Strathmere's Bride

Strathmere's bride is a regency romance that is very mature, somewhat dark but well thought out. The hero, Jareth, is the new duke of Strathmere, a "spare" becoming duke after his brothers death in a carriage accident. The duke is portrayed as very straight laced and dour-at first. The heroine, Chloe, a loving and independent French cousin of the former dukes wife-who was there before the carriage accident, and now is the lifeline to the dukes two young nieces, who survived the carriage accident with their own terrors and scars. What starts out as a major clash of wills over both protagonists child rearing beliefs, changes over time as they learn more of each other and the two girls. Both characters are well fleshed out and multi-dimensional-you'll find yourself, at first, not liking the darkly brooding Jareth-but stick with the book as you'll learn more about him and his very dysfunctional family as the novel progresses. The book is highly charged emotionally and well worth the read. I would suggest it's been written in the same vein as classic "tortured soul" romance ala' Bronte and Austen*. 5 stars and highly recommended. *Classic regency readers take note-unlike most traditional regencies-this book has several sensuous and fairly explicit love scenes-but done in good taste and not offensive*