The Bartered Bride

I think that this one rates up with my top favorites of MJP's. I was a little surprised that MJP chose to start her story like she did with China Bride; giving away one of the biggest details of the story. But, in actuality, that's what got me hooked. I wanted to read it to see what happened to LEAD to Gavin's trial/execution. I know MJP doesn't usually do stories about her previous characters' children, which is why I was excited to read this one. I was surprised when I found out that Alex was actually Amy, Catherine's daughter. I admired Amy's hardened stubbornness and will in Shattered Rainbows, and was amused by her. To my surprise, here she was. Gavin wasn't anything new, either. I found him to be a gentle, kind character in China Bride, and found myself wondering if there was going to be a story on him, as well. I loved Gavin and Alex's relationship. She was a strong-willed slave with island eyes, and he was the captain of a tea-trading business. He was entranced from sight, and everything went from that moment. They were brought together by a very dangerous man, and his shadow seemed to haunt them throughout the story. I found it interesting how Alex had the same fears of intimacy as her mother did (although for different reasons), and the same tortured theme was reoccuring in this story, as well. I was deeply drawn in by this story. It's well-written, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I think I like it so much because it's so different from anything you'd expect to read. I knew from the beginning that Alex would "die", and Gavin was the accused, but never had I imagined that it would be something so profoundly maddening and deeply complex. Frederica and Pierce were truly an evil pair. I found myself gasping when I read that Gavin was saved, and my heart was still pounding by the time that I finished the book. I LOVED this book, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who loves complex plots.

Okay, I have to share right off the bat, this is my first Mary Jo Putney book. How this writer escaped me, I'll never know. To say she is a SUPERB writer is almost an understatement. Accosted by pirates while traveling back to London with her small daughter, Alexandra Warren finds herself sold into slavery. She immediately finds herself separated from her young daughter. Unable to accept this, or her captivity, she's passed from master to master because of her unwillingness to accept her fate. It's not long before she finds herself on the block in the market, being sold to the highest bidder. Gavin Elliott, merchant prince of the high seas, finds himself touring a foreign island with a feared Sultan. Because the Sultan is trying to court his agreement on a business venture, he's giving Gavin the red carpet treatment. While touring the market area, Gavin finds himself entranced by the woman who's up for auction. When he realizes she's a European, he feels obligated to do what he can to help her escape her fate. The only way the Sultan will allow Alexandra to be free, is for Gavin to compete against him in an ancient challenge-if the Sultan wins, he gets Gavin in service for ten years. If Gavin wins, he getsAlexandra, and the Sultan will trace her daughter. Finding himself unable to let the beautiful Alexandra suffer, Gavin agrees. He's faced with many tough challenges-but the toughest is something he'd never dreamed of. Can he betray Alexandra's trust and grant their freedom?Alexandra is bitter and scarred, and can't imaging allowing a man to touch her and enjoying it. But she finds Gavin a beautiful person, both inside and out. A man who's good and moral, she wishes she'd met him long before. And Gavin is quickly finding himself falling for the spunky and courageous Alex...but how to gain her trust, and help her overcome her fears?Wow! I think I read the first 50 pages without even blinking-this story is that riveting. Beautifully written, Ms. Putney paints such a clear picture with her words you can actually smell the air, hear the activity that's taking place, and feel every emotion the hero and heroine go through. This is one of those stories you reserve a special spot on your keeper shelf for. I know this reviewer is going to be out glooming Ms. Putney's back list-If they're even half so good as The Bartered Bride, I know I'll be impressed.

THE BARTERED BRIDE is worth every penny. I couldn't put it down. If you haven't read WILD CHILD and CHINA BRIDE be sure to check them out. Each book stands alone, and all are exquisitely written exciting adventures I know you won't want to miss. Mary Jo's books are some of the best ever written. If you've never read this author please start now...you are going to love her!THE BARTERED BRIDE, the final book in the bride trilogy, is going to thrill readers, as it is beautifully written, highly dramatic, and a real page-turner. Set against the exotic backdrop of the East Indies it fills the senses with sights and sounds of the Orient in the first part of the book and then moves on to England's aristocracy in l835. Gavin Elliott, an American Yankee, who has built Elliott House, is quite a businessman and adventurer who wishes to rescue a European woman sold at a slave auction on the island of Maduri when he is visiting a sultan. Alexandra Warren had been on her way home to England from Australia with her young daughter after the death of her husband when pirates struck the Dutch ship she had been on kidnapping her daughter and separating them, and then making a slave of her. It was only when she encountered Gavin in the slave market and called out to him that she had any chance of survival and of finding her beloved daughter. Since being a slave, things have happened to Alexandra that would test the heart and soul of any woman. She and Gavin have shared much together in this trying time and have become friends. Hating to seeing this beautiful, courageous woman hurting so after a shocking event Gavin marries his bartered bride and they arrive in London as intimate strangers bound with many painful hurts and deep secrets. I can attest first hand that this book holds you in its grip and never lets go.

Alexandra Warren left England as a young bride, eager to experience the adventures of a military wife whose husband was stationed in Australia -- that far-off continent Alex thought to be a grand and romantic place. More than a decade later, she sets sail for her homeland as a widow and a mother of an eight-year old daughter, her perspective tainted by the reality of living in Australia and of losing her husband to a shockingly aggressive fever. Although theirs was not a perfect marriage, Alex still grieves for the loss of companionship.Her daughter, Katie, is a godsend in that respect. Every mother's nightmare is about to come true, however, when the ship they are traveling on is attacked by pirates off the coast of Maduri. A bitterly short battle ensues; while Alex and her daughter wait in their cabin below, the crew of the Amstel abandons ship, leaving the lone female occupants to their grim fate with a cowardly lack of conscience. Slavery is a fact of life on this island in the East Indies. After a desperate struggle, mother and daughter are separated and sold on Maduri, their disparate fates a cruel blessing.Six months later, an American sea captain weighs anchor in Maduri Harbor. Gavin Elliott has cargo onboard his ship for Sultan Kasan, ruler of this deceptively beautiful island. Kasan has plans for Gavin and his shipping company, Elliott House, a partnership of sorts the Sultan would like to form with it. A tour of the island is meant to persuade Gavin to accept the Sultan's lucrative proposition. Instead, Gavin stumbles upon a slave market where a distinctly European woman is being auctioned off. Appalled, he offers to buy the woman, only to grant the Sultan leverage in a dangerous game where more than one life is at stake.Honor demands that Gavin stay in Maduri and obtain Alexandra's freedom, whatever the cost. The price of a woman's freedom is high indeed, however. Is Gavin willing to risk his own freedom to release Alex from her damnable fate, to help erase the haunted look from her shimmering, aqua eyes? It's miraculous she has endured life as a slave for as long as she has. Clearly, Gavin must barter with the devil -- and dance to his merry tune -- before Alex's fate can be settled and her daughter found. If they need to scour the world, so be it!Emotionally fragile Alex has endured hell on earth while in captivity. Her emotional and mental scars run deep, so deep in fact that the thought of intimacy terrifies her. Mary Jo Putney executes these emotional highs and lows with achingly accurate precision. A reader shares Alex's sense of defilement and desperation, and celebrates her indomitable will and ability to endure what could easily shatter a person's soul. Needless to say, Ms. Putney's characterizations are riveting and multi-layered. Her prose is equally textured, and her plot is daringly different. A reader risks emotional devastation along with the heroine, however. THE BARTERED BRIDE is brutally intens