"a super Regency with a strong Gothic touch"
Anne Stuart never ceased to amazes me, turning out such
strong works for decades. Many top writers of today such as
Linda Howard, Nora Robert and Jayne Anne Krentz started in
series romance years ago, and we have watched them grow
into the talent they are now. However, you notice with Anne
Stuart she was always great - right from the very start. Go
back to her earliest works of Gothic and Regency Romances,
and you'll see the same magic voice weaving solid tales in
the same brilliance. Lord Satan's Bride is a prime example
of this talented writer's works. Written in 1981 for
Candlelight Regency Special (Dell) it originally sold for
$1.50, and now you find it for nearly $10.00 used. Frankly,
it's worth every penny! Sylvie Wetherall is off for a season in London. Not that
she's thrilled with the idea of the Ton, but at nineteen
she's decided it's time she finds a nice comfortable
husband, settle down and give her Father the Vicar
grandchildren. She goes to London to live with her Aunt
Tibelda and her cousin Amanda. Her Aunt Tibelda, in her
70s, is a Duchess. But once that Duchess was an actress.
While she's more sedate these days, she still dresses like
an ingenue, and in very vivid colours. She hopes having her
two niece will liven up her life, but she gets a bit more
than she wished. On the trip to London, Sophie stopped at certain graveyards
along the route to report to her father upon the age and
historical details of each. However, a late night trip to
one catches her up in a bizarre situation. She hears
chanting and sees men dressed as Monks, then a woman
screaming. As she rushes to see if she can help, she's
caught by a tall man, who tells her to flee the place, and
forget what she saw. He says the men are called the
Heavenly Host and he s he is Satan. Days later when someone begins to warn Sylvie to stay away
from Nicholas Wyndham and that he is called Satan, Sylvie
but cannot help but wonder if Wyndham is the same man she
met in the graveyard. Odd things begin to happen to Sylvie.
One the way to a ball, a highwayman stops her carriage. In
the nick of time, (no pun intended!) Nicholas Wyndham
arrives to save her life. Later, he dances with her at the
ball shocking the whole ton. Sylvie is in a dither. She knows Nicholas is the man
calling himself Satan, knows he has a reputation that would
rival Satan himself. But she sees a deep sadness within the
handsome man. He keeps warning Sylvie to stay away from
him, but then he repeatedly turns up in her life. If her falling in love with the dangerous man is not
distracting enough, she learns her cousin Amanda is in love
with Aunt Tibelda's handsome Irish coachman. Sylvie is
determined to play cupid. The secondary romance between
Amanda and Tynan is just as enchanting as the growing love
between Sylvie and Nicholas. It's a super Regency with a strong Gothic touch, and done
with Stuart's typical Bad Boy you cannot resist. What more
can you want from such a classic story? It's a shame
someone is not reprinting these older Stuarts. They are
well worth it. Posted August 17,
2004
Reviewed by Deborah Macgillivray
Posted November 23, 2006
|
