The Accidental Bride by Jane Feather

The Accidental BrideNarrated by Jenny Sterlin

Originally published in 1999, The Accidental Bride is the middle book in a trilogy set during the English Civil War, which features three rather unconventional young women all finding their way to true love. Before I start this review, however, I have to say that there are a number of things about this particular book which might prove problematic for some listeners, so I’m going to get them out of the way.

1. The hero is almost twice the heroine’s age – she’s eighteen, he’s thirty-five.

2. The hero is a widower three times over, so the heroine is wife number four.

3. His most recent wife was the heroine’s older sister. (I looked this one up, because at one time a marriage between a man and his dead wife’s sister was illegal in England, but it doesn’t seem to have been so in 1645).

4. The hero’s fifteen year old daughter (by wife number two) is the heroine’s best friend.

None of those things bother me particularly, and I can say that in spite of a few reservations about plot and characterisation, I enjoyed the audiobook overall.

Phoebe Carlton is, at eighteen, clumsy, awkward, stubborn, and absolutely not the sort of young woman men fall in love with. Her clothes are ill-fitting and outmoded, her hair is untamable, and in short, she’s the complete antithesis of her beautiful sister Diana, who has recently died. Diana was married to Cato, the austerely handsome Marquess of Granville, thus cementing a financial and strategic alliance between their families, and in order to keep it in the family as it were, Phoebe’s father offers the widower his other daughter as a replacement. Cato, being almost exclusively occupied with his duties as one of the foremost military leaders and advisors to the Parliamentarian forces, raises no objections. All he really wants from a wife is obedience and an heir, so he thinks Phoebe will suit him as well as anyone.

But that’s not good enough for Phoebe. Even though she’s hopelessly in love with him, she knows Cato has never seen her as anything other than Diana’s hoydenish sister, and she is miserable at the thought of being married to the man she adores knowing he will never feel for her as she does for him.

Their marriage gets off to a bit of a rocky start. Cato doesn’t have much time for his young wife, his political and military responsibilities meaning he has to be often away from home. He also assumes that as she’s a well-bred young lady, Phoebe won’t enjoy the physical side of marriage, and concludes she will want their couplings to be as brief as possible. As a result, their wedding night and subsequent encounters are perfunctory and, for Phoebe, profoundly unsatisfying. Something tells her that there’s more to it than this basic, on her back, in the dark, wham, bam, thank-you ma’am – but she has no idea what that could be or how to ask for it. She sees her husband rarely, and is constantly aware that she doesn’t meet his expectations in terms of her appearance, and that he must be severely disappointed she’s not more like her lovely, poised sister.

However, Phoebe is nothing if not determined, and with a little help from her friend, Portia (heroine of the first book), Phoebe decides to seduce Cato and show him she wants more than a quick poke in the dark each night! Fortunately for her, Cato is surprised rather than horrified – and then extremely grateful! – to discover that his young bride is possessed of such uninhibited sensuality.

Just as this side of their relationship is improving, Cato and Phoebe receive an unwelcome visitor in the form of Brian Morse, Cato’s stepson (son of wife number one), and his heir, who is a smarmy little toad (the unpleasant, nasally whine Ms Sterling adopts captures him perfectly) bent on advancement within Royalist circles. He plans to ruin Cato in the eyes of Cromwell and the Parliamentarians, which will not only ensure him the gratitude of the king for disposing of one of his foremost enemies, but will also see Cato out of the way so that Brian can inherit the marquisate. Realising that Phoebe is struggling with feelings of inadequacy, he pretends to befriend her, telling her that Cato is in danger and that she can help him if she will do as Brian says.

The thing I liked most about the story is in the way Cato gradually unbends around Phoebe, his developing understanding of her and his eventual falling in love with her. As time passes he starts to find her lack of sophistication rather charming and to appreciate what she has to offer him – her love and generous heart, her quick mind and sense of humour. He’s the strong, silent type; and although I will admit that I wondered how it was that Phoebe fell in love with him when she hardly knew him, (and he was so cold and aloof) there’s no doubting his appeal, which is greatly enhanced by Jenny Sterlin’s portrayal. While Phoebe’s headstrong nature often lands her into trouble, she’s an attractive character – although I don’t like that part of her that insists on ignoring good advice and then feeling aggrieved when Cato bawls her out for getting herself into a difficult situation.

The revenge sub-plot is perhaps overly simplistic, and Brian is a one-note villain, but at least it doesn’t get in the way of the romance. The pacing is a little uneven – there were parts in the middle that dragged, although Ms Sterlin’s narration went a long way to keeping me focused on the story at those moments. I’ve commented in other reviews that her slightly nasal tone can take a little while to get used to, but it’s worth it, because she’s a very accomplished vocal actress, and all her character portrayals are well differentiated and characterised according to age, gender and situation. When portraying Cato, she employs a lowered pitch and a measured delivery which convey absolutely that here is an authority figure, a man not often crossed or easily confounded. The same qualities, with perhaps a slightly softened tone, are also employed to good effect in the love scenes. Phoebe’s vivacity and stubbornness are expertly conveyed through the use of a wide variety of expression and inflection; Ms Sterlin doesn’t raise her pitch very much to point to Phoebe’s youth; but she doesn’t need to because her acting choices more than adequately reflect the character.

Taken as a whole, The Accidental Bride is an entertaining, if not especially deep listen which benefits from a skilled performance by Jenny Sterlin. If you’re interested in seeking out older romances which have recently been made into audiobooks, or just looking for a pre-Regency historical, then this might be worth checking out.

Caz


Narration: B

Book Content: B-

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: Minimal

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Audible Inc.

1 thought on “The Accidental Bride by Jane Feather

Comments are closed.