THE RAVENCLIFF BRIDE

Author: Dawn Thompson ISBN: 0505526530 9/2005 PARANORMAL Publisher: DORCHESTER/Love Spell

As the coach flew up the Cornish coast, Sara saw the end of her journey: Ravencliff Manor. She was now a Baroness. But what sort of man would rescue her from debtors prison by marriage, sight unseen, by proxy? Obviously, a wretch—the same sort of man who kept the curtains drawn and his house in a state of gloomy disrepair. The same sort of man who let a strange, wolf-like creature roam his grounds as if it were master. Of course, Sara would have accepted the proposal of the Devil himself to get out of Fleet, so she was resigned to her fate. Then she met her husband, hair black as sin and a handsome face, and all her assurance vanished. What strange curse had befallen Nicholas Walraven, and what secrets did he hide? What dark fortune had brought her to this place? For good or ill, she was now… THE RAVENCLIFF BRIDE

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I am totally on the fence for my review of THE RAVENCLIFF BRIDE. Nicholas is a beautiful character. He is loving and caring, truly taking care of the people that he loves. He broods, but not in a bad way, and when at first you think he might show a tinge of a penchant towards tears, he directly turns the other way and becomes Mr. Machismo. He tries to give Sara everything that she wants to make up for his failures as a husband, and that makes him so incredibly endearing to me. He knows his limits and his boundaries, and altogether just makes my heart melt.

Sara was a totally different story. She is the singular reason that I could not give THE RAVENCLIFF BRIDE a Top Pick or 4 Rose Read award. While I loved our hero, I seriously could not stand this heroine. She is selfish, bossy, demanding, arrogant, and just annoying on every level. She doesn't listen to anything anyone has to say, even in regards to her own safety, talks Nicholas down in front of his servants, and has no regard for her maids or just plain anyone else. I would have loved to see Nicholas paired with a woman who was worthy of him, and not some blubbering ninny who doesn't know how to just keep her mouth shut and go with the flow. The only redeeming quality that this woman had was her love for Nicholas, which prompted her to risk her life at one time or another for him. Whether it was before or after one of her let's-tell-my-husband-off-and-get-on-everyone's-nerves tantrums, I really can't say. There are just too many to count.

Nicholas alone makes THE RAVENCLIFF BRIDE worth reading. He carries the entire book and pulls it off wonderfully, if I do say so myself.

Kristal Gorman