A Scarlet Bride
Grade : C

Life is made of high points and low, with most of our existence lying somewhere in the middle. The same is true of romance novels - only a few really shine, only a few are real wallbangers. A Scarlet Bride, the story of a woman who learns that revenge is less important than happiness, falls solidly in the center of the pack.

Alexandra Halsted Thurston has returned from exile in England, where she was banished following her scandalous divorce five years ago. Frustrated by her inability to give him an heir and fueled by his unusual sexual appetites, her husband fabricated a case against her, claiming that Alexandra committed adultery. Now she's back, and her dream of revenge against him is close to fulfillment: the tell-all book she's written, a thinly disguised fictional account of their marriage, is about to be published. Now her ex-husband will feel some of the shame she's known, and she'll be able to live the rest of her life in peace.

Connor Manning meets Alexandra at her first social event in Charleston, where she's staying with her aunt. The last of a once wealthy but still prominent family, Connor figures the notorious divorcee is fair game for a dashing ladies' man like himself, yet he senses that Alexandra is much more innocent than the world thinks. Alexandra is immediately attracted to him, but insists that she's finished with men, who will only betray and use her for their own ends. But her father is determined that she will provide him with a grandchild to carry on the family. He offers the desperate Connor a bargain: if Connor will compromise Alexandra, they'll be forced into marriage, and Mr. Halsted will reward Connor with the money he needs to hold onto his beloved family farm. Connor manages to trap an unsuspecting Alex in a passionate embrace, and they're discovered; now they must marry.

Alexandra is furious that she must give in to her father's dictates, but there's no way around it. She tells Connor that theirs will be a marriage in name only, but as time passes she finds the attraction impossible to resist. On top of that, she doesn't want her husband to know that she's writing a sequel to her book. For his part, Connor will do anything to avoid his wife finding out the real reason he married her, and as the weeks go by, he discovers that her father's money is a real impediment to the happiness he and Alex are slowly achieving.

What can I say? The book is a perfectly respectable example of romance by formula, with all the ingredients present: intelligent heroine and irresistible hero, both with Big Secrets and wounded pasts, adequate (if somewhat flat) secondary characters, and a story that, while not gripping, held my interest enough to finish reading. Ms. McDaniel does a fairly creditable job all around. I came nowhere near to banging the wall with it. And yet....

Been there, done that. More than once. The only unusual element of the story is one that I found slightly jarring, and it's this: in her book, Alexandra includes details of her ex-husband's sexual perversities. It pulled me out of the story for two reasons. First of all, how likely is it that in 1895 a genteel lady would air linen that dirty, even hiding behind a pseudonym? I mean, if she thought her readers would identify the ex-husband with no difficulty, didn't she stop to think they'd identify her, too? Moreover, if Alexandra had the guts to detail her ex's twisted behavior, why didn't McDaniel include more of it? I understand that editorial constraints may be at work here, but in the age of Robin Schone and Susan Johnson, I guess I just expected a little more detail.

While the book is not destined for my personal Desert Isle, Author McDaniel has nothing to be ashamed of in A Scarlet Bride. It's a very workmanlike example, and if you like stories with a couple of Very Big Secrets, you could do worse than spend some time with Alexandra and Connor.

Reviewed by Nora Armstrong
Grade : C
Book Type:

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : January 29, 2000

Publication Date: 2000

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