His Contract Bride

His Contract Bride by Rose Gordon

Edward Banks, Lord Watson, grew up knowing that his father loved his mother.  Just like he grew up knowing that his mother loved someone else.  The pain of this unrequited love caused Edward's father to arrange a marriage for his oldest son, so he would never suffer the indignity of loving his wife.

Miss Regina Harris has known her entire life that she is not really loved.  Her father is a social climber who puts on the appearance of caring about his family and her brother is a drunkard who cares about nothing but himself.  She can't quite believe it when her father tells her that Edward has fallen in love with her after one meeting and has asked for her hand.  When she discovers the truth she is devastated by all of the lies and realizes that she will never be more than a pawn in everyone's games.  Can Edward win back Regina's regard and convince her that she is more than she believes?

The idea of being so used by everyone around you to the point where you cannot even identify your own personality is a terrifying concept.  Regina "knew" her place, and when her one and only dream she ever dared to have came crashing down around her she really was lost.  Try to imagine that feeling.  Her brother despised her, her father held her in contempt, and her husband felt only indifference for her.  She was emotionally devoid.  No wonder she didn't rail at Edward when she discovered the truth.

Edward, on the other hand, was the product of too much emotion.  Obsession, hatred, guilt, fear, loss, etc.  His reasons for being emotionally devoid pretty much coincided Joseph's.  They were products "in-spite" of their upbringing, as opposed to Regina being a product "of" her upbringing.  I liked that little comparison being slipped in there.

While I really liked the main characters, found the story line engaging and witty, and loved the settings, my attention is almost always captured by the supporting cast.  This story did  not disappoint on that score.  Having already read a few of Ms. Gordon's later novels I was shocked to see the parents of one of her later heroes (names omitted to avoid spoilers) portrayed the way they were.  As this was written later on as a prequel I can see the tie-ins perfectly and can't wait to re-read that particular novel again to see if I catch a few details I may have missed the first go-round.

Overall, I liked this one a lot and, given my previous experience with Ms. Gordon, I can't wait to read them ALL.

 Ratings:

(1=unacceptable, 2=poor, 3=acceptable, 4=good, 5=excellent)

Continuity/Flow – 4

Sex – 4 

Language – 4

Storyline – 5

Overall – 4