Action: ♠♠.♠ / Emotion: ♣♣♣♣ / Romance: ♥♥♥♥ / Sensuous: ♦♦♦♦.♦ / Suspense: ♠♠.♠
Action: 2.5 / Emotion: 4 / Romance: 4 / Sensuous: 4.5 / Suspense: 2.5 / Historical Flavor: 3 // Humor: 1 / Tears: 0
Found it appealing when the villain of the book, Lady Philipa, Countess of Warwickshire, was introduced while grousing about having to give her treasured pearls to her husband's mistress (Ivy Copper) at the birth of the heroine, the Earl of Warwickshire's bastard daughter, Anne Copper. Lady Philipa's selfishness was featured as the beginning stages of Philipa's extreme hatred and bitterness caused her to develop into an evil, vindictive woman -- all because she was unwilling to take a second risk of dying of childbed fever. A quote by a maid who served Philipa cleverly set the stage for the entire plot:
"The mistress will poison herself with such meanness. It'll bring dark times to everyone living on the land."Mary Wine's writing style added to the medieval flavor of the book. Several customs relating to medieval culture were described. For instance: {1} Mary Spencer (Philipa's one and only child) was passed over by quite a few men at court because noblemen looked at the fecundity of the mother while considering a prospective wife. {2} To delay her marriage's consummation, Anne asked for the time-honored tradition of having a nobleman's wife inspected by a midwife for successful childbearing.
Anne's story started twenty-six years after her birth when Philipa plotted to save her darling, spoiled rotten daughter from having to share the bed of her Scottish husband. It was incredibly clever that Henry Howard, the fifth Earl of Warwickshire (Anne's father, Philipa's husband) was never named until page 296 of a 310-page book. Even though the Earl played a vital and important role in the book, his name as well as his presence was blatantly absent throughout -- because he was constantly away at court -- leaving Philipa to wield her power without censure.
Philipa's plan is to place the hated bastard daughter in the Scot's bed until after an heir is born. Then her blue-blooded daughter can take her position as mistress of the Scot's home (all without having to suffer the marriage bed). It is obvious that Philipa's plan is flawed because no man worth his salt is going to believe that the selfish, spoiled Mary is the same woman as sweet-natured, considerate Anne.
Hunky hero, Brodick McJames, Earl of Alcaon is endowed with enough intelligence and strength of will to never fall for such a foolish plan. Brodick had been negotiating with the Earl of Warwickshire for two years to marry his daughter -- all for the betterment of his clan. Brodick is not pleased with the prospect of having to take as wife an English court lass (deceitful, conniving creatures who shamefully displayed their breasts).
Brodick is surprised when his veiled bride {1} does not complain on the arduous return to Sterling and {2} seems to have a kind, unspoiled nature. Anne has a difficult time keeping up the appearance of a spoiled English court lady and finally just decides to be "Anne" instead of "Mary." Found it clever that Brodick referred to Anne as "wife" which reduced the use of the name "Mary" throughout the book.
Even though Anne tried to keep Brodick from consummating the marriage (to thwart Philipa's devious plan), she failed. Brodick is amazed that he is attracted to his wife. Brodick is pleased that his wife "blushes for him." Anne is even more amazed at her attraction to her husband. Who would have thought a man had his own unique tantalizing smell? As expected, Brodick and Anne make love with heated, graphically-descriptive love scenes. The love scenes used what seemed to be modern terms for female anatomy, which took away some of the medieval flavor of the book. Brodick and Anne could not keep their hands from the other, but they were becoming emotionally invested in the relationship as well.
There were a few supporting characters that were briefly described and drew interest. Cullen McJames, Brodick's brother, was a charming man who liked to tease his brother, but showed his strong Scot's ferocity and determination. Wine paved the way for Cullen's story (book two, In The Warrior's Bed) with the daughter of the feuding, raiding neighbors, Bronwyn McQuade.
Druce McJames, Brodick's cousin, was another impressive character. It seemed there should be a story for this teasing, strong braw Scotsman. Another teasing character (whose ease around powerful men revealed to Anne her own discomfort), was Brodick's sixteen-year-old sister, Fiona. Fiona was only around long enough to get a quick glimpse of a strong-willed teen.
Bonnie Copper, Anne's beautiful youngest sister, puts in a minimal appearance, but her character is powerfully compelling. She is gifted with second sight, so Ivy and Anne have spent their lives keeping her protected from dangerous witch hunters. (Bonnie foretells of Anne's happily-ever-after.) Don't know if Wine is paving the way for Bonnie's own book, but the fact that Philipa eventually marries Bonnie by proxy to Cameron Yoeman (her top henchman) to keep Anne in line has the makings for another interesting book. (Really hate the open-ended cliff-hanger of not knowing what is going to happen to Bonnie.)
The matriarchal midwife, Agnes, makes one strong powerful appearance that adds more medieval flavor to the book. Agnes would not accept payment from the Laird for her services (inspecting his wife), yet Brodick notes the pride with which Agnes displays the brooch his mother gifted to Agnes years ago. Little tidbits of real life activities add greatly to the enjoyment of the book.
Really like the great chapter or section opening gambits featured in In Bed With A Stranger. Several include: {1} "She shall not touch my pearls." (opening sentence). {2} "The saints had truly deserted her." (102). {3} "Brodick was tense." (111). {4} "She did not suffer inactivity well." (145). {5} "A man should not be able to hurt her feelings." (154). {6} "Half of the men returned at dawn." (179). {7} "The bells didn't ring upon his return." (192). {8} "His wife's chamber was too cold." (194). {9} "Brodick was a magnificent sight." (212). {10} "Arriving at court was not an easy thing." (242). {11} "Surcoats were evil." (252). {12} "Helen screamed for the first time in years." (261).
What is it with names? Lady Philipa, Countess of Warwickshire and Henry Howard, Earl of Warwickshire have a daughter named Mary "Spencer" (116). The back cover declares her as Mary "Stanford." Anne notices that Brodick's retainers are just as loyal to him as the Warwickshire villagers were loyal to the Stanfords (144). This is very confusing. Is Mary's last name {1} Spencer, {2} Stanford, or should it be {3} Howard?
The little things about In Bed With A Stranger that were disappointing included: {1} lack of description of the heroine. Yes, it was enjoyable to gaze at the gorgeous muscled body of Brodick through Anne's eyes, but would have liked to have been gifted with just as many insights into Anne's appearance as Brodick's. (May have missed it, but can only imagine that Anne's eyes were the same blue as Bonnie's since Anne's eye color was not revealed.) {2} Near the end of the book when the action and suspense was fast and compelling, the attention to detail that had pervaded the story until then was missing.
All in all, In Bed With A Stranger is a great read. It has all the characteristics of a great Cinderella story. {1} a determined, gorgeous, well-built hero (sorry, no angst); {2} an intelligent, self-sufficient, down-trodden heroine, who must overcome impossible odds to get her happily-ever-after; {3} a scheming, evil villain to be dispatched; {4} a bit of everyday action to keep the story moving; {5} enough suspense about how villain's machinations will be overcome makes story intriguing; {6} lots of heated, graphic love scenes; {7} several interesting supporting characters; and {8} a tense, surprising ending.
Caveat: Being an fan of books which feature more {1} action and adventure; {2} suspense; and {3} the resolution of deeper emotional angst, find that The McJames Trilogy books, while enjoyable, will not find their way on my "to be re-read" list.
--Vonda M. Reid (Sunday, March 27, 2011 : 1:56 a.m.)
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Books In The Series: "The McJames Clan Trilogy"
| # | Date | Book Title | Hero | Heroine |
| 01. | 06-2009 | In Bed With A Stranger | Brodick McJames, Earl of Alcaon | Anne Copper |
| 02. | 02-2010 | In The Warrior's Bed | Cullen McJames, Laird Lampart | Bronwyn McQuade |
| 03. | 08-2010 | Bedding The Enemy | Keir McQuade, Baron Hurst | Helena Knyvett |
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| 05.db | Johnson, Alissa | McAlistair's Fortune | 03. The Providence Trilogy {3} |
| 06.db | Welfonder, Sue-Ellen | Tails of Love | Anthology (with Lori Foster, Stella Cameron) |
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| 09.db | Marcos, Michelle | Wickedly Ever After | 03. The Pleasure Emporium Trilogy {3} |
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In Bed With A Stranger Quotations:
145 . . . To argue against your place was to question God's will in putting you there.
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Mary Wine
♥ Website / Blog
♠ Fantastic Fiction
♣ FictionDB
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In Bed With A Stranger Reviews:
| Rated | Posted | Site | Notes, Comments, Etc. |
| 5.00 | 01/02-2010 | Affaire de Coeur | cannot find again on website |
| 4.00 average | {20 reviews} | Amazon . com | as of: April 13, 2011 |
| 4.0 | 05-27-2009 | Bookaholics Romance Book Club | not on website / posted on Amazon, Good Reads, Shelfari |
| 5.0 | 07-08-2009 | Borders True Romance | also posted on Amazon (Joyfully Reviewed) |
| 5.0 | 09-14-2010 | Coffee Time Romance | |
| 3.0 | 05-19-2010 | Curled Up With A Good Book | also posted on Amazon |
| 5.0 | 05-29-2009 | Genre Go Round Reviews | also posted on Amazon (Harriet Klausner) |
| 3.76 average | {23 reviews} | Good Reads | as of: April 13, 2011 |
| 5.0 | 07-08-2009 | Joyfully Reviewed | not on website / posted on Amazon (Borders True Romance) |
| 3.75 | 05-03-2010 | Michelle & Leslie's Book Picks | also posted on Good Reads |
| 5.0 | 04-02-2009 | Romance Junkies | also posted on Amazon |
| 4.0 / hot | 03-30-2010 | RT Book Reviews | |
| 4.50 average | {4 reviews} | Shelfari | as of: April 13, 2011 |
| 4.0 | -- | The Romance Readers Connection | |
| 4.5 / hot | 05-09-2009 | Two Lips Reviews | |
| 3.85 | 03-27-2011 | Wolf Bear Does Books | short version posted on Amazon, Good Reads, Shelfari |
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Notes:
♥ Disclaimer: I purchased this book.
♥ Very Subjective Rating
♥ Willing to share Cheat Sheet
♦ in whole or in part
♦ WordPerfect or PDF
♣ Will add your In Bed With A Stranger review link to table, just ask
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