Rating: 
Summary: not too bad, but...
Review: Actually I would award this book 2 1/2 stars if it were possible. I believe that others have described the basic plot of the novel rather well, so I'll sick to what I liked and disliked about "The Royal Bride." I liked the heroine of the piece very much. Charity Beaufort may be 17 years old but she is far more mature and intelligent than the average society miss one usually reads about in regency novels. Which makes her the ideal candidate to be Prince Augustus's bride, rather than her beautiful older sister, who is rather self centered and dim. Prince Augutus is pretty much the standard regency hero, except that he is a little more serious and not that much of a rake, barring his weakness for succumbing to his mistress out of sexual frustration, that is. He had promised Charity that they would wait to consummate the marriage until she was ready, not anticipating that he would find himself growing more and more sexually attracted to her. And he does actually try to honour his promise to wait for Charity instead of trying to seduce her. Many readers may find such behaviour strange and extremely un-heroish, but I give Joan Woolf full marks for providing us with something slightly different! I also liked the pacing of the novel. We get to see Charity and Augustus becoming friends as they bond over horses, books and politics. And this is before Lydia, Charity's sister jilts Augustus thus landing Charity the role of substitue bride. So that when Augustus tells Charity that he likes her better than Lydia, we empathise completely. Where the book really falls apart is in the creation of the villains. I just couldn't take them seriously. They were all, without exception, two dimensional, paper thin, and unintentionally funny -- as in silent movie funny. And how Augustus manages to outwit the chief villain at the end of the novel beggars belief as well. Hurling accusations with very little evidence to support your accusations is not the way to go when your crown is at stake. Romance wise, this is a rather good read. It is in the padding of the basic romance plot that this novel unfortunately, in my view, falls apart.
Rating:
Summary: Regency-lite, that¿s all.
Review: Having been enticed into reading this book by the lovely cover, and the stated premise indicated by the title, I'd not progressed very far before wrinkling my brow and inspecting the spine of the book. The writing, while good, seemed very simplistic in style, and I thought perhaps it was for the 'young adult'. But no, not that, apparently. Well, then, maybe an 'English as Second Language' or 'Beginning Adult Reader' book, all of which are necessary ingredients in the overall literacy program. But if so, I couldn't find any indication of it. And then I encountered the two plot elements that I most despise in any romance novel. The young miss, just out of the schoolroom who positively enchants the sophisticated, older, usually, battle-hardened warrior, at least ten years older than the child--and--the child doesn't even come up to the top of his shoulder. Either of these are grotesque, in my opinion, and I could happily live the rest of my life without ever again encountering either of them in any book I might read. And make no mistake about this 'child' bride. She is constantly referred to as a child, at least during the first third of the book. What gives here, I wondered? At this point I read the reviews, and came to the following conclusion. No one is perfect every time out, and that includes all authors of any longevity, even those with a huge backlist, and years spent on the best-seller lists. Even Tiger Woods loses occasionally. This book is just an aberration, so get over it, and go on to the next one. I found more than enough indications that Royal Bride was indeed written by Joan Wolf, so that's not a problem for me. I'll still read her next one, no question.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Romance...
Review: I did not like this story at all. I wish too I had read the reviews before I bought this book. I won't make that mistake again. Charity might have been 17-18 years old when she married Prince Augustus, but she looked like a child. What romance is there (that adult women would want to read...)about a flat chested teenager with a grown-up man? That is not my recipe for romance or a good story. True, many women (girls) married younger back than, but many were disfigured via small pox and romance writers do not include that in their stories either. Wait for the next Joan Wolf story and don't bother with this one. But make sure you check the reviews first...
Rating: 
Summary: An Absorbing Read
Review: I found Joan Wolf's story absorbing. The characters were true to the period. Charity was perhaps a bit too thoughtful for her age, and adjusted perhaps a shade to fast to her new circumstances. But this is fiction. I disagree with the reviewer who found Charity's age distasteful. In the Regency period, marriage at 17 or even 16 was not that uncommon. A 20 year old was considered on the shelf. Wolf made the country of Jura sound like a place I'd like to visit. The mothers of the main characters were penned with delightful sarcasm. I really hated to see the book end. Keep them coming Joan--for the record, I love Harry Potter, too!
Rating:
Summary: Jail Bait Heroine Again...
Review: I generally enjoy Joan Wolf's regencies but this one, a romance with a 17 year old girl, was not very interesting. After all, she is just a girl and would be considered jail bait here in the U.S.A. and rightly so. While people generally married at a much younger age in those days, it would have been better, from a sexual, romantic and relationship point of view to have our heroine perhaps 19???? Sexual scenes with such young girls are sort of creepy. My niece is 17, for goodness sakes. And she is far from mature. Besides, how interesting is a 17 year old? Not much...
Rating:
Summary: This is the first Joan Wolf novel I have read. Yuchh!
Review: I have previously enjoyed Joan Wolf's books among them Golden Girl and the Poisoned Serpent. However I was disappointed with Her weak portrayal of Charity. It wasn't as much the fact that charity was portrayed as a young girl. That actually works in the story as Wolf goes on to show that charity was much mature for her age. I disliked the fact that charity was so easily accepting of Gus's infidelity. I don't care what kind of a woman you are but you don't easily accept your husband back into your arms after he's cheated on you. Furthermore, Wolf does not delve into Gus and Charity's characters as much as she could have, and basically leaves the reader ignorant of their emotional lives. overall, I would say royal bride was an interesting read, but it could have been better. I hope to see better works from this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read, but disappointing
Review: I have previously enjoyed Joan Wolf's books among them Golden Girl and the Poisoned Serpent. However I was disappointed with Her weak portrayal of Charity. It wasn't as much the fact that charity was portrayed as a young girl. That actually works in the story as Wolf goes on to show that charity was much mature for her age. I disliked the fact that charity was so easily accepting of Gus's infidelity. I don't care what kind of a woman you are but you don't easily accept your husband back into your arms after he's cheated on you. Furthermore, Wolf does not delve into Gus and Charity's characters as much as she could have, and basically leaves the reader ignorant of their emotional lives. overall, I would say royal bride was an interesting read, but it could have been better. I hope to see better works from this author.
Rating:
Summary: I wish I'd read the reviews before buying.
Review: I love Joan Wolf's books and bought this one without even checking the reviews. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was reading all of it. This book made me very uncomfortable. The heroine, Charity, is described as a VERY small, flat-chested girl who looks fourteen and fails to reach the hero's shoulders. I have a very hard time imagining a passionate romance between a little girl and a grown man. Nor do I want to. As for the mystery angle I was never allowed to become involved in it...everything was explained as soon as it was introduced. The secondary characters were very one dimentional and uninteresting. I sincerely hope that Ms. Wolf returns to her above par writing with her next book, but you can bet I'll check the reviews before I buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I was looking forward to another Joan Wolf romance but this one let me down. I like her novels written in the first person best so I knew from the start that this wouldn't be one of my favorites but the story didn't do anything for me either. There were no surprises, little character development and the romance was dull. I haven't given up on her yet, though, and hope that the next one is better.
Rating:
Summary: Never was able to make myself finish it!
Review: I would give this book no stars if I could. I read one of Joan Wolf's novels before (the Guardian) which I enjoyed. I then tried to read this novel. I didn't really have too much of a problem with the young heroine thing. Sometimes, I get sick of reading about the heroine with the tiny waist and the huge chest. That aspect of this book was quite a nice change from the norm.
I did have a big problem with the way the author dealt with his infidelity. The book made the point that if a man isn't getting what he needs at home, it's okay for him to seek it out elsewhere. Not only that, but the heroine knows about his infidelity, and never says a angry word, which he deserved. C'mon, where's the realism in that? Maybe their marriage wasn't a love match, but she should expect basic respect from him. If he was really that horny, he should have approached his WIFE, not a widow. Just because he had a relationship with the widow before he was married to Charity does not make it okay.
Nonetheless, I tried to get past this and finish the book. The characters remainded flat the entire time. I felt like yelling at him to grow up, and have some real emotion, and I felt like yelling at her to not be so weak. Honestly, who wants a father-daughter relationship with their husband, regardless of how much older he is? That's just creepy.
The rest of the plot felt contrived, and the mystery never engrossed me. After slogging through the first 200 pages or so, I gave up. I had better ways to spend my time then forcing myself to finish a book I didn't like.
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