Book Tour for His Jilted Bride by Rose Gordon (Review & GIVEAWAY)

Today I bring to you a entertaining historical read full of witty banter. His Jilted Bride by Rose Gordon also provides a bit of suspense to keep you guessing.  So don't wait any longer and read my review and before leaving make sure to comment on this post to win an Amazon gift card.....

It's her wedding day and there is no groom in sight. But why should Amelia Brice be surprised? Hiram, Lord Friar is known for having no gentleman's honor to speak of and his jilting her on their wedding day makes it official.

Elijah Banks cannot allow his childhood friend to continue to be shamed this way. It's been almost an hour past the time when the wedding was to start, and that bounder still hasn't shown up. Unable to sit still a second longer, Elijah does the only thing that seems logical from where he stands: kidnap the bride and marry her himself in order to escape this scandal with one far more forgiving for a young lady's reputation.

The only trouble is, she has a secret...but so does he; hers is big...but his is bigger.

EXCERPT:

He pushed open the window as far as it would go and motioned for her to come over. “All right, I'll climb out first and then help pull you through.”
She cast him a tentative glance. “Is that really necessary?”
He stared at her as if she'd just asked the stupidest question ever. “Do you know another way to get out of here without being seen?”
“No.” But that still didn't mean she wanted to climb out a window.
“Don't worry, Amelia. I'll be right there to help you.”
“Wonderful,” she muttered as he threw his left leg over the window sill, then his right.
He jumped down and took a step back. “All right, Amelia, let's see those superb leaping skills you used to boast about having.”
Had she a heavy object at her disposal—and not been in the middle of escaping what was sure to be the scandal of the season—she'd have brained him right then and there. With as much grace as her heavy satin gown would allow, she made her way to the window, pulled her skirt up as far as she could, and then threw one stocking-clad leg over the windowsill.
And that's as far as she got.
Between the heavy skirts and the voluminous petticoats underneath them, she couldn't move.
“Elijah, help me. I think my skirt is stuck.”
He grinned at her.
“Elijah, why are you just standing there?”
“Just admiring the view,” he said with a wink.
“Elijah!” She gave her dress a hearty yank, but it would seem her iron hoop stays were too wide to go through the window. “You can gawk all you want later. Just help me out.”
“Promises, promises,” he muttered, coming up to her.

BUY LINKS:  AMAZON  |  BN  |  ARe  |  KOBO

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

The road to true happiness is a rocky one as is demonstrated by His Jilted Bride by Rose Gordon.  Amelia is an outspoken young woman who has loved Elijah since she was a child but it's not until the eve of her marriage to another that he finally realizes that he too cares for her.  Amelia has her reasons for waiting at the altar for a dirty old man to marry as she believes she might be compromised after a blurred night out and thinks no one else will have her.  So it's a dream come true when Elijah offers his services instead, even though she doesn't think he loves her.  These unspoken feelings cause a very bumpy start early on in the story as Amelia acts like a shrew trying to keep Elijah from touching her.  She insists that his kisses prove he doesn't love her and she resorts to acting like an Ice Queen to keep a barrier between them as she wants to keep her shameful secret quiet as long as it takes to see if there's any long-term ramifications.  Elijah on the other hand burns for her from the start and is frustrated by her coldness, as was I.  He tried to show her repeatedly how much he cared through a look or a touch and was repeatedly turned away.  Even the support and comments from his family don't she'd light on her coldness.  

He too is keeping secrets that have kept him from admitting his feelings before and put Amelia in jeopardy now as Elijah and his twin brother get closer to the men dealing in sexual slavery.  This mystery is just touched upon at the start but plays a big part in the ending.  It was obvious to me who the villains were from the start but their reasoning never really made sense.  What also didn't make sense was how close Amelia and Elijah were as children and how far apart they were at the start of their marriage.  The banter between them before marriage crackled with closeness and sexual tension.  Upon marriage they acted like two strangers which dampened the friends to lovers theme.  It wasn't until the latter stages of the story that their connection was reestablished and their witty banter returned.

After a rocky beginning where the main characters allowed a riff to form between them, the latter half of the story finally came to life.  I saw a couple united which finally and completely won me over and had me rooting for not only his happiness but her's too.  Once their HEA was more assured the pace of the book picked up and raced to a satisfying conclusion.  Along with a conflicted main couple comes an overly large cast of secondary characters seen in the previous books in this series trying to impart words of wisdom to the newly married couple.  Most of these characters were forgettable with the exception of Elijah's twin, Henry.  He plays a major role in getting the happy couple together and his story is just beginning to be hinted at at the conclusion of this story and has me longing to read the next book in this series.  With characters full of conflicted emotions comes a story that kept my feelings on edge with a need to see how things would end.  The witty banter Ms. Gordon imparted to her characters helped draw me in late in the story and has me hoping to see more of this in future books.

My rating for this is a C+

*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

USA Today Bestselling Author of ten unusually unusual historical romances that have been known to include scarred heroes, feisty heroines, marriage-producing scandals, far too much scheming, naughty literature and always a sweet happily-ever-after. When not escaping to another world via reading or writing a book, she spends her time chasing two young boys around the house, being haunted by wild animals, or sitting on the swing in the backyard where she has to use her arms as shields to deflect projectiles AKA: balls, water balloons, sticks, pinecones, and anything else one of them picks up to hurl at his brother who just happens to be hiding behind her.

Website: http://www.rosegordon.net
Blog: http://rosesromanceramblings.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rose-Gordon-historical-romance-author/178033968907233

**********GIVEAWAY**********

Rose will be awarding a $100 gift card to Amazon.com to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour and her Reviews Tour.

-To be entered, leave a comment, along with your email addy.

-Winner will be chosen randomly from all comments made throughout the tour, so the more you comment the greater your chances of winning.  A list of all participating blogs can be found here.

-Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST on 4/19.