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Royal's Bride (The Bride Trilogy), by Kat Martin
Free PDF Royal's Bride (The Bride Trilogy), by Kat Martin
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Though he is a tilted nobleman, Royal Dewar is singularly unlucky…forced to choose between his soul mate and his salvation.
After years abroad, Royal has returned to Bransford Castle to find his father dying and the family treasury nearly empty. Then the old duke wrests a final promise from his guilt-ridden son: that Royal will marry heiress Jocelyn Caulfield and restore the estate to its former glory. However, it is not his fiancée who quickens Royal's pulse, but rather her beautiful cousin Lily Moran.
Penniless Lily knows that nothing can come of their undeniable attraction—but there is a way she can help Royal. Enlisting some questionable characters from her past, Lily concocts an elaborate ruse to recover some of the Bransford fortune from a notorious confidence artist. As the dangerous scheme unfolds, Lily and Royal are thrown together in pursuit of the very thing—money—that keeps them apart….
- Sales Rank: #223925 in Books
- Brand: Mira
- Published on: 2009-08-25
- Released on: 2009-08-25
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 6.62" h x 1.07" w x 4.21" l, .1 pounds
- Binding: Mass Market Paperback
- 416 pages
- Great product!
From Publishers Weekly
Set in 1854 England, this steamy trilogy opener from bestseller Martin (Heart of Courage) is an enjoyable mixture of tension and romance. Royal Dewar, the dashing duke of Bransford, promised his dying father that he would marry for money and restore the family fortune, and he dutifully proposes to wealthy Jocelyn Caulfield. His heart, however, belongs to Jocelyn's penniless but beautiful cousin, Lily Moran. Fiercely independent Lily tells Royal of her criminal past, but instead of spurning her, he asks her help with a scheme to recover the money his father lost to a swindler. As Lily and Royal struggle to resist their passion, haughty Jocelyn finds unexpected love with a man below her station. Though the conflict ties up too neatly and plot holes diminish the suspense, the romance smolders enough to make the next books worth waiting for. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Kat Martin is the New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty historical and contemporary romance novels. To date she has over 13 million copies of her books in print in seventeen countries, including Sweden, France, Russia, Spain, Japan, Argentina, Poland, and Greece. Kat and her husband, author Larry Jay Martin, live on their ranch outside Missoula, Montana, and spend winters at their beach house in California. Kat invites you to visit her website at www.KatMartin.com.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
England, 1854
Royal Dewar crossed the massive oak-beamed entry of Bransford Castle, his tall black riding boots ringing on the wide-planked wooden floor. As he strode past the main drawing room, so impressive with its high, Tudor-style ceilings and heavy beams, he tried to ignore the worn Persian carpets, the way the bright reds and vivid blues he recalled from his youth had faded to shadowy, lackluster hues.
As he climbed the wide, carved mahogany staircase, he tried not to notice the feel of the wooden banister beneath his hand, once polished to a rich patina but now dull from years of neglect.
He had been home for less than two weeks, returned to England from his family's plantation, Sugar Reef, in Barbados, where he had been living for the past seven years. His father had fallen ill and the family solicitor, Mr. Edward Pinkard, had sent for him.
The Duke ofBransford is dying, the letter had said. In all haste, my lord, please come home before it is too late.
He was home at last, grateful to have this brief time with his father, but the house was dreary and in desperate need of repair, and he was unused to being cooped up inside. At dawn, after checking on his father's condition, he had headed for the stables. He hadn't ridden Bransford lands in the past eight years and he looked forward to becoming reacquainted with his home.
Though the winter wind was chill, the sky gray and cloudy, Royal enjoyed the ride immensely, surprising himself a bit. The hot climate of Barbados had seeped into his bones and his skin was sun-darkened from his work out in the sugarcane fields. Yet this morning, with the brisk wind in his face and the open fields stretching as far as he could see, he realized how much he had missed England.
It was late morning when he returned to the house, swinging down from the big gray stallion that had been a gift on his twenty-first birthday, a colt he had named Jupiter that now stood seventeen hands high. He handed the reins to a waiting groom.
"See he gets an extra ration of oats, will you, Jimmy?"
"Aye, my lord."
Feeling only a little guilty for leaving with his father so ill, Royal hurried into the house and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Striding down the hall, he paused for a moment to collect himself outside the door to the duke's bedroom suite.
A strip of light seeped from beneath the heavy wooden panel, indicating a lamp burned inside. Royal turned the silver handle, opened the door and strode into the massive, dimly lit chamber. Across the room, his father lay beneath the covers of a huge four-poster bed encased in heavy gold velvet hangings, the shell of the man he had once been.
The duke's valet and most trusted servant, George Mid-dleton, hurried forward on long, spindly legs, his shoulders stooped from years of service and now resignation.
"It is good you are back, my lord."
"How is he, Middleton?" Royal pulled the tie on his long scarlet woolen cloak and allowed the valet to sweep it from his shoulders.
"I am afraid, my lord, each day he grows weaker. Waiting for Lord Reese to arrive is all that keeps him going."
Royal nodded. He prayed his brother, two years younger than his own twenty-nine years and a major in the British cavalry, would reach Bransford before it was too late. His third and youngest brother, Rule, had already arrived, home from his studies at Oxford.
Royal glanced toward the velvet curtains and saw Rule sitting in the shadows next to their father's bedside. Rule rose and started forward. Tall and broad-shouldered with the lean-muscled build of an athlete, Rule looked a good deal like his siblings: same straight nose, carved features and solid jaw, but unlike Royal, who had the dark blond hair and golden-brown eyes of their mother, both Reese and Rule were black-haired, with the brilliant blue eyes that belonged to the duke.
"He's been asking for you." Rule moved into the flickering light of the lamp on a nearby rosewood dresser, the dangling prisms throwing off a rainbow of colors. "He's been rambling a bit. He says there is a promise you must make. He says he cannot die in peace unless you vow to see it done."
Royal nodded, more curious than concerned. All three brothers loved their father. And all three had abandoned him years ago to follow their own selfish dreams. They owed the Duke of Bransford. His sons would do whatever he asked of them.
Following in Middleton's wake, his brother strode past Royal out the door and closed it softly behind him, leaving him alone in the gloomy, airless room. His father had suffered three separate strokes, the first three years ago, and each more debilitating than the last. Royal should have come back to England after the first, but his father's letters had assured him of his recovery, and Royal had wanted to believe it. He wanted to stay at Sugar Reef.
He looked down at the frail old man on the bed, once a man of unbelievable power and strength. It was sheer force of will, Royal believed, that had kept his father alive this long.
"Royal…?"
He moved to the bed, settled himself in the chair his youngest brother had vacated. "I'm right here, Father." He reached out and clasped the duke's thin, cold hand. Though it was warm in the bedroom, he made a mental note to stoke up the flames in the hearth.
"I am sorry… my son," the duke said in a raspy voice, "for the poor legacy… I have left you. I have failed you… and your… brothers."
"It's all right, Father. Once you are back on your feet—"
"Do not talk… nonsense, boy." He took a few wheezing breaths, his mouth drooping slightly, and Royal fell silent. "I've lost it all. I am not… not even sure exactly how it happened. Somehow it just… slipped away."
Royal didn't have to ask what his father meant. The furniture missing from the drawing rooms, the bare spots on the walls where exquisite gilt-framed paintings once had hung, the general dilapidated condition of what had once been one of the grandest houses in England told the story.
"In time, our fortune can be rebuilt," Royal said. "The Bransford dukedom will be as mighty as it ever was."
"Yes… I am certain it will be." He coughed, dragged in a shaky breath. "I know I can… count on you, Royal… you and your brothers. But it won't be easy."
"I will see it done, Father, I promise you."
"And so you… shall. And I am going to help you… even after I am dead and buried."
Royal's chest squeezed. He knew his father was going to die. It was only a matter of time. Still, it was difficult to accept that a man once as strong and vital as the duke would actually be gone.
"Did you hear what I said… Royal?"
He had, but only dimly. "Yes, Father, but I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."
"There is a way…my son. The simplest…of ways. Marriage to the right woman will give you… the money you need." His frail hold tightened on Royal's hand. "I have found her, son. The perfect… woman."
Royal straightened in his chair, certain his father must have returned to his former rambling.
"She is beautiful…" the duke continued. "An exquisite creature… worthy of becoming your duchess." The old man's strength seemed to grow with every word, and for a moment, the dull glaze over his eyes lifted, turning them the fierce blue of his youth. "She is an heiress, my boy…inherited a fortune from her grandfather. And the size of her dowry is incredible. You will be a wealthy man again."
"You should rest. I can come back—"
"Listen to me, son. I have already spoken to her… father, a man named Henry Caulfield. Caulfield dotes on her. He is determined… to give her a title. The arrangements have already… been made." He wheezed in a breath, coughed, but his hold on Royal's hand never weakened. "After a suitable period of mourning… you will marry Jocelyn Caulfield. With her fortune…and your resolve… you can rebuild the house and return our lands to their former glory."
The duke's grip grew fierce. Royal was amazed he had that much strength. And he realized his father wasn't rambling. Indeed, he knew exactly what he was saying. "Promise me you will do it. Say you will marry the girl."
Royal's heart was thumping oddly. He owed his father, yet deep inside, some part of him wanted to refuse, to rebel against a life that had been dictated for him. Though he had been trained to assume the duties of duke, he hadn't expected to face those duties so soon.
His mind rushed backward. At two-and-twenty, he had hied himself off to adventure in the Caribbean. He had taken over the running of the family plantation. The vast acreage had been of little value when he had assumed the role as owner. Through hours of back-breaking labor, he had created a domain he could be proud of, made the plantation the success it was today.
He had known one day he would be called back home. He had known he would face responsibilities beyond anything he had handled in the past.
But he hadn't expected his father to die so soon.
Or to inherit a title and lands that had been stripped completely bare.
His father's grip slackened, his energy drained. The corner of his mouth drooped as it had before. "Promise me…"
Royal swallowed. His father was dying. How could he refuse his dying wish?
"Please…" the duke whispered.
"I will marry her, Father, as you wish. You have my word."
The duke made a faint nod of his head. A slow breath whispered out and his eyes slowly closed. For an instant, Royal feared he was dead. Then his chest weakly inflated, and Royal felt a sweep of relief. Releasing his father's cold hand, he slipped it beneath the covers and eased away from the bed. He paused long enough to build up the fire, then left the suite.
As he stepped outside, he spotted Rule pacing the hallway. His brother jerked to a halt as Royal quietly closed the door.
"Is he…?"
"He is as he was." He released a breath. "He has arranged a marriage. The woman comes with an enormous dowry, enough to begin rebuilding the family lands and holdings. I have agreed to the match."
Rule frowned, drawing his black eyebrows together. "Are you certain that is what you wish to do?"
Royal's mouth barely curved. "I am not sure of anything, brother, except that I have made a vow and now I must keep it."
***
The burial of the Duke of Bransford took place on a windy, overcast, frigid morning in January. The proceedings had actually begun several days earlier, with a lengthy funeral service given by the Archbishop at Westminster Abbey. It was attended by a score of nobles and dozens of London's elite.
Afterward, the coffin was transported to the village of Bransford via an extravagant black carriage and four matching black horses for a graveside service and the final interment of the late duke's body in the family's private plot adjacent to the village church.
A number of family members were in attendance, including the duke's aging aunt, Agatha Edgewood, Dowager Countess of Tavistock, as well as numerous other aunts and cousins, some Royal hadn't known existed. Some, like vultures, had come to discover if they might receive a bequest in the late duke's will. Those few had a surprise in store for them since little unentailed property or monies remained in the family coffers.
Royal stared down at the gleaming bronze casket that held his father's remains and a thick lump swelled in his throat. He should have come home sooner, should have spent more time with the man who had sired him. He should have helped him manage his vast affairs. Perhaps if he had, the dukedom wouldn't have fallen into ruin. Perhaps his father wouldn't have worried himself into an early grave.
Royal gazed at the coffin, which blurred for an instant behind a film of tears. His father was gone. The sixth Duke of Bransford had passed away peacefully two hours after the arrival of his middle son.
Reese and the duke had been cosseted together briefly, and another vow was made. By no later than the date his twelve-year enlistment was up, Reese would leave the military and return to Wiltshire. He would take over the lands and manor at Briarwood, a nearby property Reese had inherited from their maternal grandfather. He would rebuild those lands and make them and his life productive.
Reese, the most stubborn of the duke's three offspring, enjoyed his freedom, his military life and his travels. He wanted nothing less than being bound to a chunk of land he saw as a place that would hold him prisoner. But in the end, as his father's life drained away before his very eyes, Reese had agreed.
Rule, the wildest and least responsible, had made his pledge before Royal arrived. The duke believed an alliance with the Americans was in the family's best interest. His youngest son had pledged to do whatever it took to make that alliance a fact.
The vicar's words cut into Royal's thoughts, turning them away from events of the past few weeks and returning him to the words being said over his father's coffin.
A sharp wind tossed his long woolen cloak and cut through his heavy black tailcoat and dark gray trousers as he stood at the graveside. Next to him, Reese wore the scarlet-and-white dress uniform of a major in the British cavalry, the breeze slashing at his thick, wavy black hair. He was the most sober of the brothers, his features harder, reflecting the life he lived.
Royal's gaze moved to his youngest brother. Rule had been an unexpected addition to the family, born almost six years after Reese to a mother in ill health who had been warned against having more children. Amanda Dewar had died in childbirth, leaving Rule in the dubious care of a nanny, his two older brothers and a father who often drank to bury his grief or hid himself away in his study.
Rule had survived to become the most reckless of the three. He had a reputation as an incorrigible rake and he wore it proudly. He loved the ladies and seemed to make it a personal challenge to bed as many beautiful women as he possibly could.
Royal almost smiled. His own future had already been decided. He would marry a woman named Jocelyn Caulfield. A woman he had yet to meet. She was out of the country at present, enjoying a European tour with her mother. Royal was glad.
The period of mourning for his father would last a year. There would be time enough to arrange a marriage after that.
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By Victoria Robinson
Loved loved loved this storyline.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Nothing too thrilling...(spoilers)
By MadameBookworm
I finished this book, and I might even read Reese's story if I happen upon it at the library. But despite the enthusiastic teasers for Reese's book on both the first and last pages of Royal's Bride, I'd be unlikely to purchase it after reading this tepid intro to the trilogy. I felt like I got to know Lily, the heroine, pretty well, but I didn't have the same connection to Royal, the hero. I just couldn't understand how someone who was supposed to be so honorable that he'd unwaveringly obey an ill-conceived deathbed request could at the same time be so lacking in honor as to seduce his intended's cousin, subsequently carry through with solidifying the engagement and then repeatedly choose to continue the affair. I also didn't understand how a father who so stupidly lost the family fortune could inspire such unquestioning faith in his deathbed schemes. Actually, that whole plot setup really gnawed at me, because it seemed that Royal and his brothers had been raised to follow their own paths and be independent. So I couldn't see why a father-- open-minded enough to raise an heir who would leave the estate and work in the fields to save his Barbados plantation-- wouldn't trust his sons to find their own ways to restore the family fortune. For this to work for me, I really needed a point where Royal went ahead and fought for his relationship with Lily, or vice versa. I liked Jocelyn and Christopher, but it was just a little too convenient (and a little too unromantic) that Lily gets her man because someone outside the relationship decides to take a risk in order to be happy. I just couldn't shake the feeling that Royal was willing to give up on her if things hadn't magically worked out. Not really so romantic, in my opinion.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
terrific Victorian romantic suspense
By A Customer
In 1854, Royal Dewar comes home after spending several years in foreign countries to pay his respects to his dying father, the duke of Bransford. His dad insists Royal make a death bed promise to marry an heiress to restore the family's dwindling fortune that was devastated by a con artist. Unable to say no or even ignore the plea Royal acquiesces.
Although he knows no one but himself is aware of his pledge, the honorable new duke proposes to wealthy snooty Jocelyn Caulfield; she accepts. However, he falls in love with her impecunious feisty cousin, Lily Moran, who has a criminal history when they team up to recover the money his father lost. While Jocelyn also falls in love with Christopher Barclay, Lily is abducted by their adversary; Royal vows to rescue his beloved and find a way to marry her.
This is a terrific Victorian romantic suspense starring a strong lead pair and a solid support cast especially the heroine's arrogant cousin and the villain. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Royal comes home and never slows down. Although the post game show is too perfect, fans will enjoy the tense game. Kat Martin always entertains the audience with her fantastic romances.
Harriet Klausner
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