This is not just another trashy romance novel. This is considered an historical romance based on the fact that young women from well to-do families back in the 1800's did not always have a say who they would marry. Their parents would make the arrangement to, hopefully, a more well to-do man of significance who would take care of them financially. The cover of the book doesn't match up at all with the storyline because the Bride Thief, the one to rescue the soon to be bride from a miserable life, is described as wearing a black, full head covering with slits for his eyes, nose and mouth, wearing all black with a black cape and riding a black stallion. Now...look at the cover.

Set in 1820 in the Village of Tunbridge Wells, County of Kent, England, Samantha "Sammie" Briggeham, age 26, was considered too eccentric and old to marry. Not to mention, also a bit unattractrive with her thick framed glasses. So, her parents arranged a marriage between her and an old family friend, 43-year-old arrogant military man, Major Wilshire. Samantha, unlike her other three beautiful sisters was more earthy and considered a free-bird. She loved science and getting her hands dirty and collecting bugs and worms and things to study and learn more about. She was also sort of an herbalist, experimenting with honey creams she would make for a few older locals in the area to help relieve their arthritis.

Sammie was perfectly happy alone. She had dreams to travel and see the world and have adventures, not become someone's property and to have to behave in the fake customs of women in those days. There was only one way out of this arranged marriage, and that was through the notorious bride thief, the Earl of Wesley, Eric Landsdowne, known for kidnapping and saving brides. His secret lifestyle began when his father arranged an abusive marriage for his sister, Margaret, in exchange for his gambling debts paid off. His father never cared for Margaret, born a female, so Eric made a promise to himself to take care of her. He raised her, teaching her to fish and love nature. But, while he was away at war, his father married her off to a brute who beat her and had affairs. He only wanted her to produce an heir for his estate. From that moment on, he had become the mysterious Bride Thief, helping to make known and bring attention to a real problem of women's plight. He was too late to rescue Margaret, but he vowed to help and stop the marriages of any other unwanted marriages. Eric had rescued 12 brides and had brought the problem to national attention with front page headlines in the newspapers across the country. He was a wanted man throughout England with huge rewards for his life, with the reward growing larger and larger.

Well, of course, the Bride Thief (Lord Wesley) would fall in love with Sammie and Sammie in love with Eric, with twists and turns to keep it very interesting. There's actually a little substance...and one great sexual scene. Otherwise, the author keeps it pretty clean. ( )

The Bride Thief was a delightful read in so many ways. It was utterly romantic, as sweet as the honey Samantha used in her hand creams, and frequently made me laugh out loud. This story was a fun, fairy-tale fantasy with an eccentric, plain-Jane spinster heroine who finds her hero in the form of a man who carries off would-be brides from unwanted arranged marriages. The Bride Thief was a charming tale that had a refreshing lightness and certain aura of innocence about it, with even the darker, more dangerous parts managing to carry some weight without being too heavy. With only one actual love scene, there isn't a lot of heat in this one, but I found that one scene to be just a little bit daring while also being sweetly sensuous. Jacquie D'Alessandro is masterful at creating a strong emotional connection and sexual tension with mere looks and gentle touches, and I've yet to find another author who does this quite as well. In addition, I absolutely love Ms. D'Alessandro's sense of humor. I found myself laughing every few scenes for the entire first half of the book. Eric being jealous of himself every time Sammie waxed romantic about the Bride Thief was hilarious, and Sammie's creative way of getting out of her arranged marriage, as well as a conversation with her three married sisters about birth control nearly had me rolling on the floor. Ms. D'Alessandro definitely has a knack for spinning tales that find a great balance between entertainment and emotion.

Eric and Samantha were two of the most wonderful characters I've read in a while. Eric perhaps carries a bit too much guilt over not being able to stop his beloved sister's miserable arranged marriage, but it's also what drives him to be the Bride Thief and makes him a compassionate and progressive-thinking hero. He has a heart of gold and treats all the women in the story with kindness and respect, even the ones who aren't as deserving of it. He is also a very understanding man who sees beyond the outward eccentricities (read: geekiness) of both Samantha and her brother, Hubert, and in fact, finds both them and their scientific pursuits to be genuinely fascinating. Overall, Eric was very kind, caring, loving and a whole host of other adjectives. I don't think there was really anything not to like about him. To say that Samantha is an unconventional heroine would probably be an understatement. She is physically plain, right down to dressing in a very ordinary way and having poor eyesight that requires spectacles. She'd much rather be observing nature, inventing things with her brother in their lab, or studying the stars through their telescope than attending balls and soirées, not to mention, she's a firmly on-the-shelf spinster. While she's OK with the idea of not marrying and doesn't believe anyone would ever want an oddball like her anyway, Sammie does keep a diary in which she writes romantic stories about the true love of her fantasies. She is also very honest and plain-spoken, and I admired her boldness in just telling Eric that she wanted to be lovers and continuing to pursue him even after he'd turned her down once out of a sense of honor. All in all, I related to Sammie very well, and can't think of anything that I didn't like about her.

The secondary characters were very entertaining and likable as well. I found Sammie's close family connections with her parents and siblings to be very endearing. Sammie is always patient with everyone including her melodramatic mother with her amusing planned fainting spells. It also went the other way with Sammie's three sisters adoring and protecting her in spite of the fact that she is their complete opposite. I also loved Sammie's interactions with her teenage brother, Hubert. They were certainly two peas in a pod, who probably understood each other better than anyone else ever could. At first it seems that Sammie is a protective, motherly figure to Hubert, but eventually the reader discovers that Hubert is equally protective of Sammie, which I thought made for a beautiful reciprocal relationship. Eric's connection with his own sister, Margaret, runs just as deep, and when she returns home after the death of her evil husband, their scenes are laden with emotion. There is also Eric's loyal stable master who is more like a father to him and is initially the only person who knows about his masquerade as the Bride Thief, as well as the magistrate, Adam Straton, who is determined to apprehend the Bride Thief but is also an honorable man who has harbored a deep love for Margaret for years. Overall, it was a very well-rounded supporting cast with personalities ranging from outrageously funny to deeply touching.

I have to admit that after finishing The Bride Thief, I had a rare moment of indecision on how to rate it. I really loved the story and wanted to rate it a bit higher, but there were a few things that I thought could have been improved. The pacing was a little slow and uneven in places, and I found a small continuity error in which Hubert's age changed from fourteen to sixteen and then back to fourteen again. There was also some repetition in details, some of which could be cute and fun like the running thread of Eric and Samantha coming up with words to describe each other that all began with the same letter, but another of which had the characters almost constantly sighing over one thing or another. Although this was a pretty minor thing and it did always fit with the scene, I just thought that perhaps a little more creativity was in order. In the end, I think the thing that bothered me the most was that Eric and Samantha began the story with a very stark honesty to their characters which I found extremely refreshing, but then the major conflict devolved into the cliched misunderstanding which was a bit disappointing. In spite of the minor detractors that kept it from just missing keeper status, The Bride Thief was definitely a solid 4-star book that was an absolute joy to read. Anyone looking for a lighthearted, escapist fantasy that is a breath of fresh air should look no further, and after two lovely reading experiences in a row from Jacquie D'Alessandro, I'm certainly looking forward to continuing my exploration of her work. ( )

I have read the book three times and enjoy it as much as the first time. It is funny, warm, lovable characters. Perfect weekend read. ( )

It took a while for me to get into this book. The main lead character Sammie(Samantha) seemed almost too silly, cutesy, and absent minded. She is 26 yrs, unmarried (Oh the shame!) a bluestocking, and carries a toad around with her. I'm 50 pgs in and not sure if I am feeling her yet.
 
The cabin scene was finally where this book grabbed me and I finally found myself getting involved with the story. Eric or The Bride Thief kidnapped Sammie thinking she was about to be married to a man she was not in favor of and brings her to a cabin to help her figure out her future. Sammie explained she already took care of the problem. Anyway, their conversation in the cabin is where this story and characters started to come alive for me. I hope the author puts these two characters together a lot because right now it is the characters chemistry which is keeping me into this book.
 
Sigh, Eric and Sammie are so perfect for each other! I do find it a tad odd how Sammie doesn't seem to give it a second thought about becoming a fallen woman, she's banking on noone finding out. I love her attitude of wanting to experience everything life has to offer a woman but this ideology is more modern thinking. Yes, Sammie is a bluestocking (old term for intelligent dare I say feminist woman) but if she really cared about her family as she is portrayed as feeling she would never want to do anything to cause them pain. If anyone ever found out she was giving the milk away for free her whole family would be outcasts. So this whole deal of Sammie actively pursuing Eric for a liaison seems selfish of her considering the consequences and the author has written her to be the exact opposite. I love strong women characters but sometimes I think authors get too crazy with putting modern women ideals in 18th century women. I don't doubt for one second modern ideals didn't cross their minds but unfortunately they had a lot more severe consequences.
 
The newspaper articles chronicling the intensifying search for the Bride Thief at the beginning of chapters add a touch of suspense and tenseness. This balances out nicely with Sammie and Eric's easy and gradual moving relationship. I am happy the author kept the focus on Sammie and Eric and kept Eric's pursuits as the Bride Thief secondary.
 
This is the type of book you curl up in a window seat with an afghan covering your legs, while you sip on a cup of hot chocolate (I dislike tea and coffee, crazy I know) as it rains outside. Sammie and Eric are definitely what make this story enjoyable. Their relationship is slow building and almost could be described as languid but I took pleasure in reading what I would call an old fashioned romance book.
 
This story doesn't have much pizzazz or bells and whistles but if you're looking for a nice, slow, comfort read Sammie and Eric's story is for you. This wasn't quite a keeper for me but I am so happy I read it, even if it did start out slow, and in fact after I finished reading it left a lingering smile on my face.
 
B ( )

I didn't finish this one but I'm giving it 3 stars because I liked about half of it. Then it just fell apart. I was bored. It's not that I didn't like the characters. There was just something….missing.The book was sitting on my nightstand. I looked at it with a rather pouty kind of dismayed frown on my face. While picking it up a low moan escaped. I thought "crap, I really need to finish this". Then I thought "why?" I have a gazillion books on my TBR. Thus, this one hits the non-keeper box and the dnf shelf. ( )