“You? Your sister? It means little to me. I just need a bride.”After his betrothed runs away, Duke Henry does not intend to be humiliated. So he demands to marry the younger sister, in her stead. Yet when he sees sweet Charlotte, her allure spells anything but convenience. Nothing can stop Charlotte from finding her missing sister. Not even her new husband. Even if his lips can make her forget almost everything…Henry’s desire for his new wife is uncontrollable. So he sets some rules. Only, Charlotte starts breaking them one by one and now he must discipline this minx into submission…*If you like a realistic yet steamy depiction of the Regency and Victorian era, then The Duke and the Wrong Bride is the novel for you. An enchanting regency romance of 60,000 words (around 300 pages), written by Maybel Bardot and published by Cobalt Fairy. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a strong happily ever after. Get "The Duke and the Wrong Bride" today to discover Maybel's fantastic story!
This is a marriage of convenience, enemies-to-lovers combination. The book had a lot of potential as I normally really enjoy marriage of convenience plots. This book almost had too many little subplots that felt like a distraction from the H and h, like the disagreement of her parents. Also just as a personal preference, I am not a big fan of the pick a fight to stir up intimacy idea. It feels like a distraction and takes away from the progression of the love story.
The two main characters, Charlotte and Henry, were likable characters. I do feel that H was well developed, and he was pretty steady and stubborn throughout, but he was also really giving as it pertains to her and her family. While some of the side characters were funny and likable, like Oliver, other characters left a lot to be desired. I did not like Charlotte’s family most of the time although their pages were chaotic and offered a lot of activity. Charlotte was a frustrating heroine. She made bad choices when the prologue implied that she was the sister with the voice of reason, but once she was married she made some unreasonable choices. Her reaction to a broken promise seemed like an over exaggeration considering she had broken a promise and lied in the marriage too. They stubbornness and all the playing for the power and control didn’t help to progress the story. Luckily, they got the happily ever after even though they almost let their stubborn pride prevent it. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I liked Charlotte and Henry together when they weren’t having unnecessary fights and making bad decisions that were frustrating to read so the book fell between 3-4 stars.
I received an ARC from the author for free and am voluntarily giving my opinion.
The H 1 star; the h...? So all the H wants is a womb and evidently believes in conception without any intimacy on his part (Rule #1). The storyline was weak and the plot just did not work for me. Sorry.
Dnf@85%. I was enjoying this book but the falling out at 80% was absolutely ridiculous. Spoiled the rest for me so dnf. Also the Americanisms pissed me off.
Just discovered Maybel Bardot's The Duke and the Wrong Bride and had to share my thoughts. This is my fist book by Bardot. I will be reading more and hope they have similar heat and emotion.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really enjoyed it, and the steamy scenes are super hot, but dropped a star for moments of annoyance with characters as well as a contrived feeling late-act conflict. Loved the cover, it has the right vibe for the book and is the main reason I picked it up.
🔥🔥🔥 (plus some other scenes that are no explicit O on-page or ftb)
Tropes: Marriage of Convenience/White Marriage, Sister's Intended (Arranged Marriage), Cold MMC, Commoner becomes Peer, Push/Pull, and a little touch of Wives Aren't for Passion
Includes : Dominant MMC & MFC Brat Behavior(unestablished dynamic at first), Rough Play, Begging, Brief Bondage, Blindfold, Spanking, Punishment, Orgasm Denial, Safe Word, Fight Foreplay, Hair Pulling, Hand Necklace (Yay, the cover image paid off 😍)
This a first time read for me by author Maybel Bardot. I thought this story was a wonderful read of the sister becoming the bride because the elder bride has run away. I love marriage of convenience that catapult into true love for the hero and heroine. The characters are likable individuals although some of the mishaps are owned by the heroine. Overall, this was a very good read and I look to read more from this author.
I think this author has a lot of promise -- but the writing needs some work. I liked the story and the characters.
What was odd -- and noticeably missing -- was any description of anything. Characters would get described on their first appearance and some of their emotions in subsequent scenes, but that was it. No descriptions of clothes, rooms, gowns, food, sights, smells, etc. I think it was a Regency, but some period details didn't make sense (Regency gowns did not define the waistline), and the dialogue was sometimes off as well -- "That's one me" sounds particularly modern.
I also think the characters' motivations could have been more consistent. Both the FMC and MMC seemed to change what they wanted regularly with no explanation as to why. And there was a lot of telling and far too little showing.
All that said, I think with a really good editor and more practice, this author's future works will be a delight to read.
This was a cute read. It started off as a marriage of convenience and quickly evolved into a more D/S relationship that allowed the FMC to explore her sexuality, wants, and needs. All the while, Bardot manages to keep the historical setting and balance a variety of family dramas and relationships going on in the background (and none of the above has anything to do with that missing older sister, so you get that too). This is a dynamic story, the relationship [read: the sex] between Charlotte and Henry is really the main thread, and the rest of the plot and subplots sort of weave in and out of that....which is exactly what I want in a steamy read. The characters were fun - not JUST Charlotte and Henry but Beatrice, Hannah, BOTH Charlotte and Henry's parents, Oliver... They all have interesting and distinct personalities. Even the people you aren't supposed to like, are written that way. Overall, even without the copious amount of sex, the story was interesting. The relationship just added to that.
I guess, this is a really long-winded way to say, that this was a great read for multiple reasons. It was steamy, it was funny, the characters were great, and the plot(s) were interesting. So...can't go wrong.
Potential but NOT! The word smirk was overused. Hero smirk frequently and soon he learned how to wink with it, too. Oh, and the heroine also learned how to smirk after him. On top of that, both characters enjoys licking their lips when looking directly at one another. It was comically bad. It was not sexy, it didn’t sound sexy! It reminded me of a cartoony villain character right before pawing a woman and vice versa! Furthermore, storytelling and characters development wasn’t grand. Clearly, hero seeks a submissive wife yet he forced the obviously spirited heroine to marry him. Then, he dares whine that she’s not the meek wife he desired in a marriage. And what a boring marriage! But, yeah, he didn’t know? What did the duke expect? Choose a lioness but wonder why he didn’t get a mouse? Girl was perfectly bantering and roasting him when they first met, unofficially and officially, too, yet he couldn’t sense her fire? Poor logic and execution. The hero didn’t make sense with it, he was dull. Heroine had some potential at first but the plot didn’t do her justice. They were mostly stiff, imo, and there was 0 chemistry whatsoever. DNF.
Up until my Kindle read 52%, I’d have given this maybe 3-3.5 stars. I enjoyed the premise, the steam, and most of the dynamic between the characters. There were rough spots and gaps (like how everyone keeps alluding to the H’s past as if it matters, but the author then never actually addresses it in any meaningful way), but generally I was enjoying the read. Then at 52%, it seemed the main plot points were wrapped up, and I wondered where the book would go from there. And the answer was… all downhill. The h in particular got insecure, and passive aggressive, and jumped to conclusions and expected the H to read her mind, and the H just got boring. And there were pointless and silly interludes with h’s family. By the end I honestly could not have cared less if they reunited or went on to live completely separate lives. I didn’t even bother to read the epilogue because I just didn’t care at all about them anymore.
This story was a great read.A Lord arranged a marriage to a Duke by one of his daughters.That went array for this family.And it gets even better when the Duke arrives.This becomes quite a steamy read and not for those that do not like such a sexy read.But loved the storyline and thoroughly enjoyed this book.And the Extended Epilogue was a great finish.
A sad story of the struggle of a man born a commoner, but mother of noble birth, to suddenly become Duke. Not sure of himself and an only cousin, a Baron to assist him, but he wasn’t any help! Betrothed to lady he has never met , and when he arrives to meet her, she has fled, so he says he will marry her younger sister!neither enter their marriage with any idea how to act with each other, and of course the road is rocky!
I couldn't stop and lost a lot of sleep. The only jarring issue...for me...was the grammar errors and the "darns" and "goshes". Those mild expletives just didn't sound right. But I'm a grammar nerd and find these little lapses painful at times, like a snag. Otherwise I thought that the emotional ups and downs were about right and over an appropriate time span. I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed this story very much. I believe most of the drama in the book, she created, but it all ended well. I did not like her older sister‘s character. I thought she was shallow and selfish. I thought her parents were inconsiderate. And I thought her younger brothers were spoiled and uncontrollable. She seemed like the only good one in her family besides her younger.
This is a compelling story of the sister becoming the bride because the intended bride has run away. What started as a marriage of convenience becomes a true marriage of love. All the incidents occurring between the two is heartfelt and compelling and well worth reading.
The heroine’s sister runs away from her wedding and as the hero doesn’t want to be embarrassed, he settles for the little sister instead. They both appear stubborn and make some bad decisions. Her family seems to be a bit dysfunctional. There were some subplots that didn’t seem to add to the story. I did enjoy the hero as he stayed fairly consistent with his character.
This was the interesting story of a couple wed for the wrong reasons who had little understanding of how a marriage should function. Both struggled with identifying and admitting their feelings. This book was unique in that it focused primarily on the main characters and the supporting characters had relatively minor roles.
Well, not my favourite story,the terminology was way too modern for the times. On the whole though, a reasonably good storyline, more could have been made of the missing sister and why would you allow your parents to live with you when they have fallen out and you are newly married? Recipe for disaster! Not the best I've read!
Love this story and the two main characters of; Henry and Charlotte. He thought nothing was more important in life than to maintain control. She never imagine happiness and love would enter her life. Together they discover the true meaning of happiness! Hugely Recommend.
Really a double dose of stubbornness! Boy Charlotte and Henry should be awarded a prize for being the most stubborn. This was a good story that allows a couple that started out with a marriage of convenience to find themselves even though they definitely had ups and downs and plenty of interference from others. With time, they finally found their HEA.
Charlotte’s sister runs away from an arranged marriage with Duke Henry who decides to marry Charlotte instead. Although a marriage of convenience he neglects to tell Charlotte there will be no consummation. Follow the couple as they fall in love. Steamy read. Happy ever after
What starts as a marriage of convenience becomes a wonderful love match. Maybel makes you feel as though you are there being a part of watching Henry and Charlotte fall in love. I recommend this book
An excellent and exiting love story with different twists and turns strong and complex main characters and some funny moments. I like how Charlotte were able to change Henry’s life for the best. I recommend this book to romance lovers.
Henry and Charlotte. It’s not your typical steamy historical romance. I won’t revealed more so not to spoilt it but all I can say is I enjoyed reading Charlotte and Henry’s story and highly recommend it
Nice story, we two strong personalities. Charlotte was stubborn as well as a fighter. Henry was brought up differently and took over for family name. Eventually they survived each other.!!
I usually enjoy reading historical romances but unfortunately I didn't enjoy this one. The story was very weak and the characters were quite irritating. I don't like to DNF a book but I did do a lot of skimming to get to the end of this one.
Spicy, graphic within marriage. The reader gets to know the characters in a superficial matter. I would love to read this as an expanded novel where the characters could be developed further. A light frothy he's read.
A delightful story that starts out slowly and escalates into passion, mystery, the tenderness before discovery leading to love with exquisite feelings between twopeople.
I've read almost 1/3rd and it just not doing it for me. The MMC is barely described properly. He's just grinning all the time and his personality doesn't come through. It's very formulaic and not emotive at all.