A rogue nobleman, a rescued lady, and revenge undone by romance all play a part in New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston’s irresistible novel of best-laid plots, delicious deception, and unexpected passion. Two years have passed since Josie Wentworth was bought from the Sioux for a gold watch and whisked back to England by Marcus Wharton, the Duke of Blackthorne. When Marcus breaks … Blackthorne. When Marcus breaks his promise to return Josie to America, she ends up as a maid in the home of his charming but neglected nephews. Once Josie’s long-lost family finds her, however, the suddenly wealthy heiress sets out to save the two boys from their indifferent uncle—and teach the duke a lesson in honor.
Learning that Marcus is seeking a rich American bride to save his estate, Josie plots to catch his eye—certain he’ll never recognize the beauty she’s become as the ragged captive he rescued. But Josie doesn’t wager on her marital charade taking a tender turn, as the nobleman she’s despised for years proves to be a very different man than she’s imagined. And there’s no denying his passionate caresses, as she falls deeper under the spell of a husband determined to claim her heart.
Praise for Blackthorne’s Bride
“[Joan] Johnston’s gloriously dramatic twelfth Bitter Creek novel, the fourth installment in her Mail Order Bride subseries, whisks readers across the Atlantic. . . . [This] page-turner is replete with romantic angst, sizzling sex, and the promise of an enduring love.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Second chances, marriage of convenience, revenge, reconnection, and redemption . . . Blackthorne’s Bride is another winner from Joan Johnston that gives readers a delicious story of love, laughter, forgiveness, and family.”—Smexy Books
“Blackthorne’s Bride is a sweeping tale that takes you from the Wild West . . . to Regency England. [It’s] a feisty and surprisingly enticing romance that takes you on an adventure through the city streets of London and the countryside.”—Addicted to Romance
“Riveting . . . Johnston excels at descriptions, peppered with period details that make this book a picturesque reading experience.”—Buried Under Romance
The passionate Westerns in Joan Johnston’s Bitter Creek series can be enjoyed together or separately, in any order:
TEXAS BRIDE • WYOMING BRIDE • MONTANA BRIDE • SINFUL • SHAMELESS • BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE • SULLIVAN’S PROMISE
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This is the first book I have read by this author and I really enjoyed the book. It is the final installment in a series, but I had no problems reading it as a stand alone title, the author gave a lot of backstory and I never felt lost with references to previous books. In fact she gave enough backstory on Josie’s sisters that I want to read their stories!
This story opens with Marcus, the Duke of Blackthorne rescuing Josie from the Sioux Indians – she has been badly beaten and is barely alive. Marcus takes her back to England and cares for her wounds himself. She is ill and barely coherent the entire trip. Marcus never learns her names – but promises to return her to her family as soon as she is well again. When they arrive in England he asks Stephen, the Earl of Seaton, his friend and future brother-in-law to make sure that she is taken care of and returned to her family. Marcus is not able to do it himself as he is getting married in a month.
Fast forward two years. Josie is still in England and basically being held prisoner at Blackthorne’s rundown northern estate. She has no means to leave and wouldn’t leave Blackthorne’s two nephews even if she was able to go. She has written numerous letters to the Duke demanding to know why she has been held captive and complaining about the poor treatment of his nephews. But she has never gotten a reply or any acknowledgment at all. So when a detective hired by her sister finds her and tells her that she is rich, she is finally able to escape and plans to liberate the boys as well.
She travels to London planning on confronting Blackthorne about his treatment of her and his nephews when she learns he’s hunting for a rich bride. Without telling him who she is she sets up a meeting, planning on bribing him to let her take his nephews and instead ends up agreeing to marry him!
Marcus has often wondered whatever became of the girl he rescued and wonders why she’s never contacted him. Since the death of his wife, Marcus has been consumed with grief and the reality that he will have to marry again, if he ever plans to save his estate. He has placed an advertisement in the American papers looking for a marriage of convenience. So when Josie requests a meeting he naturally assumes she’s responding to the ad.
At first Josie is appalled at the idea of marrying the Duke – but then realizes he has no idea who she is and she’d have a better chance of taking his nephews back to America with her if they were married.
The two marry and Josie plots to leave – but she is torn. Marcus is far kinder than she imagined and she is having a hard time reconciling this man with the man that she’s hated for two years.
When Marcus finally realized that Josie is the girl he rescued – he is angry and thinks she didn’t tell him who she was in a misguided attempt to repay a debt of kindness. Josie doesn’t correct him for his Incorrect assumption nor does she elaborate as to why she really did marry him – she is still planning on leaving him after all.
When a family emergency arises and Marcus and Josie head north to rescue his sister even more of the truth of what happened all those years ago comes out and they find out who really did orchestrate Josie’s captivity.
Still stunned by the truth and even more confused, Josie is unsure of how to proceed with her plans to leave. But when she is confronted with the knowledge that her sister my be dying – she feels she has no choice.
I didn’t give it five stars because – Blackthorne was continually referred to as royalty or a royal Duke which is not the case you have to be the son or grandson of the reigning monarch to be a royal duke – he was just a plain, old, every day duke and his nephews would not be Lord Spencer and Lord Clayton – as sons of the younger son of a Duke, they would not have an honorific. The other reason was because so much of the story was based on a misunderstanding and miscommunication that it just seemed inconceivable to me that the truth didn’t come out long before it did.
But, I did think this was a good read, it flowed well, had a unique storyline, developed characters, warm love scenes, a bit of angst, some twists and turns and finally a sweet HEA. I would be happy to recommend the book and will be reading the previous books in this series.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*
Book four in the Mail-Order Brides/ A Bitter Creek series.a well written story that held my interest until the end. Josie Wentworth and Marcus Wharton, the Duke of Blackthorne’s second chance.I enjoyed seeing this story come together. I received a copy through Net Galley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This author is one heck of a writer. Her descriptions of scenes are characters is probably the best I’ve read in a while. Her vocabulary is also excellent. It has a little “heat” to the story but still it’s a 5 star book. The narration is excellent.
Have read most of the books published by this author. Love the Blackthorne stories. Would recommend any of her books.
Wonderful historic romance read. Beginning of a family epic.
I’ve read most of Joan Johnston’s romances including this one years ago.
I’d recommend any of her books to readers of romance.
Loved the tough and soft side of both the main characters and the family ties on Josie’s side. Want to definitely read more in this series.
Very Good Read I recommend
Great story about people’s good intention screwing everything up. Marcus saves Josie from being killed in America and heals her aboard the ship back to England. He is under the belief that his friend sent her home to her family, but can’t help staying obsessed about her. She ends up as bitter servant in one of his far away estates. Change of fortune changes everything for her, and what starts out as revenge turns into the unraveling of all the misunderstandings. Wonderful story – an usual regency romance worth every minute.
I was so excited to get Josie’s story from Netgalley. Having read all the other books in this series and seeing the Wentworth family slowly get their HEA I couldn’t wait to see how Josie’s story played out. I wasn’t disappointed. Blackthorne’s Bride was my favorite book in the series. I’m sad that this will be the last of the series. I want to know what happens to the children. The children would make a great spin off series, and let us catch up with the parents…Hint! Hint!
Josie was great. She was brave, smart, and caring. Marcus was kind, protective, and sexy. He had some abandonment issues and just wanted to be loved. Josie and Marcus were great together. They had a strong connection. I loved getting to catch up with Miranda, Hannah, and Hetty. I also really liked Marcus’s sister Lark. On the other hand I couldn’t stand Marcus’s first wife, and I thought his best friend was a crappy friend. This book was lower on the action, and angst, and more about the romance and a sweet family reuniting after years of being separated. I loved everything about this book. The only reason it’s not a full 5 stars is because I felt the ending was rushed and I would have liked a little more of an epilogue.
I waited a long time for this one! It didn’t disappoint!
My rating would actually be 3.5, but I rounded up to 4 because I really did enjoy the story.
The story follows Marcus Wharton, Duke of Blackthorne and American Josie Wentworth. It has a really exciting beginning with Marcus and his best friend coming upon a Sioux renegade whipping a young woman (Josie) who is tied to a post and stripped to the waist. She’s almost dead and Marcus rescues her. Marcus is fascinated by the girl’s bravery and instead of leaving her in the care of someone in America, he brings her aboard the ship he is taking back to England. However, when he gets there, he turns the arrangements for her care and eventual return to America up to his best friend. Since Marcus is marrying his best friend’s sister as soon as they return to England, he doesn’t want his rescue of the girl to cause any issue with Fanny – his betrothed. Things really go awry from there – Fanny dies, Josie has been virtually imprisoned on one of Marcus’ properties (without his knowledge), Marcus’ estate is bankrupt and he has to marry an heiress. The rest of the story is filled with Marcus and Josie getting together and falling in love. I won’t give you a step-by-step because that will spoil the story for you.
What didn’t I like?
* The author really needed to do more research. Evidently, she normally writes westerns or contemporary novels and that is probably why this book just doesn’t ‘feel’ right for the time period and the place. A couple of examples of where more research would help.
** Marcus is NOT a royal duke, but the author mentions that over and over and over in the book. In order to be a ROYAL DUKE he must be the son or grandson of the current reigning monarch and the story doesn’t say anything about that at all.
** Spencer and Clay are not Lord’s. As children of a second son, they would be plain Spencer and Clay. They do not have an honorific.
* The regular use of the term ‘mail order bride’. That is a common American term, and I understand that is the name of the series, but it isn’t a normally used term in England and therefore, the Duke wouldn’t think of himself as marrying a mail order bride. He would think in terms of him having a marriage of convenience.
* I didn’t like Fanny – and maybe I wasn’t supposed to. She is supposed to be this ethereal, sweet, and angelic (too good to be true??) person, but she does some pretty rotten things.
* The ending/solution just felt rushed to me. I could have done with less of the book on the American part of the family and more on the resolution of the issues between Josie and Marcus.
What did I like?
* I absolutely LOVED the epilog – it was a great wrap-up for the story.
“I requested and received this book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”