The Other Guy's Bride by Connie Brockway

I loved Connie Brockway's As You Desire when it came out in 1997. Since then, I've read it and re-read it umpteen times. Brilliant, strong Dizzy (Desdemona) and lovable, strong Harry make such a memorable pair—neither is dominant, both are loyal, compatible, and complement each other very well. It's always been a satisfying comfort read for me.

So for those of you reading my blog, if you loved AS YOU DESIRE, The Other Guy's Bride is in the same league. It's written in Connie Brockway's signature style with wit, poignancy, and sexiness; characters with depth and nuance; a story that's entertaining and yet brings a lump to your throat; and above all, writing at it's lyrical finest.

If you haven't read AS YOU DESIRE, don't worry. This book stands alone, so you can read this one first, and then AUD.

In THE OTHER GUY'S BRIDE, Ginesse Braxton, Harry's daughter, is attempting to follow in her parents' illustrous wake with training in archeology. Her dedicated research has led her to a possible location for the fabled city of Zerzura in the middle of the desert far from the Nile. Such a find would not only be the archaeological find of the century, but it would make her career. In addition, she hopes that this will reform everyone's image of her as a screw-up and magnet for trouble.

Along her trip down to Egypt from England, Ginesse meets one Mildred Whimpelhall, fiancée to Colonel Lord Pomfrey stationed at Fort Gordon in the Sahara desert. Mildred gets very seasick and abandons the ship part-way through the trip in preference to taking the rail down to Africa. In a moment of epiphany, Ginesse assumes Mildred's name to get herself to Fort Gordon, which is very close to where Zerzura purportedly is.

Jim Owen, drifter, hired gun, and sometimes illegal dealer in antiquities, is tasked by Colonel Lord Pomfrey to escort his Mildred to Fort Gordon. Jim is indebted to Pomfrey for his life and is eager to discharge his debt despite the nuisance of shepherding a delicately raised female across the treacherous desert past fierce warring tribes.

Jim Owen may have a disreputable reputation, but he still retains a core of honor that forbids any romantic entanglements with another man's affianced bride. Despite this, he's helpless against falling in love with Ginesse "Mildred." He suffers agonies of shame over this. Ginesse, blithely unaware of his emotional involvement, is busy trying to keep herself distanced from him to maintain Mildred's image of being happily affianced.

THE OTHER GUY'S BRIDE proceeds to take this mismatched pair and transports them across the desert and into each other's hearts via a series of debacles, laugh-out-loud mishaps, tender exchanges, and heart-stopping adventures, not to mention highly sensual moments.

I am a huge fan of Connie Brockway's books and have her entire booklist. I have read them again and again over the years, and THE OTHER GUY'S BRIDE is definitely going to be another book that I'll come back to repeatedly.

The eBook was released on November 22, and for a few days, it's free for Amazon Prime members. The print version of the book will be released on December 22.

Norwegian Folktales

My comments on the Norwegian Folktales by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Moe are up on the American Chronicle website.

Commentaries on Books for the American Chronicle

My commentary on Anna Quindlen's Being Perfect is now published in the American Chronicle. The book Being Perfect is all about setting yourself free from the "perfection trap" and turning outward societal admonitions for change into inward reflections of choices.

My commentary on Helena Frith Powell's All You Need To Be Impossibly French. It's a treatise on how to stay thin and beautiful à la French starting from your pre-teens to well into your sixties. Powell is an expat-British woman living in France, who has bought wholly into what she believes every French woman (with emphasis on every) believes about skincare, hair care, slimming, fashion, and other such self-care regimes.

My commentary on Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson. It's a whimsical romantic tale of a princess in a castle in Austria and a British dockyard orphan now wealthy financier. Their love of music and the fine arts and their republican disdain for the nobility is what draws them together in the spring of 1922. Note, this is not a children's book, but an adult romance novel.

My commentary on Anna Quindlen's A Short Guide to a Happy Life. In it, Quindlen says to not ever confuse your life and your work. "You cannot be really first-rate at your work, if your work is all you are. So, the best piece of advice I could give anyone is pretty simple: Get a life. A real life. It is so easy to exist instead of to live."

Giveaway: My Favorite Countess by Vanessa Kelly

In order to win an advance review copy of My Favorite Countess by Vanessa Kelly:

—Read the Fresh Meat blog on My Favorite Countess on the Heroes and Heartbreakers site.
—Post a comment there.
—Also post a comment here on C&M or on Facebook to let me know that you commented on the Heroes and Heartbreakers blog.

All comments before 12pm PT, Thursday, May 5 will be considered. The winner will be chosen at random. (Contest is open only to residents in the U.S. and Canada.)



[I was sent this advance review copy by the author.]

Blogs Around the Web

My blog The True Measure of a Book: Great Characters in Romance for Heroes and Heartbreakers takes a look at the questions Sidney Poitier raises in his memoir Measure of a Man and applies them to books.

Blogs Around the Web

My comments on Firoozeh Dumas's Funny in Farsi, about an Iranian-American's hilarious immigrant experience, were published in the Los Angeles Chronicle.

Blogs Around the Web

My comments on the following books have been published by the Midwest Book Review in their April issue:

The Maude Reed Tale by Norah Lofts (Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum Peril and Romance by Marthe Jocelyn (Candlewick Press)

Heroes & Hearbreakers

New blog on Heroes & Heartbreakers: Fresh Meat: Stephanie Laurens, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Candice Hern, and Mary Balogh’s It Happened One Season (March 29, 2011).

Heroes & Heartbreakers

New blog on Heroes & Heartbreakers: The Whey Water Version of Love scene from Christina Dodd’s medieval story CANDLE IN THE WINDOW.

Blogs Around the Web

Hot for the Scots is a post on my top three favorite Julie Garwood Medievals for Heroes & Heartbreakers, Macmillan.

My comments on How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal have been published by the Los Angeles Chronicle.

Swoonworthiest Scene: Laura Kinsale

The "Confronting the Quakers" Scene from Laura Kinsale’s Flowers from the Storm for Heroes & Heartbreakers' blog.

I Grew Up On A Farm

My comments on children's book I Grew Up On A Farm by Alan Lewis have been published by the Los Angeles Chronicle.

Midwest Book Review

From time to time I shall be commenting on books for the Midwest Book Review. The first two of my pieces have been published HERE and include comments on Hattie, Get a Haircut! by Jenna Glatzer and What Not To Wear by Tinny Woodall & Susannah Constantine.

Two Pieces

The Dunes of Friendship, a narrative travel article about one American woman's solo journey through Morocco, has been published by the Santa Barbara Chronicle.

Comments on Lynne Truss's humorous book on punctuation Eats, Shoots and Leaves have been published by the Los Angeles Chronicle.

Emotions and Emotion Coaching of Children

My comments on the book What Am I Feeling? by John Gottman, PhD has been published by the Los Angeles Chronicle.

Commentator

In the spirit of transparency, I'm writing to say that I'll be commenting on books, not romance and most likely nonfiction books, for the American Chronicle family of online newspapers. I shall not be reviewing the books or critiquing them (in the full sense of the words), instead, I'll be offering my opinion of the books. In addition, I'll be contributing narrative nonfiction pieces and other commentary to the American Chronicle. Occasional commenting on friends' romance novels will continue here on Cogitations & Meditations, including giveaways.