Blackthorne's Bride

Starred review from May 15, 2017
Johnston’s gloriously dramatic 12th Bitter Creek novel, the fourth installment in her Mail Order Bride subseries (after Montana Bride), whisks readers across the Atlantic. In the late 19th century, Englishman Marcus Wharton, the Duke of Blackthorne, is visiting the western part of America when he comes across a young woman, Josie Wentworth, being whipped by a Sioux warrior. Blackthorne rescues her and takes her back to England, nursing her himself as they make the ocean crossing. Two years later, his young wife, Fanny, dies, and Blackthorne needs to remarry someone wealthy. Josie has been working as a maid in one of Blackthorne’s homes, Tearlach Castle, where Blackthorne’s nephews are housed; thoughtful Fanny had her installed there so that he would have someone to turn to when she died. After Josie learns that she has inherited a fortune, she agrees to become Blackthorne’s new wife, hoping to learn why he abandoned his nephews to the horrible treatment they received at the castle. Johnston’s page-turner is replete with romantic angst, sizzling sex, and the promise of an enduring love. Agent: Katie Kotchman, Don Congdon Associates.

May 15, 2017
A penniless duke, an American heiress, a case of mistaken identity, and a marriage of convenience--does it add up to love?Johnston's Mail Order Brides series, which started with Texas Bride (2012), comes to a close with this fourth volume. Marcus Wharton, the Duke of Blackthorne, buys Josie Wentworth from the Sioux Indians for a gold watch after seeing her brutally beaten. He brings her back to England to recover and then asks a friend to have her returned to her family in America. Instead, his new wife, recognizing that she's dying from consumption and that Marcus is fascinated with the fighting spirit of the girl he rescued, has Josie sent to work as a maid at Tearlach Castle on the Scottish border, where Marcus' orphaned nephews live. After a Pinkerton detective locates Josie and informs her that her family survived the Sioux attack that left her scarred and imprisoned and that she is, in fact, quite wealthy, her plan is to use her fortune to rescue the Duke's nephews, to whom she has become attached, from their life as victims of their feuding governess and housekeeper and abscond with them back to America. Does this already sound plot-heavy and a little confusing? Correct! And that's ignoring the new romance and possible scandal between Marcus' best friend and his little sister or the events in America with Josie's sisters. This isn't a terrible book--the writing is fine and the characters are interesting--but most of the drama and conflict are due to miscommunication. Some of that is understandable, since overseas communication was time-consuming and messages cross in the mail, but Johnston leans on it too heavily. The last quarter of the book feels rushed because of the dozen or so storylines the author tries to fit in. Beyond those fairly superficial complaints, the savage Sioux attack on Josie, which opens the book and lacks any kind of context, feels racist and unnecessary. At best, overly complicated. At worst, problematic.

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