect that the hero didn't suffer or apologize or pay more for his adulterous & neglectful abandonment of a young girl who lost out on over a decade of care, society, respect, or basic acknowledgement. His shame and lack of true apology & spoken understanding of what he did was missing...and it mattered. It made the HEA less satisfying, despite the love setup. Moody regret is never the same as genuine repentance & atonement.

The frustrating part was that a couple of times there were some natural openings where it might've been done...but the opportunity was missed. And the betrayal revealed at the lawyer's office was so glossed over when her anger later kept easily dissipating. I did not think she should've apologized at all, but somehow she took equal responsibility. I found that offensive, since he had the power, adulterous history, and was taking legal action. It was not equal, and the story didn't reflect that he bore most of the evil blame that somehow never fully got atoned for to her in the story IMO. Then the ending happened so abruptly that it was dizzying. Why not a real wedding where he publicly& openly acknowledges & adores her? Why not an epilogue with a better explanation of what happens to her investigation company, their life together, children, or his atonement payed into her happiness? It just lacked good closure & HEA satisfaction as a story. Gotta have that for a good romance.

The narrator was not the best. I have to say that it was more irritating in the first part of the story, and with fewer characters in the second half it was less so. Perhaps I just got used to it? I sped it up to 1.30 xs just to make it read normally. There were a few audio transitions between chapters that were less than perfect, but not many & I dont think detracted too much.

Listen at 1.2 or read the book instead

This wasn’t nearly as good as the Wrexford and Sloane series, but it was entertaining once I changed the narration speed to 1.2. The female narrator speaks very slowly and uses a low voice for the women and a normal voice for the men.