The Bride Says Maybe: The Brides of Wishmore, Book 2

The Bride says Maybe was a struggle for me to finish. The heroine was not that likable and the hero at first was not the most appealing character either.Tara Davidson was a character in a previous novel in this series. I never read the earlier book but I can assume that Tara acted pretty rashly and rather selfishly when she jilted the man she was to marry to run back home and try to reunite with her true love, a stablemaster she left for the big city. This background never endeared her to me (she came across as flighty) and as the story progressed I found myself disliking her even more. Tara is vain and does not seem overly smart, I believe even when bored at her home she did not want to read books.She has a drunkard as a father who sells her to Breccan Campbell to pay his debts. Breccan is a large built man (in every way as the author tells us several times). He feels he is ugly and his manners can be gruff. Initially he wants Tara as his wife solely for her beauty. He has barely had a conversation with her, knows very little about her personality but decides she is soooo beautiful that nothing else matters, he has to have her, then his peers and family will show him the respect he deserves.Tara agrees to marry him but only if she can go back to London after she gives him his heir and spare and she has no compunction about leaving the children in Scotland so she can live the high life in London. Yeah, she is a charmer. Breccan is desperate to marry her and agrees to this plan which made me wonder about his own selfishness, why would you marry a woman who does not want to be around your children and why subject your children to a mother who does not want them? Beauty sure had him blinded.Tara comes across as demanding and bratty and quite frankly I had a very hard time liking her especially when she hit a friendly dog with a book (she admitted later to herself she knew she was not being attacked by her husband's dogs) and for most of the novel treated her husband's beloved pets as if they were nothing but a nuisance. She claimed several times dogs were incapable of feeling emotions.Breccan becomes a more likable character by the middle portion of this book and that is due to his incredible patience with Tara. He also believes in helping his clan and takes on financial and physical risks to ensure their well-being. Tara on the other hand remains distant with her husband until well into the last third of the novel. Other than the very rich and colorful stories Breccan shared (with huge analogies to his marriage), I did not feel the charm of the couple.

This is another Beauty and the Beast type story BUT I love stories with this premise. I did not read the first book in this series and found that it stood very well alone.I liked the heroine, Tara, (after she gets her comeuppance subsequent to making her groom wait 3 hours for her), in that she throws herself whole heartedly into becoming a good wife: not in the bedroom (which she fears) but in her role as the Laird's wife. The wedding night scene was funny but plays into Breccan's hands in that his uncles' take the broken bed ropes being due to a good romp in bed between the newly weds.Breccan and Tara have a fair amount of misunderstanding to work through: her father married her off because of his gambling debts, Breccan is taunted into making a bet on a horse race and in doing so puts all his hard work to reestablish his clan's financial footing in jeopardy. Then there is Tara's childhood crush, who shows up after his marriage fails. Here we see of what Tara's backbone is really made.The two uncles add a lot of spice to the story. One is a bawdy comic while the other has a lot of hard earned wisdom to share.I don't know if this couple is mentioned in the next book in the series. (I did read the book description for the next book but read nothing of them.) I would have liked to have read more about their married life, an epilogue, as most of the book was about their relationship leading up to them falling in love.

During her third season, Tara decides she'll marry, but changes her mind at almost the last minute and runs away because she doesn't love her fiancé and thinks she loves her friend who became a horse master. But he's married now. She becomes persona non grata in London, because the father of former fiancé is powerful enough to make it so. What will happen?Then it really starts. Boy sees girl. Girl glances at boy. Boy wants to marry girl. Girl despises boy. And never a word spoken between them. Then boy arranges to "buy" girl to marry. Girl tries to run away, but runs into boy and his party on the way to her home. Boy marries girl, but only because they make agreement that she can live in London after having two children. The fun begins, but not like you might think. Yes, it works like all romances, but you know that already. It's the way it works that makes it a very good book. Cathy Maxwell, you wrote a book that I really enjoyed reading. Looking forward to the next book in the series after the taste you gave!

I think I liked this book even better than the first!Breccan was a great hero. I love heroes that are on the insecure side. It is such a nice change from the usual arrogant rake! Breccan is a large man with an equally large heart. He wants Tara from the minute he meets her. He thinks having her as a wife will give him the respect he thinks he doesn't have from society.Tara the spoiled brat from the first book, grows up in this book. She comes into her own and finds peace - finally!I loved watching these two get to know each other and fall in love.The writing was great, the story flowed perfectly and the misunderstanding didn't drag on and on. I finished this book with a smile on my face. And while it wasn't as steamy as I usually like, it was just right for this book.I would have liked an epilogue or at least an update on Aileen and Blake. But even without those - it was a wonderful read.

I have read all the books in this series and they are well worth a read if you like historical romances and the stories of a family

This was an enjoyable read and I am looking forward to the next one in the series. Cathy Maxwell always writes good books.

I really enjoyed this book, I could not put it down, one of the best I've ever read. The way it was written had me captivated

I really enjoyed the first novel in this series, and In this instillation you really get to understand where Tara(the heroine) is coming from since she seemed such a brat. Breccan is a great hero and their chemistry and story is sweet. When they finally understand that they get each other and love each other is a great HEA.

Der Titel passt nicht wirklich zum Inhalt der Geschichte. Das Buch liest sich recht gut und ist unterhaltend. Wie immer ist die Heldin Kind gleich und der Held stark aber einfühlsam.