Mountain Bride by Susan Sawyer Review
Avon Historical Romance, Oct., 1997.Paperback, 343 pages.
ISBN: 0380784793.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Lord John Winslow, the second son of the Duke of Havenshire, led
a pampered existence -- until his father the Duke determined that
a trip to the new "Second Sons" colony of Rugby, Tennessee was
just what his profligate son needed to toughen him up and teach
him to earn a living. After all, his elder brother Alexander would
inherit the title as well as the family estate and wealth under
England's primogeniture laws. Told that the colony would resemble
an English village in a beautiful landscape, Lord Winslow agrees
to the journey with the idea that he will make his fortune in a few
months then return to his life in England consisting of lawn
tennis, horseback riding, gambling and womanizing. When he arrives
at the colony he is aghast to find a primitive town peopled with
colorful, kind but unsophisticated and uneducated mountain folk
including Coralee Hayes, a beautiful widow who is not impressed
with the Englishman's arrogant ways. As Winslow gets to know the
townspeople and begins to work for a living for the first time
in his heretofore luxurious existence, he finds a new perspective on life as
well as a tempestuous relationship with the beautiful Coralee,
who is determined not to fall for a spoiled aristocrat who will
eventually leave Tennessee for his beloved England.
Susan Sawyer creates a fascinating and unusual hero in Lord Winslow who discovers his own strengths under his pampered exterior with the help of the uneducated but wise Coralee. The historically accurate details of the "Second Sons" colony and the tensions between Lord Winslow and Coralee combine to make an enthralling read. An entertaining and thoughtful romance.
Return to the January 1998 issue of The IWJ.
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