The Bride (Lairds' Fiancees Book 1) Kindle Edition

I read this book when it first was published and many,many times since.Now I have it on digital and.I can review it .This Book is a most beautiful love story I believe it was my first Julie Garwood novel after this I bought all her historical romance novels.She was an incredible writer and the world is a poorer place without her.rest in peace Ms Garwood Your Legacy will live on with all Your Wonderful Stories

I really like reading books by Julie Garwood. She's is an awesome writer. You laugh and cry wth the caritcures. And you celebrate their ups and downs.

This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I re-read it often! It has every single element I enjoy in a historical romance (or any romance, for that matter): Fast-moving, interesting plot; fun and likeable characters; steamy goodness... and this one delivers across the board - TRIFECTA!Jamie is the youngest daughter of an English baron who has been ordered to allow 2 Highland lairds to select brides from his 4 daughters. While Jamie is the baby, she is actually the daughter who is most skilled and takes the lead in caring of her older sisters and her father. She does this because she loves them and feels it is her duty; she has never questioned the whys. And she likes her life the way it is - she is allowed the freedom to learn archery and bareback horse riding as well as other pursuits that most women are not as she is the favorite of the stable master, an elderly Scot who treats her like his own daughter. When she learns that 2 of her sisters are to be wed to barbaric Highlanders, she is aghast, but she believes that the marriages are to be in name only, so she seeks to provide some welcome to their brief visitors and keep her much more dramatic sisters as calm as possible until they choose their brides and go on their way.Alec is the laird of Clan Kincaid. He was previously wed to another woman chosen by his king, and he did his duty by both; however, his first wife ended her own life shortly after they married. Though he has felt guilt ever since, he knows he must wed again to satisfy his king, and travels with his friend, the neighboring laird Daniel Ferguson who has also been ordered to find a bride among an English baron's daughters. As distasteful as they both find the English, they are pleasantly surprised to find women they are not repulsed by, but when Alec announces his intention to wed Jamie, she is shocked and distressed to be uprooted from her home that very day to travel back with her new barbarian husband to the wilds of Scotland, thus leaving behind all that she knows and loves.While Alec admires his new wife's beauty and spirit, he is of the belief that she is "just a wife" who will take up very little of his time and require little effort. Jamie is determined to prove to him that she can be much more than that. The two engage in a battle of wills where Jamie vows to prove to Alec that she is worthy of his love and partnership. But the same mysterious figure that sought to eliminate Alec's first wife is determined to rid the clan of his new bride... When Jamie is threatened, will Alec surrender his heart to her before it is too late, or will he lose her as well?What I liked:--- EVERYTHING! Seriously, though!--- Jamie is a perfect balance of kind and tough with everyone's best intentions at heart; Alec is the giant, rough, seemingly "above the idea of love and romance" manly Highlander--- Story line keeps the reader glued to the pages and wanting even more at the end - I honestly never get tired of this book!--- Perfect amount of steamy goodness - please and thank you!What I didn't like as much:--- I cannot think of much - bit of a slow start, but once it takes off, it's ONOverall, one of the best historical romances out there (I have read a LOT of them) that stands the test of time, delivers on all of my must-haves, and satisfies my intelligent smut quota!Plot --- 5/5Main Characters --- 5/5Supporting Cast --- 4.75/5Steam Level* --- 4/5Violence --- nothing graphicLanguage --- not egregiousPOV --- 3rd*Note that steam level is not a rating so much as a how hot was it: 0/5 - clean; 1/5 - mild; 2/5 - sensual but nothing descriptive; 3/5 - now we're getting somewhere; 4/5 - yes please! ; 5/5 - they did EVERYTHING in this one, y'all

This was a really fun book to read.

The Bride by Julie Garwood is set in the year 1100. It features Jamie, the youngest of four daughters of an English lord, who is forced to marry a Highlander for political reasons. Only the brief intro takes place in Jamie's home - very promptly Alec has dragged her north into a "strange land". Along with the traditional getting-to-know-each-other romance there's also a background of the mysterious death of Alec's first wife. Sinister clues indicate that the first death was not an accident, and that Jamie is next in line to be slain.I love medieval romances in general, and in particular I love romances that feature women who stand up for themselves. So The Bride had many points in its favor as I read it. The heroine, even though she's the youngest, is the one who keeps everyone calm, who runs the household, who does the hunting. Much is made about her great skill with the bow and knife. She's one of the few people - male or female - to stand up to Alec. While he has period-appropriate ideas about the place of a woman in a household, he soon comes to appreciate Jamie's talents.I liked that Jamie's older sister Mary comes along as a fellow bride, and the contrast between their characters. Both present realistic females who had differing outlooks on life. I also liked at the beginning that they have what appears to be a Down's Syndrome character - Annie - whose "perpetual child like state" was appreciated by the community. It is incredibly rare to have disabled or alternately-abled characters in stories, and I'm always thrilled when not only do they make a presence but they're shown in a positive light and not as the "damaged villain".Now, for the issues I had with the book. There is a spoiler at the very end, but I'll be sure to alert you before I get to that point, in case you want to avoid it.First, the writer chose to hop back and forth between characters' minds. Certainly that is a valid way of writing, but here it is done so abruptly that often you're half-way into a paragraph before you realize the author has done it. It is quick and random. Usually an author provides breaks and signals so the reader knows what is going on. The same thing happens with dialogue. You can be reading along in what seems a quiet conversation, and only after something is said are you alerted that that line was actually shouted or screamed. It means there's a fair amount of "re-reading" as you have to re-imagine the scene properly.Minor scenes are painstakingly drawn in great detail, but critical scenes are often barely skimmed at. A critical fight scene has the action zip to her capture. A character is very upset, and zip it's over. This happens fairly regularly.Then there comes the historical issues. The copy of the book I own seems to have an 19th century bride in a Victorian white lace dress on the cover. This story was set in 1100! There's no way they would wear ANYTHING like this dress in 1100. In addition, many times in the story people are talking about "white wedding dresses". People did NOT wear white wedding dresses back in medieval times. That was a tradition that came in many centuries later. In the middle ages, people wore wedding dresses in their favorite colors, or in family colors. It would be like going to a high school prom in modern times. The women there wear colors they adore - not all in white. The same was true for medieval weddings. If anything, blue was the color of fidelity and loyalty.A big deal is made about a knight not being able to accept a dowry for a bride. I can't find any record of that anywhere. Marriages in medieval days were often about money and land exchanges. They were political and financial arrangements. Money and land were both a common part of that exchange. I would be very curious to read where it is documented that a knight could not take money - that doesn't make any sense to me. And since land is equivalent to money in medieval days, it makes even less sense.A key change Jamie wants to put into place is to attach the kitchens to the main house. However, in medieval days the kitchen was *always* kept separate from the main house because the biggest fear was fire. A fire could destroy a household and the protection of all people within in a matter of minutes. It is similar to medieval Japan - fire was their biggest fear. A woman who ran a household in medieval days would have been extremely aware of this fear and issue. She would not have worked to make the kitchens attached to the house. She would have made them separate and then worked to shelter the area between. But a covered short hall? With the amount of smoke generated by kitchens, that would not have been appreciated either.I was also fairly disappointed by how Jamie's immense skills with bow and knife are not put to use. The bow and knife were played up to be a key feature of her skill set early on. However, all we get to see is Jamie "wow" the troops late in the story with an arrow shot in a casual setting. Her knife skill barely gets more than that. The main thing we see about her skills in life is that every man who comes near her practically falls into a dead feint at her beauty. OK I exaggerate a bit there :) She is a talented healer, and I appreciate that greatly. But that should have been her main focus then, not that she is some sort of super healer - best archer of the realm - superb knife-woman - fantastic horsewoman - most spectacular beauty known to mankind - fluent in multiple languages - etc. etc.So while I thought there was great potential here, I thought the writing style needed polishing, the historical editing team should have fixed the numerous issues, and that her character should have been more focused to be realistic and relateable. But still, one of my greatest concerns comes with what is now a spoiler, so I'll warn you:SPOILER ALERT - READ NO FURTHER TO AVOID THE SPOILERThe character Annie seems to be a fantastic one. Her introduction is made like this: "Jamie continued to watch Annie a long moment. She understood what was wrong with the girl. She was one of those special people who stayed childlike all their lives. Jamie's heart went out to Annie and to Alec as well, for he'd shown such kindness." Alec is gentle and kind with Annie. The household is sweet to her. Annie is shown repeatedly to be intellectually slow, and to simply do whatever the person near her is doing. This is handled respectfully and the characters around Annie never fault her for being like this. They are always understanding and supportive. I thought this was a wonderful portrayal of a woman with special needs, and I was prepared to overlook the other flaws in this book to praise it for this character.And then we reach the end of the story - and it turns out Annie is the person who has been "ranting" in anonymous glimpses throughout the book, talking about slaying the previous wife and Jamie! She comes complete with maniacal laughter and statements like "I'll kill again and again and again until you've learned your lesson." Adjectives used about her include horrid and inhuman.All of my fears had come true. Not only was this similar to the many other books which single out "different" people as the arch-enemies, but this one even took it one step further. To say I was disappointed when I reached this ending would be a vast understatement.Julie Garwood is a prolific author and has rabidly enthusiastic fans, so I fully understand that some readers will be unhappy with my review simply because I did not ravingly adore it as others do. However, I would ask those fans to honestly look at this issue I'm raising, and to see if it does not cause even the slightest twinge of uncomfortable feeling.

I’m pretty happy with the product, amazing shape for the age of it.

I enjoyed reading this book. Alec & Jamie are such a great couple. I like how feisty she can get and is comfortable to speak her mind with him, even in the beginning when she was afraid of him. She’s smart and kindhearted. She’s also strong and can take care of herself. The banter they have is fun and I like how he teases her sometimes.The plot is interesting with her getting acclimated to Scottish living and being a laird’s wife. She gets into some funny mishaps while the having good intentions. I like her spunk. It’s also interesting trying to figure out who the bad guy is. This book was full with activity/action and I found myself engrossed, not wanting to put it down. No angst. I can see me reading this again. I recommend.

One of my favorite authors recommended this book and said it was one of her favorites. I got it and read it right away. Lucy Score was absolutely right!

Só não sei 5 porque me irritou muitas vezes o machismo do Laird.... Mas a autora sabe contar uma história ! Suspense , humor e romance e um ritmo que prende o leitor.

イングランドの貴族の娘、Jamie（But, it's man's name!)は税金を納め忘れた父親に対する王の罰則としてハイランドの領主Alecと結婚させられてしまう。見知らぬ男、しかも風習も考え方も異なるスコットランド人、見るからに恐ろしげな大男。第一印象は圧倒的にネガティブだったけれど･･･。主人公二人の相性が最高。"ケミストリー"とは上手く言ったもので、それぞれ単独でも充分魅力的な二人だけれど、この二人が一緒になるとそれこそ化学反応でも起こしたかのように爆発的な吸引力を発揮します。コミカルなシーンでは二人の軽妙なやり取りに思わず笑ってしまうし、情熱的なシーンではかなりドキドキ。Jamieの方向音痴ネタなど、ユーモアのセンスも抜群。ミステリー仕立ての仕掛けもあったりして、一冊で何度も美味しい。ラブ・コメの部類に入るかと思いますが、ロマンス的にもコメディ的にもレベル高いです。個人的にはもう少し重めのロマンスが好きなんだけれど、たまにはこういう楽しいロマンスもよいなぁ、と。

Não é o tipo de livro que gosto. Foi engano meu compra-lo. Etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.. etc.

This review is for the audio book, but Amazon have placed accross the board on this title.I have listened to hundreds of audio books over the years, and this is one of the best readings I have ever heard.Most narrators are ok, but obviously you can tell they are putting on diffrent voices.For the first time ever I honestly thought there were several people reading the different characters, and double checked the back cover, yet it is only one person.You don't need to be told who says what, you can just tell the difference in the different voices.I will certainly be looking for other books read by this narrator.

The book is too small and so is the print. We get larger books for lesser price than this.