Unwrapping: Review of SALT REDUX: Sequel to SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant

Back in August 2012, I reviewed SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant. I fell in love with the characters, Jane and Salt, and Caroline and Antony. I despised Diana St. John for her evil doings, yet was intrigued with her stalker mentality and devious attempts to keep Salt to herself. I wished for Sir Antony to find happiness with Lady Caroline and live free of his evil sister. Well, when SALT REDUX:  Sequel to SALT BRIDE was released in March, I was eager to read it. I welcomed Lucinda’s request for a read and review.

***eARC provided by author in exchange for an honest and unscripted review.

Blurb for SALT REDUX: Sequel to SALT BRIDE:

 Jane and Salt—four years of Happily Ever After
Sir Antony Templestowe—four years of Exile
Lady Caroline—four years of Heartache
Diana St. John—four years plotting Revenge

The time has come... How does a brother cope with life knowing his sister is a murderess? How can a nobleman have the life he has always wanted when a lurking evil consumes his thoughts and haunts his dreams? What will it take for good to triumph over evil? For readers who enjoyed Salt Bride, the story continues…

                           *                      *                      *                     *                      *

Diana St. John has been sent to a place where Salt and Antony hope she can cause no further harm to their families, friends, or anyone else that might cross paths with her, but they are to be proven wrong by this devilish woman. 

Sir Antony Templestowe has spent the past four years in Russia, a self-exile if you will. Having offended far too many, he decided it was best that he, like his sister Diana, be as far away from the happiness of those he cares most about – Jane, Salt, their children, his beloved niece and nephew, and most of all, Caroline – the woman who holds a claim on his heart. 

Lady Caroline Aldershot, heartbroken by unrequited love, did something foolish that ended in her settling for an undesired marriage that in turn, ends tragically. Still heartbroken and alone, now responsible for her dead husband’s sister, Kitty Aldershot, she is taken by surprise when Sir Antony Templestowe reappears in London and proceeds to propose to her. 

SALT REDUX: Sequel to SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant carries with it all the grandeur, georgian history, on edge concern for what Lady Diana St. John will do next, as we were treated to in SALT BRIDE, but in the end there’s a happily ever after for everyone. I admire Antony’s respect for Caroline and his willingness to wait for her. I will say that in SALT BRIDE, Diana’s character was much more believable, but I was overjoyed to see Diana finally gets hers, and most justly as well.  

I will say that I found SALT REDUX a bit slower moving than SALT BRIDE but over all, it still makes for an intriguing read. I’d hoped that Diana would show her evil earlier, although the prologue sets her up to be as villainous as before. I found that her ability to so easily fit herself back into London society a tad irrational considering how off the deep end she’d become, but then again, this is fiction. As with SALT BRIDE, Lucinda’s style of writing, switching points of view between characters, sometimes with only a few lines separating them, makes for a slower read and so I cannot call this a fast read even though once the story actually gets going, it moves quickly. 

This is not a stand-alone novel, to understand the story and move forward, you must read SALT BRIDE.  However, if you have read SALT BRIDE, then yes, I recommend you read SALT REDUX: Sequel to SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant, if for no other reason but to find out what happens to Jane and Salt, Caroline and Antony, the children, and most importantly, Diana St. John – a conclusion you won’t want to miss. 

Happy Reading Everyone! 

SALT REDUX: Sequel to SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant, Sprigleaf, available now in ebook formats.

                                                              

And SALT BRIDE goes to ... !

I want to thank Lucinda Brant for visiting with us

this week - she was a delightful guest, don't you all agree?

Lucinda, you're welcome to come back any time - thank you!

Thank you to everyone who visited and joined in the fun.

It's always a delight to get hear from you all.

Well, we've only got one ecopy of SALT BRIDE

and it goes to:

 

 

mariehahn13

Congratulations Marie!  You've been notified by email

and I hope you'll check your

SPAM folder so as not to miss it. 

Thanks again for visiting - it's been great fun as always!

Happy Reading Everyone!

         

Wacky Wednesday: A VISIT WITH LUCINDA BRANT, author of SALT BRIDE

A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed a fabulous Georgian Historical Romance by a new author to me, Lucinda Brant - the book was SALT BRIDE. If you haven't read my review, please CLICK HERE, but then hurry back because Lucinda is joining me today all the way from New Zealand and she's giving away an ecopy of her fabulous Georgian Romance - SALT BRIDE.

Lucinda Brant is an interesting person with a delightful sense of humor as demonstrated by her claim that "in a previous life I died at the guillotine during the French Revolution (reason for the migraines in this life). Hence, all my novels are set in 1700's England or France but well before 1789!" She writes full-time when "not bumping about Georgian London in my sedan chair or exchanging gossip with perfumed and patched courtiers in the gilded drawing rooms of Versailles." To learn more about Lucinda and her booklist, please visit her website.

I'm very pleased that Lucinda has consented to take time away from her busy life to spend some time with us. I know I'm a new fan of hers and I hope, after today, you will be too. Please join me in welcoming Lucinda Brant to UNWRAPPING ROMANCE.

Amy: Hi Lucinda, It's such a delight to have you here with us today.

Lucinda: It's lovely to be here!

Amy: Perhaps you could tell us a little bit about yourself for those who don't know you yet.

Lucinda: I write Georgian Historical Romances and Historical Mysteries, which I call crimances (crime with lashings of romance). I’ve published seven novels to date. Until this year, I taught History and Geography at an exclusive boarding school for young ladies. My writing has allowed me to “retire” early to write full time.

Amy: SALT BRIDE is an extraordinary and very intriguing Georgian historical romance. I was hooked literally from the first page. It is very timely to modern issues in its subject matter, where did you get your inspiration for it and for your books overall?

Lucinda: Thank you! I’m so pleased you enjoyed Jane and Salt’s journey to their Happily Ever After.

Inspiration can come from any number of places. Sometimes it’s while I’m researching—I have a library dedicated to the eighteenth century—I’ll read a tidbit about a person or an event that sparks my imagination. One of the best sources is Horace Walpole’s letters, which span much of the eighteenth century. They are a wonderful historical repository and are full of societal gossip.

I don’t want to spoil SALT BRIDE for those who have not read it, but let me just say that Diana St. John is obsessed with the Earl of Salt Hendon and driven by this obsession to do terrible things to Jane because she loves Salt, and to her own son. Obviously, she is not a mentally well woman but Society remains oblivious because publicly she acts within the parameters of normality.

I suppose a modern-day parallel is the über-obsessed fan of a celebrity. The über-fan has a normal life, but their obsession leads to extreme behavior: Stalking, breaking and entering, threatening the celebrity’s family members. The über-fan is convinced that if they could influence circumstance, the object of their obsession would feel the same way about them.

Not only is Diana St. John obsessed with the Earl of Salt Hendon, she also suffers from what modern society has labeled Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP). It is a psychological problem and an attention-seeking behavior. The syndrome can be life threatening for a child.

Amy: As I was reading, I kept hoping she was going to get hers - fortunately, without giving away too much, she does and it helps make the Happily-Ever-After that much more satisfying. I very much enjoyed the character of Tom Allenby, have you considered telling his story and giving him a happily-ever-after?

Lucinda: Tom is a lovely young man, isn’t he? I can see why you would want to have his story told. I don’t have plans to write his story specifically but you’ll be pleased that he does make a reappearance in my next book.

Due to the overwhelming number of requests I’ve received, I am presently writing the sequel to SALT BRIDE, the story of Sir Antony Templestowe and Lady Caroline Sinclair and their eventual Happily Ever After. I say eventual, because as with all my novels, the character have a few emotional mountains to climb and issues to sort through before their HEA.

Amy:  That's wonderful news, for Antony was most certainly one of my favorites and destined for Caroline but as we all know the course of true love never runs smoothly so ... I'm looking forward to Antony and Caroline's story. It's obvious that you do a lot of research reading in order to create such historically accurate back-stories for your wonderful novels. What authors and genres do you enjoy for relaxing reading?

Lucinda: Historians I most admire, and whose hardcovers are in my library, are John Brewer, Amanda Vickery, Stella Tillyard, George Rude, Roy Porter, and Antonia Fraser. As well as my large collection of books dedicated to the 18^th Century, I now collect eBooks of primary sources. Having ebooks of these sources makes it so easy to search for specific items, dates and people. For instance, I can easily search Horace Walpole’s letters for a particular place, time or person. I know, for instance, that the January of 1763 was such a bitterly cold winter that the Thames River froze over. I love to pepper my stories with such tidbits of historical information.

When I am between books or need a break from researching, I enjoy a good Italian detective story. Andrea Camilleri’s Montalbano series set in present day Sicily is one of my all time favorites.

Amy:  Sounds like you have a library worth visiting. Have any of your favorite authors had any creative effect on your writing or writing style?

Lucinda: As a teenager, I devoured Jean Plaidy’s novels. I also read the classics, Jane Austen being my all-time favorite author; Henry James, George Eliot and Tolstoy are also favorites. At university, I was introduced to the incomparable Georgette Heyer. I wrote NOBLE SATYR as homage to Heyer, and readers have honored me with the comparison to Heyer, which is incredibly humbling.

Amy:  A well rounded bibliography if ever I saw one. I can see the comparison to Heyer very easily. Obviously, you have a great love for the Georgian period. Would you ever consider a foray into another period or even a different romance genre?

Lucinda: I have so many stories still to write in the Georgian period, that I am happy to remain living in the Eighteenth Century. : - )

Amy:  Last question, my favorite to ask authors. Lucinda, if you could be ANY character in ANY book, which character would it be and why?

Lucinda: Wow! What a wonderful question, and difficult to answer.

My immediate thought was for one of my own characters because they inhabit the Eighteenth Century. If I had to choose one it would be the fifth Duke of Roxton. He is all-powerful, handsome, super wealthy, dresses in the most swoon-worthy black silks and is as arrogant as they come. He is also at the top of Eighteenth Century Societal pecking order so can come and go as he pleases. He also marries my next favorite character, Antonia, who is featured in all three of my Roxton Series.

If not the Duke of Roxton or his Duchess, then it would have to be Baroness Orczy’s Scarlet Pimpernel. Witty and urbane, Sir Percy Blakeney leads a double life, as the Scarlet Pimpernel he risks his life to rescue French Aristocrats from the horrors of the dastardly French Revolution and its machine of mass murder the Guillotine. What a Georgian Super hero!

Amy:  Well, there is no doubt in my mind that I have to hit your backlist and catch up. I'd love to meet these characters.  I understand you'd like to offer up a Giveaway - my dear readers, this is one book you want to read if you love fascinating storylines and Georgian historical romance.

Lucinda:  For a chance to win an eBook of SALT BRIDE,

please tell me which is your favorite historical era and why.

 

Amy:  I'm not included in the Giveaway but my favorite historical era is the time surrounding the Georgian era only on my side of the Atlantic. I love our Colonial history, the history of pirates on the high seas of the Carribbean and the excitement of a new country. I wish there were more romances written with American heroes and heroines. Gee, maybe that's why I'm writing them. LOL!

Lucinda, it has been an absolute delight having you here today. I've enjoyed myself immensely and thank you again for the opportunity to read your wonderful story. I hope all of my readers will check out your book list and try one of your extraordinary stories for themselves. I'm looking forward to reading more of your work and perhaps when it's time to send Antony and Caroline's story into the world, you'll come back and visit again.

 

Lucinda:  Thank you so much for hosting me, Amy. It’s been a real pleasure.

 

Amy:  Well, my dears, you heard our lovely guest, Lucinda Brant, she's offering up an eBook of SALT BRIDE, a Georgian Romance to ONE LUCKY COMMENTER.

 
                        *                       *                      *                      *                     *

GIVEAWAY RULES:   THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!  Thanks for entering!

*YOU MUST LEAVE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT TO BE ENTERED.

COMMENT + EMAIL ADDRESS = ENTRY

* THIS GIVEAWAY IS OPEN TO EVERYONE - INTERNATIONAL INCLUDED (except where prohibited by law, of course)
* THIS GIVEAWAY WILL RUN UNTIL 11:30PM EDT, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2012.
* ONE LUCKY COMMENTER WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM TO WIN.
*WINNER WILL BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL AND THEIR NAME WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN A SPECIAL POST ON SATURDAY.  GOOD LUCK!

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

Blurb for SALT BRIDE:

When the Earl of Salt Hendon marries squire’s daughter Jane Despard, Society is aghast. But Jane and Lord Salt share a secret past of mistrust, heartache and misery. Four years on, they are forced into a marriage neither wants; the Earl to honor a dying man’s wish; Jane to save her stepbrother from financial ruin. Beautiful inside and out, the patient and ever optimistic Jane believes love conquers all; the Earl will take some convincing. Enter Diana St. John, who has been living in a fool’s paradise believing she would be the next Countess of Salt Hendon. She will go to extreme lengths, even murder, to hold the Earl’s attention. Can the newlyweds overcome past prejudices and sinister opposition to fall in love all over again?

Happy Reading Everyone!

SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant, Sprigleaf Publishing, now available in print and ebook formats.
If you'd like to learn more about Lucinda and her works, please visit her website, and please follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and Pinterest (she's got some awesome boards).
                                                              

                                                                       

Unwrapping: Review of SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant

Lucinda Brant is a new author for me. She now lives in New Zealand and writes Georgian Romance Novels. When she contacted me and asked me to read her stand-alone, SALT BRIDE, I hesitated but only a moment. For after I read the first two chapters, I was hooked and knew I needed to know what happened next. Lucinda, thank you for sending me a copy and I promise this review is honest and unscripted.

Blurb for SALT BRIDE:

When the Earl of Salt Hendon marries squire’s daughter Jane Despard, Society is aghast. But Jane and Lord Salt share a secret past of mistrust, heartache and misery. Four years on, they are forced into a marriage neither wants; the Earl to honor a dying man’s wish; Jane to save her stepbrother from financial ruin. Beautiful inside and out, the patient and ever optimistic Jane believes love conquers all; the Earl will take some convincing. Enter Diana St. John, who has been living in a fool’s paradise believing she would be the next Countess of Salt Hendon. She will go to extreme lengths, even murder, to hold the Earl’s attention. Can the newlyweds overcome past prejudices and sinister opposition to fall in love all over again?

                       *                        *                        *                        *                        *

Jane Despard is a woman in love with a man she believes asked her to marry him, made love to her, left her pregnant than called off the engagement. After four years of living with this torturous thought, she now finds herself married to the same man who acts as if he despises her. She soon learns the truth about the past and the present.

Magnus Sinclair, the Earl of Salt Hendon has never forgotten the young woman he fell in love with, made love to in the summerhouse, but then who was never heard from again except for one fortuitous day in the fields when he impulsively kissed her and she slapped his face in return. Now he's forced to marry her by the terms of his dead enemy's will. Planning to send her to the country and continue his life as it was, he suddenly realizes he needs her near him, yearns to have her love him as she once did and desires her to be married to him because she wants him not because she's been forced.

SALT BRIDE is a story about secrets, lies, miscommunication, evil doings, and manipulation. Jane believes that Magnus committed a breach of promise and cared not that she was pregnant with his child, forced into miscarriage by her father, disowned and left to suffer the disgrace these past four years. Magnus believes that Jane wanted nothing more of him after he left for London to attend to his best friend and cousin's wife and children after the man's sudden death. He only knew she had returned the sapphire and diamond locket that he'd given her as a promise of marriage without any explanation or reason and had gone to live under the protection of a married man. If I tell you any more than this, I will ruin the story for you but let me say that Miss Brant has woven so many layers of lies and deception in this extraordinary romance that you will thrill with the way it all unravels.

As much as I enjoyed this intriguing and intricate tale of separated lovers, a ruthless and mentally unstable stalker-minded woman set upon ruining the happiness of a second chance at love, I found one fault with the book that I cannot overlook. Miss Brant has a tendency to switch the narrative point of view quickly, abruptly, and without warning within a scene. At times this made reading the scene clumsy and slowed the story. Overall, however, I give this my highest recommendation for the story itself.

SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant is an incredibly poignant, intriguing, and easily relatable yet unique Georgian historical romance that will have you hooked to the point of losing sleep to keep reading. I do a lot of my reading late at night and when I got into the last chapters, I actually kept telling myself to go to sleep but the kid in me kept crying - just five more minutes, just one more chapter. This is one romance that will never threaten to put you to sleep - not by a long shot. I think what I liked the most about SALT BRIDE was how easily modern issues translated to a time so long ago. Read SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant and you'll understand what I mean.

I highly recommend SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant to anyone who loves a story about secrets, misunderstandings, interference in love, and a stalker thrown in for good measure.  SALT BRIDE surprised and delighted me and I'm intrigued to see what other wonderful stories Lucinda Brant has conjured in Georgian historical romance - she's got several more.

Interested? Learn more about Lucinda Brant and her Georgian Romances at her website.

Happy Reading Everyone!

SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant, Sprigleaf Publishing, first released January 1, 2012, available in print (paperback & hardback) and ebook format.