Bride Enchanted by Edith Layton

 

After reading THE DUKE'S WAGER by this author, I definitely wanted to check out more of her work. I actually just finished reading Susan Krinard's Fane series, which is a historical romance about immortal beings. When I found out that BRIDE ENCHANTED was also a historical romance about immortal beings, I was excited. There aren't a ton of older fantasy romances out there, and this one hadn't been on any of the lists I usually look at.

BRIDE ENCHANTED starts out super slow and the purple prose makes it so cheesy, but it ends up almost having these gothic Bluebeard vibes. The heroine, Eve, is plain and kind of looked over. So she's shocked when a handsome noble named Aubrey comes to town and appears to be in love with her at first sight. Given her low self-esteem about her looks, Eve is suspicious of this, and puts him off until she reluctantly admits to herself that maybe one oughtn't look a handsome husband in the mouth.

But then things get weirder. Like, he's a little too excited about children and a little too secretive about his past. He's cagey about his family and doesn't want her anywhere near his sister, who leers at Eve like she knows something she doesn't. Eventually, Eve gets super suspicious and goes to the sister, and she learns some really weird stuff about her husband, like that he was married before and didn't choose her for love.

I don't want to say too much more about this book but I did like it. This is pretty wallpaper historical as far as fantasy romances go, but I did like how it followed the typical narrative arc of late-90s/early-2000s paranormal romances. One of the reviewers for this book said it was like Twilight, and I think that's a great comparison. Aubrey is patriarchal and overbearing in his "kindness" to the heroine. I wish there had been more action but it wasn't bad. It's too bad she didn't write anymore paranormals. I kind of wish there were more books set in this world.

3.5 out of 5 stars