When the Earl of Salt Hendon marries squire’s daughter Jane Despard, Society is aghast. But Jane and Salt share a secret past of heartache and mistrust. They are forced into a marriage neither wants; the Earl to honor a dying man’s wish; Jane to save her stepbrother from financial ruin. Beautiful inside and out, the patient and ever optimistic Jane believes love conquers all; the Earl will take … take some convincing. Enter Diana St. John, who has been living in a fool’s paradise believing she would be the next Countess of Salt Hendon. She will go to extreme lengths, even murder, to hold Salt’s attention. Can the newlyweds overcome past prejudices and sinister opposition to fall in love all over again?
Awards for this Book
- 2011 Australian Romance Readers Awards Finalist
Book Details
Series: Book 1 in the Salt Hendon series
Classification: Parental Guidance Recommended (mild sensuality)
Length: Full-length novel (117,000 words, about 460 standard pages)
Edition: Revised, re-edited, and re-covered in 2014
Style: Classic romance with a modern voice, similar to Regency noir
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What an entrancing story from beginning to end!
Lucinda Brant is a new author that was recommended by my friends in the UK. This is the first audiobook that I have listened to. There are benefits to listening to a book that I never thought of. I enjoy reading, it is my escape from everyday life. The first benefit is the narrator Alex Wyndham. He has a dreamy, sexy voice that brings Salt to life. The second benefit is hearing the correct pronunciation of words that I have been mispronouncing for quite a few years. Thank you, Alex.
Now on to the to this amazing collection from Lucinda. These stories are stunning in the scope of how different they are from most fiction due to the fact that the stories are so historically accurate in every way. From the language, the clothing, the idiosyncrasies of the characters, and most of all because Lucinda writes a truly astonishing story of betrayal and vengeance that shows that truth, trust, and love are the foundation of a Happily Ever After.
Salt and Jane are great, well-developed characters that make these stories so compelling and enjoyable.
Lucinda’s writing is deeply emotional with heart-stopping peril, drama and a truly evil villain.
Magnus, Earl of Salt Hendon is a powerful nobleman that has the respect of his peers and enemies alike. He wields his power with fairness to those who deserve it and strikes fear into those who oppose him. He is a Gentleman to his core and his word is sacrosanct. He is devoted to his family and will protect them with his life.
The only person who has ever made him judge his actions and feelings is the beautiful Miss Jane Despard. Jane is a young lady that has a deep moral compass, she always tries to tell the truth and goes out of her way to believe the best in people, even when the evidence in front of her says otherwise. She is deeply shocked when her guardian’s will is read. She has to marry Salt, to save her brother’s inheritance. She and Salt had a relationship that did not end well for either of them. She will not put her brother’s future in jeopardy so she agrees.
Years ago they met at the Salt Hunt and spent a lot of time getting to know each other. On a wonderful, beautiful night they consummated their love. Salt asked her to marry, they were really in love and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Only something went wrong and she never heard from him after she left to go home. She discovered that she was pregnant and wrote to Salt. This is where the story gets tragic. The letter is intercepted and the actions of Lady Diana St. John, the widow of Salt’s best friend cause Jane to lose the child.
Salt doesn’t know what happened to Jane years ago. He believes she betrayed him, but he gave his word and he will honor the betrothal that was arranged years ago. He wants nothing to do with Jane and tries to get her to break the betrothal. Jane cannot and they marry.
No one knows that Lady Diana is mentally ill. Her single focus is making Salt fall in love with her and becoming the Treasury Secretary and maybe someday Prime Minister. She is truly unhinged and will kill anyone who gets in her way. Including constantly making her son sick to get Salt’s attention. Salt is the boy’s legal guardian.
As Salt and Jane’s feelings start to return, Diana will do anything to get rid of Jane. Her brother Sir Anthony begins to see his sister for what she is, a monster who has feels no guilt or remorse. Salt and Jane finally talk to each other and find out what really happened years ago and how Diana was responsible for all the grief and heartache they had suffered. They never stopped loving each other.
When Salt finds out the things that Diana has done and still doing, he, Jane, and Sir Anthony confront her. She is locked away far away for her own good and Jane and Magnus finally are together and expecting a baby.
I admit that I cried while reading this story. I am inspired and will be listening to more of Lucinda Brant’s books with Alex Wyndham narrating.
The imagery painted by Brant is spectacular. You just literally feel like you are right there with the characters in that time period and you feel what they are feeling right along with them. There is some very intense emotion, a bit of wit and very, very high drama.
There is a very unhappy history between the Earl of Salt Hendon and Jane Despard, the daughter of a neighboring squire. And now, years later, they are being forced to marry. Neither of them is happy about the situation, but neither of them has a choice.
There is a sinister, dark character in their orbit who wants Jane gone and totally out of Salt’s life and she will – and has – done the most despicable and heinous things to assure that they stay separated. Diana St. John, widow of Salt’s cousin and best friend is fixated on Salt. Diana believes that she will be the Countess of Salt Hendon and that Salt cannot get along without her. As you learn more of what she has done and is willing to do it will make your skin crawl and you’ll want to check under your bed at night. She is truly a chilling villain. You’ll think her eventual punishment is nowhere near enough for the things she did.
Jane has a wonderfully sunny outlook on life – even after all the misery she has been through. She is so very kind, loving, gentle, caring, patient, giving. Even Salt’s rancor and utter contempt cannot make her act as he does. She’s beautiful inside and out. Nobody in the household can resist her – not the servants, not the relatives and certainly not Salt, no matter how hard he tries.
The dark history is slowly exposed and the misunderstandings come to light and they learn that neither of them ever actually stopped loving the other. Brant’s use of suspense, humor, and love just draws you right in and makes you a part of the story.
It would have been a better read if the author had a prologue of the main characters’ romance in the summerhouse 4 years prior.
Salt Bride is a tale of love, but of sorrow and healing as well. There are some twists in the story with some villains to complicate the plot. This made the more more enjoyable to read as it was less predictable.
One of my all time favorites.
Enjoyed this one
For a Regency period romance, this had much better than average characters and a plot with a lot of twists.