Lady Eleanor knows better than to dream of romance and love. Married twice to secure her father's alliances, she has learned that she is desirable only for her fortune. When the Laird of Kinfairlie's sisters ask her to wed their brother, Alexander, Eleanor agrees, expecting only to save herself from danger.
Alexander is like no man she's known before. He is a man more interested in courting her smile than her obedience. He is a man who values her counsel as much as her newly awakened passion. He is unaware that Eleanor is the key to a fortune that could ensure the future of everything he holds dear.
Now, ruthless enemies will stop at nothing to secure Eleanor's capture. Will she dare to trust her new husband before it's too late for her, for Alexander, and for Kinfairlie?
©2005, 2011 Claire Delacroix, Inc. (P)2015 Deborah A. Cooke
Alexander Lammergier, Laird of Kinfairlie, has seen two sisters wed, but still must secure a future for his three younger sisters. With Kinfairlie's coffers nearing empty, every mouth fed is a strain and Alexander is struggling to keep the people in his abode fed. The strain of the responsibility he's undertaken since his parent's untimely deaths has stolen much of his merriment as he's struggled to keep his lands afloat and worried over the well being of those who depend upon him.
Worried about his plans for their futures, Alexanders younger sisters scheme to get their brother back for the forced weddings of the older sisters and vow to find him a bride themselves. Although both older sisters have found happy marriages, despite Alexander's meddling, the younger ones fear they might not have such good fortune and hope for a wife for their brother to ensure a lady's favor in their finding happy matches.
Lady Eleanor is on the run with only the clothes she is wearing. Desperate to flea after the untimely death of her second husband, she runs through the snow and through the night to escape a harsh punishment she knows awaits her. Her last husband was not only cruel, but his surviving kin are as well and Eleanor fears for her life. She stumbles into a chapel seeking warmth and respite on the cold winter's night. When morning comes and she is still huddled in it's depths she is spotted by Alexander's sisters.
Fearful of what marriage may hold, but desperate to be protected against a cruel and vengeful man, Eleanor must put her fears aside and participate in a plot to marry a man she hardly knows without his knowing he is being plotted against. Alexander is nothing like her previous husbands and values love, kindness, and truth above all else. With rumors stacking up against her, truth is a hard morsel to provide and may jeopardize the loving marriage that Alexander seeks. Eleanor has many secrets and telling those secrets may expose both herself and those she loves to great peril.
When attempts are made on Alexander's life, all eyes turn to the stranger who has already buried two husbands. Will Eleanor be able to earn his trust before it is too late? Will her past cost Alexander his life? Is a marriage which starts with deception able to be saved? With her deceased husband's kin out for blood, and her new husband out for her heart, Eleanor will face challenges like she has never known. Her life, her heart, and the lives of those she loves lay in the balance.
The Snow White Bride is an engaging, heart gripping, and memorable novel about love, romance, trust, and sacrifice. The writing is outstanding, the dialogue witty and clever, and the characters have a grace and depth that makes them seem to leap from the pages as real people that will astound and engage the reader.
I listened to the audio version narrated by Saskia Maarleveld who did an outstanding job. The narration was clear, crisp, and added character to the novel. The Snow White Bride is a novel one can get lost in and the narration plays like a movie in the mind of the reader or like the telling of a favorite tale. It's a must read/listen to novel and delights from start to finish.
NARRATED BY: SASKIA MAARLEVELD
LENGTH: 12 HOURS AND 6 MINS
SERIES: THE JEWELS OF KINFAIRLIE, BOOK 3
RELEASE DATE: 6/8/2015
PUBLISHER: DEBORAH A COOKE