Lieutenant Rick Redepenning has been saving his admiral’s intrepid daughter from danger since their formative years, but today, he faces the gravest of threats–the damage she might do to his heart. How can he convince her to see him as a suitor, not just a childhood friend? Travelling with her father’s fleet has left Mary Pritchard ill-prepared for London Society, and prey to the machinations of … machinations of false friends. When she strikes out on her own to find a more suitable locale to take up her solitary spinsterhood, she finds adventure, trouble, and her girlhood hero, riding once more to her rescue.
This novella first appeared in the Bluestocking Belles box set Mistletoe, Marriage, and Mayhem.
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He was rescuing her again. Lieutenant Rick Redepenning had been doing that since Mary was a child and he a Midshipman on her father’s vessel. Of course she had been in love with him since his first rescue and that love only increased as he grew into a handsome man. But he would only ever see her as being nine she thought when seeing him for the first time in several years, he rescued her from a broken down coach!
Rick had injured himself and had been trying to let his leg heal but it was certainly bringing him some pain, but after leaving Mary at her aunt’s, he decided to go back and check on her. Well she was on the move again to another aunt’s house when he caught up with her! A wonderful journey told in the unique and wonderful prose of Jude Knight, who makes us feel part of the story and we see it unfold. Rick wants to court Mary, while she is smitten over him, but it seems one incident or another keeps getting in the way, Especially one money hungry cousin Bosville (the idiot) who keeps turning up.
Love, loved this story!! Now want some gingerbread cookies!
” Gingerbread Bride” by Jude Knight is a tale of one Lieutenant Rick Redepenning…has been saving his best friend Mary Pritchard… since they were young…but now he must chase after her to save her from an unwanted marriage minded cousin….her own misadventures …and to top it all off …from himself. As for Mary herself …all she has known has been the freedom of being raised amount her father’s fleet…therefore the strictures of London’s Ton are almost more than she can bear. Rick has always been her savior…but can she trust him to save her from herself…and him?!? Read and see. Much enjoyed and Highly Recommended. I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Copy of this book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Captivating, sweet heartwarming novella romance story. The characters are intriguing. The well-written book kept my attention throughout, enjoyed reading. I have voluntarily chosen to read and review this book.
I don’t usually care for Novellas ( I hate for them to end ) but Jude Knight is a masterful storyteller and there’s no valet is no exception. Her characters are delightful and genuine. In this story Mary is intelligent and strong, our hero Rick is sweet and kind. He’s spent a lifetime rescuing Mary from one folly after the other. When they grew older duty called him away but fate put Mary in his path once more. This is such a sweet love story with lots of sweet humor and beautifully written. Thank you so much Jude for such a heartwarming, charming story.
This is the 3rd book I’ve read written by Jude Knight; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I can’t wait to read more of her books.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the chemistry between the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
Short Novella Surprisingly Good Read
While I do enjoy quick fiction reads, I find the short format of a novella to be one that appears to be hard to master by authors. Often, rather than writing a story that fits the format, the author feels the need to do an information dump to set up the story rather than let it naturally evolve. Also, there doesn’t often seem to be enough time to develop the characters or the plot fully. Worse, though, is when authors try to shoehorn a novel-length plot into a novella; this makes for more telling than showing, which detracts from enjoyment because we want to get involved with the characters’ emotions or plight. This is hard to do if we are just being told the story rather than shown it through the eyes of the characters. So, I found this book to be a pleasant surprise. We actually do learn some background about the characters very quickly, but it is done within the construct of the hero and heroine meeting again unexpectedly. So we genuinely see that backstory through the character’s eyes as they reminisce mentally when they see each other again. And these reminiscences had some delicious humor that I found highly amusing and which made me smile more than once. (I love to some of these silly words the author incorporated, like collywobbles, as that added to the fun.) The author managed to create two very different but strong characters whose interactions were pleasing to follow.
I didn’t think, though, that the book description accurately reflected the novella. Much of what was stated in the book blurb was actually what happened before the story began. I never like that. I think the book description should match the book. However, when I actually got into the novella, of course, I ended up enjoying the story and characters. The heroine has had a very different past than most heroines in historical romance. She has lived on her father’s ship since she was a child, and she only has now returned to England to live because of her father’s death. She is shipped off to one aunt, who has designs for her son to marry her because they want access to her inheritance. In running away from these machinations to see another aunt, she runs into the hero who just happens to be in the area (right around the time when she is very nearly set upon by ne’er-do-wells. He began working on her father’s ship as a young man, so they’ve been nearly lifelong friends. I loved some of the stories that were recounted about their childhoods. He was not only her rescuer and confidante, but he also taught her how to defend herself when needed. Because the heroine has always seen the hero through a child’s eyes, she does somewhat see him as a knight-in-shining-armor kind of man. So when they meet again as adults, will that turn into something more?
I don’t want to give away too much more away, but I so enjoyed watching the unfolding romance between the two characters. I love how the hero was so protective, even though the heroine could often take care of herself (because of all that he’d taught her earlier). But some rescues aren’t physical ones. I liked how the heroine was very independent-minded and intelligent. If you enjoy short Regency fiction where the heroine is just a little off the norm, you will most likely enjoy this book.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
Part of The Golden Redepennings series a story that had me laughing as I read. Lieutenant Rick Redepenning is always coming to the aid of Mary Pritchard, trying to get out a tower is one of the times. I enjoyed reading the last part of the story as she says to him “But right this minute, the gingerbread bride needs rescuing—from the horse!” I want to read more in this series. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Rick Redepenning has been saving Mary Pritchard from herself since she was nine and he fourteen. He was serving as a midshipman under her father, the admiral with whom she traveled when he saved her the first time. Now fourteen years later they need again. Her father is dead, and she is send to live with one of her aunts. Only problem is, this aunt has a son who plans on marrying Mary, mainly for her inheritance. Thus, she runs away to another aunt in the country, crossing paths with Rick. They both have a secret romantic attraction to each other. Will they ever confess their feelings? Will Mary ever be free from her cousin chasing her? Just where does gingerbread come into it? This was a nice addition to the Redepenning saga, an enjoyable read. I received this eBook from the author and publisher for an honest review.