Bride Enchanted

After reading all of the bad reviews, I almost took the book back to the library. I have never read any books by Edith Layton before this one, therefore, I had no preconceived notions. I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. Others have done a great job of giving a plot summary so I'll skip that. By far, it was nice to know ahead of time that it was a 'paranormal' romance instead of strictly historical. This probably would change a readers perspective. The back cover blurb gives no indication to any paranormal influence. The first 150 pages had me convinced that Aubrey Ashford was too good to be true, and that is evident on Eve's part as well since she cannot understand his attraction to her, a girl of average background and average beauty. The author starts giving clues to Aubrey's unnatural background at this point and we gradually become aware of his true intentions. The addition of family members on both the part of hero & heroine were nice touches to prolong the story and give added interest. The story was 'light' on the actual romance scenes but this did not detract from the story. I felt the ending was a little rushed, but overall it was an ok story - not a bad read if you go in to the story knowing it's a paranormal.
I picked this book off the shelf since I had seen a new book recently out by the author and wanted to try a previous novel first before buying the latest. If it's any indication, I still plan on trying her other novels.

I've been reading Edith Layton's novels for several years, and have been gradually coming to the conclusion - confirmed by this book - that she reached her peak with the C series and has been in decline ever since. I have no idea how this book made it to print; with the plot alone, I can't see why any editor worth their pay wouldn't have said no within two seconds of starting to read the outline.

The characters are wooden and inspire no interest. The secret Aubrey is hiding is apparent even to the most casual reader within 2-3 chapters, and I wasn't remotely surprised when it all came out. Though, since this book is flagged as a straight romance, not a paranormal romance, I wasn't expecting it from the outset and, quite honestly, wouldn't have bought the book had I known.

Neither Eve nor Aubrey, nor the minor characters, earned my attention or or sympathy at all. Eve can't make up her mind - how many times does she leave Aubrey, or think about leaving him? Aubrey is far too detached, and is too much of a user. There's no romance at all: we don't see the two of them falling in love. We're told that each doesn't love the other but is determined to get what they want out of the marriage, and then suddenly we're told that they've fallen in love - but we don't see it.

Absolutely tedious, uninteresting book with a yawn-inducing 'conflict' and a resolution that was rushed and also far too obvious. Avoid.

I've been an Edith Layton fan for years, but I'm sad to say that this book really misses the mark. The premise was interesting enough, but the characters are insipid, bland, and boring, boring, boring. There is no chemistry between them, nor does the plot provide any kind of believable jeopardy. The book begins poorly and never picks up any steam at all.

If you've never read Layton before, don't let this misstep dissuade you from reading any of her other books, which are excellent. full of sparkling dialog, fascinating characters, and intriguing plots.

Eve Faraday spies the mysterious Aubrey Ashford at a ball and believes him to be the most beautiful man she has ever seen. When he asks her for a dance, she is amazed this very eligible nobleman would dance with her. She is neither beautiful nor exceedingly rich.

Aubrey courts her and they marry quickly. Aubrey pushes her into it rather fast. They go to his country manor and Aubrey has a little surprise for his bride. He is not what he seems. There are magical forces that surround him and Eve is not sure if she can believe his wild tales or if her husband is simply mad.

This book had so much potential. The plot was original yet the characters were dull. There was no chemistry, no spark, no grand passion. There's very little charachter development. I never even noticed them falling in love with each other. They kind of talked themselves into marrying, and then talked themselves into falling in love. Their relationship felt clinical and too rational. When is love ever rational? It is supposed to be passionate. Even with enchantment all around them, this couple was boring.

This was my first book by Edith Layton... I won't review the story since it's been done and besides I really didn't care for it. I must have missed something others have read. I was terribly disillusioned with this book.

The only good point was it's romantic cover.

Personally, I felt it a boring story. There was so much promise at the begining and then, I don't know what happened, it just petered out. What a disappointment!
There was no chemistry between the H/H at all. I didn't feel connected to the characters, they felt like cardboard cut-outs. The heroine came across as oblivious, not questioning her husband's disappearance every night. Whats with that? (Wouldn't you question your husband as to where he went every night?)
And as for his secret, I read past it, only to later realise THAT was his big secret. It just fell flat when it was revealed. I thought the author raced through the writing.
There were parts that felt disconnected from the story. Really didn't care for this novel.