Brenda Joyce, The Perfect Bride

The Perfect Bride

Brenda Joyce

Harlequin HQN, Aug 2007, $7.99

ISBN: 9780373772445

After eluding marriage for eight years, wealthy Lady Blanche Harrington knows she will have to wed one of her two hundred twenty eight suitors as she muses whose counting. However with the recent death of her father she has no protection as the aristocracy of 1822 is fraternal when it comes to money. Still not one of these perspective grooms makes her heart beat; most make her heart want to stop.

Napoleonic war hero Rex de Warenne may be a hermit, who avoids society like the plague, but he likes Blanche a lot and always has; in fact before his military time he thought of courting her, but since the horrors of combat he feels she can do much better than a mental cripple like him. Still he agrees to help her make a good match. Rex is there for Blanche as she finally moves on past her mom's death while she is there for him as he finally heals from post battle fatigue syndrome. However, as love blossoms between these two friends, one must take the chance of proclaiming their deepest desire.

The lead couple makes this deep late regency romance into a powerful emotional read. All that will matter to sub-genre fans is whether the likable pair makes it together as he must overcome demons haunting his soul while she finds all others imperfect. Brenda Joyce's latest De Warenne tale (see THE MASQUERADE and THE PRIZE) is the best in a strong historical series.

Harriet Klausner