[.ca] Gabriel's Bride (ISBN 0380775476)

enthralling, sizzling, entertaining, unforgettable:
Gabriel's Bride is my first Samantha James book and she didn't disappoint me. This book is a very entertaining and captivating read. I just couldn't put it down. I spent one night to finish it. Lord Gabriel is a wickedly handsome earl who is always in bad mood. All of what he does including marrying Cassie seem to be aimed at irritating his father. Cassie is used as a pawn against his father's will to marry him to another woman. The relationship between Gabriel and Cassie is tensed. Cassie always thinks that she is his unwanted, unloved wife. Gabriel's pride runs so high in his blood that he always says everything that should have never been said to hurt her. As the story progresses, Gabriel comes to realize that his true feeling for her and how much she means to him. The secondary characters are lovable especially Lady Evelyn and Christopher. Ms.James is a talented storyteller. She weaved such an exciting intrigues into a sizzling historical romance.

Rape is never romantic.:
In a genre which has produced more than a few "bodice-rippers" in both heroes and villains, I have come to expect a one or two rough tumbles between characters. Sometimes such scenes become a necessary part of the character or plot development of a given novel. But in a novel published in 2000, I also expect almost all "love" scenes to have some degree of love and understanding reached between the characters by the time it ends. I do not relish such "love" scenes where one character is left completely bereft of self-worth. At the very least, I expect only one such scene, which is then fully resolved by the end of the novel (although to be honest, *any* "romance" novel with a rape scene between the hero and heroine will never make my keeper list). In GABRIEL'S BRIDE, the hero sets out to marry a woman whom he knows his father will loath and have no respect for besides. As is often the case, this means Gabriel (the product of his father's coldness and still very much his father's son) has little if any respect for the heroine himself, regardless of how "spirited" or "feisty" she is. He knows her as a thief, a whore, and a manipulative liar. She is, in fact a virgin, her thievery is justified by abject poverty and degradation, and she tells him the flat out truth about most things. In fact, the only thing she lies about is Cassie, herself. Cassie is scared to tell him the truth, as she realizes her corrupts status in Gabriel's eyes is the only thing keeping her in wealth and warmth, such as she has never had in her sorry life. In the first "love" scene, Gabriel is motivated by suppressed lust, ill-founded jealousy, and simple rage that Cassie still refuses to succumb to his "charms." Cassie's final words before the imminent deflowering are "No. Damn you, stop - stop!" He does not. Nor does he stop when he knows the truth... his lust is too strong. We are told he feels "self-disgust," but it is soon turned on to the heroine as her fault for not telling him of her virginal state. But more appalling to me was his treatment of her very near the end of the novel. After the birth of their son, he again grows jealous and "furious that she would refuse him, something snapped inside Gabriel then... he drove home with one fiercely burning thrust... through dry, tender tissue unprepared for his... invasion." This is not the way any hero of mine should be acting on pg. 345 of a 388 page book. The skipped-over words make things no better. Though amends are quickly made, mostly because Cassie is happy to receive *any* kind of acknowledgement from him, it was not enough to set my mind at ease and give me any satisfaction that this couple lived "happily ever after." That the heroine puts up, and indeed falls in love with the hero who meets out such treatment speaks to two possibilities. One, she is a two dimensional character, on one hand, "spirited and proud" to stand up to the hero and his father, on the other a meek and innocent miss who takes this as her due as the plot calls for it. Or two, she is deeply scared psychologically from her mistreatment by her mother (a whore herself) and is the perfect model of an abused woman. I liked her character, and hoped she would find the love she needed, but I have no assurance that she truly found it in Gabriel. Yet another peeve of mine is the obviously derogatory nickname Gabriel bestows on Cassie from the beginning. He is still calling her "Yank" at the end of the novel, but if it is meant to have developed into a sweet pet name by that time, no confirmation can be found in the novel. The one and only time we know Cassie's mind on the name, she says she does not like it and asks Gabriel to call her by her name. He refuses. While the ploy of making Gabriel use her given name at time when his "love" is brought to the foreground (generally when he fears for her life...) is interesting, I'd much rather have a hero who learns to call her Cassie, as he begins to view her as an actual person, and who, perhaps, learns to whisper "Cassandra" in a darn sexy way just to see her blush. But then, Gabriel's version of foreplay differs vastly from mine. As for the plot and secondary characters... they all shined out compared to the darkness that is Gabriel, which is not saying much. The villain was visible a mile away, very one dimensional and easily vanquished once unmasked. Lady Evelyn and Christopher were sweet. I wished that the book was more about them, or at least focused more on their Pygmalion attempt to shape Cassie into a proper tonish young matron. I ordered this book and three others by Samantha James after reading her delightful novel, "One Moonlit Night." I'm not ready to give up on Ms. James yet, and truly hope the other novels prove more like "One Moonlit Night" than GABRIEL'S BRIDE. I'd defiantly recommend avoiding GABRIEL'S BRIDE as your first entry into Samantha James. In conclusion, only read this if you like your heroes very, very dark and not much for sweet talk. And even then, I suggest you buy it used.

Hurray for the heroine.:
I found Gabriel's Bride to be suspenseful, but the romance was not all that believable. Gabriel was a bitter man because his mother died and his father never loved either of them. Because of this, he swayed between treating Cassie like dirt and trying to seduce her. I like the way the author made Cassie a fiery and outspoken woman and how she brought Gabriel and his father together. The romance between Cassie and Gabriel was a bit rugged and I disliked the way he was always threatening or trying to humiliate her. Though I didn't find this story to be as good as her others, I would still buy Samantha James books.

Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel,:
I loved reading this book, it is my first novel by Samantha James, and I must say I was not dissapointed. I am going out and buy more of her books. Cassie and Gabriel's story touched me deeply, because in some ways it reminds me of myself, I loved her fire, she stood up to Gabriel and his awful tight fisted arrogant father, and I loved her for it. WAY TO GO CASSIE!!!!! The characters were strong and sure not weepy and sleepy. Gabriel gave and Cassie definitely did not take. Way to go Samantha James, more characters like Cassie & Gabriel!!!

DEFINITELY -- MOST EXCELLENT:
I could hardly put this book down. Lord Gabriel Sinclair displayed deep, powerful emotions that he went to great lengths to hide. One cannot deny the deep emotional scars he sustained as a child, and became a product of his father's neglect. \oand you can't tell me this does not happen in this day and age.\c Cassie McClellan is a fiesty and endearing character. Not a mealy mouthed wimp always bemoaning her fate. She kept taking a couple of steps forward, both physically and emotionally, even in fear and trepidation. She is a good representative of "woman" and what she can accomplish with a loving spirit. There always seems to be a great misunderstanding between "sex" and "love" and Gabriel did use force or "rape" \onot true violence\c but as Cassie asks, she \othey - the women\c are not given much choice in the matter in the 1800's \okeep the day and age in perspective\c. Today all you hear about is consentual sex scenes \omy pet peeve\cwithout commitment and that does not constitute love. I Highly Recommend this book \oand characters\c You will enjoy the subtle shifts in emotion - even if they are not all spelled out, they can be felt. This is about a powerfully masculine man and a truly sensitive woman and their journey toward love \osex included\c. This is not a story that leaves you feeling "ho-humm" they are at it again but a true progression of people with powerful emotions to resolve. CONGRATS! to S. James on a great story powerfully told. DEFINITELY A KEEPER!