Isla Ramsey is due to marry Henry Northrup in six weeks but she's distracted by Hugh Courtney. It's a terrible winter and Henry is due to visit so she rides out to see if he's coming only to get lost in a snowstorm, rescued by Hugh and forced to spend some time in his house where the attraction builds. Meanwhile Henry is involved in an accident and has to face up to the truth about himself and honestly his romance is a better one of the two, even if the book is ostensibly about Isla.
Enjoyable story of two romances, one M/M ( )

A bit unlikely feeling, but nothing preposterous really, just awfully convenient circumstances when desired. I liked the steam between the m/f couple, but I felt like I could point to more things between the m/m couple of what they actually liked about the other. I believe that because chapters were divided up between all four of them, each story felt a bit rushed, 0-'soulmate love' for four people pretty much in three days. The m/m couple's intimate scenes are fade to black, if that influences anyone one way or the other. ( )

The Wayward Bride, by Anna Bradley, was originally published in February of 2019. Wayward was the first book in Ms Bradley's Besotted Scots series. For me, I'm glad I'm just now reading book 1. I have enjoyed the series and am a fan of Ms Bradley's previous work. Wayward didn't start out with a bang, more of an ok. Our heroine, Isla Ramsey, was involved in Hyacinth Somerset’s story, More Or Less A Temptress. By now I'd forgotten the incident so I had to backtrack, you shouldn't have to and it won't hurt a thing if you read this as a stand-alone. Anyway, being involved in that scheme ruined both ladies, always ruins the lady doesn't it? Not much didn't. Ilsa had a beau & thought he'd abandoned her but it was all a misunderstanding. Hugh, Lord Pierce, loves Ilsa & they spend the book trying to work things out but one thing after another gets in the way. To be truthful they weren't my favorite characters in the story.

Lord Sydney & Lucas Dean are a touching couple in a forbidden romance. Lucas is a farmer so they have a lot going against them from the start. The meeting was terrific and their struggle was heartbreaking. I found myself wanting to skip over Ilsa & Hugh to find out what happened next to the 2 men. They were sweet. Love the dog too, I always wind up loving the dog. ( )

DNF. Angst and gay romance. Not my thing.

Much ado!

I rather felt like I was plucking daisies and reciting "he loves me he loves me not", from all sides of the gender spectrum. There was certainly plenty of confusion, a tidy sum of mayhem particularly if the dog Brute was involved, and a lot of not quite answered questions.
A plethora of persons betrothed, all to the wrong people, and that's where things became a tad confusing.
We have Isla Ramsey who was in love with Hugh Courtney, the Marquess Pierce who let her down. Isla's now betrothed to Henry Northrup, the sixth Earl of Sydney to avoid a scandal. Sydney, who's not in love with Isla, who (in modern terms) is gay and a wonderful character in love with no one thus far. Pierce whose actually. it seems, in love with Isla (against his better judgement) but engaged to Julianna for some very good reasons. We have Lucas who rescues Sydney after a bad carriage accident, and that's where things take a decidedly skewed note. In terms of romance, I found Sydney and Lucas's to be the most real. (Anna Bradley's comment about characters taking on a life of their own in a recent romantic journal Romantic Intentions edition was fascinating.)
So sorting out all these relationships takes up a great deal of the novel before all are rewarded with their HEA.

A NetGalley ARC ( )