THE RUNAWAY MCBRIDE

Author: Elizabeth Thornton ISBN: 9780425226346 2/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: BERKLEY
Time Period: Victorian 1885

James Burnett is a widower who’s given up hope of finding someone to share his life with. He did, however, once have a lover he later dubbed Faithless McBride. For eight years, he’d suppressed thoughts of Faith McBride’s abandonment with whiskey and women. That is, until visions of her imminent death started to haunt him. Only James can save her from a killer—but can Faith trust the one man who destroyed her faith in love?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Elizabeth Thornton's THE RUNAWAY McBRIDE is the story of a woman ahead of her time, a man who inherits a psychic ability and the succession of circumstances that keep them apart far longer than they should be. It is very well written, with wonderful attention to the details of the era as well as perfectly appropriate dialogue. I felt like I'd fallen backward in time, and enjoyed myself immensely.

Faith and James were engaged to marry, but a misunderstanding keeps Faith from going through with the wedding. It's been eight years since she fled, and James is still pretty bitter about her leave-taking, calling her "Faithless McBride" in his mind. But his grandmother's premonitions are passed on to him, and he realizes Faith is in mortal danger, so he tries to do what any gentleman in his position would do. He tries to save Faith. For her part, Faith has taken a position teaching at a girl's school in London. She is smart and doing well enough on her own, but her heart is still wounded by what she believes James did in the past.

I've got to say that this story kept me glued to the pages. I liked the way the couple worked together to solve a mystery, as well as the way they shared more as they began to trust each other again. I thought it was great that Faith's work wasn't the usual governess or companion position. She prepared the women she taught to go on to higher education, showing that there were greater opportunities for women of the age.

There wasn't anything that I didn't like about THE RUNAWAY McBRIDE. The author's voice drew me in, her story kept my attention, and now that I know what happened with Faith and James I'm ready to read more from Ms. Thornton. Well done!

Kay James