Product Description

Fall in love again-with the second novel in the Bride saga.

Sophia has successfully controlled every man in her orbit until she meets Ryder Sherbrooke, a man she senses is different from the others-a man she sees as one of hell's own sons.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #272261 in Books
• Published on: 1992-11
• Released on: 2001-04-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780515109740
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
Coulter is excellent at portraying romantic tension between her heroes and heroines. -- Milwaukee Journal

Review
Coulter is excellent at portraying romantic tension between her heroes and heroines. (Milwaukee Journal)

About the Author
Catherine Coulter is the author of the New York Times-bestselling FBI thrillers The Cove, The Maze, The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, Eleventh House, Blindside, Blowout, Point Blank, Double Take and TailSpin. She lives in northern California.

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable Entry in the Bride Series...
Ryder Sherbrooke, a devil may care rake with seven illegitimate children, has journeyed across the ocean to Jamaica. His purpose is to investigate the reported supernatural occurrences at Kimberly Hall, the Sherbrooke sugar plantation.

"It was said she had three lovers." This was the rumor circulating about Sophia Stanton-Greville, a nineteen-year-old English born lady who, after her parents died, was sent to Jamaica to live with her abusive uncle. Sophia is used to controlling men and getting what she wants. And what she wants is to add Ryder to her collection of lovers. Ryder believes she has ulterior motives for wanting him, and intends on finding out what they are, and showing her who's in control. Sophia may not be who she seems, and the more Ryder gets involved, the greater the danger.

This is the second book in the Sherbrooke Bride series. A very enjoyable read that once begun, I had great difficulty putting down. When not reading it, I found my mind wandering back to the story until I could pick the book back up. In some ways this story was even better than the first book, "The Sherbrooke Bride". I love the character of Ryder, a fun-loving rake with a harem of lovers and a brood of illegitimate children. However, we find out some interesting things about Ryder, which make him even more endearing. Sophia was also a likeable character, and I felt the progression of her and Ryder's relationship, in regard to her history of trauma, was believable and handled well. While this story did have its humorous moments, it lacked the laugh out loud humor found in "The Sherbrooke Bride". On the other hand, the subplot of intrigue surrounding Sophia was more engrossing than the subplot of the first book.

I gave the book four, instead of five stars, because of the ever-present theme of sexual molestation. And I'm not actually referring to the love scenes between Ryder and Sophia. I never got the impression of rape from those, although I feel he did coerce her. What I'm actually referring to are instances where a secondary character demanded sexual favors, or intended to rape Sophia. Off the top of my head, without searching through the book, I can come up with at least seven occasions where this occurred. But the most disturbing for me was what happened to Ryder at the cottage where he was drugged, stripped by the uncle, and the prostitute "had him" without his knowledge. Regardless, I 'm still enjoying reading this series, and this book in my opinion, does deserve those four stars. I do wish the sexual molestation theme were toned down a bit though. This story is still worth recommending, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book, "The Heiress Bride".

I agree with the reader from San Diego.
Re The Hellion Bride, I agree with the reader from San Diego: marital rape IS RAPE. I thought it was disgusting. (And how could anyone warm up to Graelam de Moreton in Fire Song after the rape he commited in Chandra?) I had LOVED The Sherbrooke Bride, read earlier; how very disappointing Hellion was! Her best? Anything with Dillon Savich and Lacy (Sherlock) (The Maze and The Target).

Author can write, but tells highly questionable story
First things first: Catherine Coulter can write well. Her style, while not innovative, is solid and works, which was the main reason I kept reading "Hellion." But her characters and plotlines are all monotonous and boring. The hero, Ryder, is a holier-than-thou loverboy whom the author keeps congratulating for his charitable deeds and irresistable manliness. The heroine, Sophie, is equally annoying. Despite her bravery in the hands of the Two-Dimensional and Uninteresting Bad Guy, her manhating fury and other idiosyncracies get tedious fast. The bedroom scenes are hot, sexy and kinky enough to catch the attention of the modern reader, but they're hard to enjoy because of the marital rape in them, conveniently disguised as Ryder showing Sophie just how good sex can be--because of course he's right about everything. These people just aren't appealing or intelligent in any way, despite Coulter's attempts to paint them as such by oh-so-subtly throwing in an allusion to Rosseau. Their personalities don't make sense, the plot is thin and contrived, and just WHY the hero and heroine come to love each other is beyond me. Let's hope Ms. Coulter does better next time, because I get the feeling that she can.