Salt Bride by Lucinda Brant is a historical romance story that I quite enjoyed. The Earl of Salt Hendon and country squire’s daughter Jane Despard reluctantly get married. For him it’s the fulfillment of a deathbed promise and for her, it’s because her beloved stepbrother will only come into his inheritance if she gets married. But we realize quite quickly that these two actually want to be married to each other and that they have a past of shared heartache, deception and mistrust.

Full of melodrama, Salt Bride is far from perfect, but although the heroine is too good to be true and the hero is so manly and admirable that every woman wants him, the villainess of the piece was so over-the-top wicked that I looked forward to her scenes. Although the plot was predictable, and the author a little too long-winded, I found myself intrigued by the situation. The characters connections to each other were convoluted and at times slightly confusing, but eventually that just added to the fun.

There is a sequel to Salt Bride and I fully intend on continuing on with this story in the near future especially as they are free with the Kindle Unlimited program. ( )

Taking a break from Ms. Brant's excellent Roxton family series while I absorb the splendiferousness of Dair Devil, I decided to try this duality by the same author. It's another great book, but I have to say it set my heart pounding in a different way.
Jane is forced to marry the Earl of Salt Hendon four years after their initial meeting. Theirs is a complicated and convoluted history and the marriage seems doomed at the beginning. There's a malevolent force at work that is gradually revealed as the story goes on. Diana St. John is a villain on the order of 'bunny-boiler' Alex Forrest. Ms. Brant builds the tension and I was really worried that all was not going to work out for a HEA as the villain is really devious in her ploys.
All I can say is why haven't I read Lucinda Brant before last week? I'm plowing through her books as fast as I can; I love them as much as Georgette Heyer which I read long ago as a teenager and often pick up to read again. Ms. Brant is a more than worthy successor with wonderful historical details and characters. Not many authors write in the Georgian era, so I'm so glad to have found these books. ( )

The story starts in Wiltshire in 1759 then moves on four years to the marriage of he Earl of Salt Hendon and Jane Despard.
But with a past of misunderstanding and interference can they truly be happy or will the opposition to the marriage continue and who by and why. And what other secrets will be revealed.
An enjoyable tale of a Georgian romance.
( )

5 "Reneged Betrothal?" Stars for the story and 5 narration stars for Alex Wyndham's narration!

Containing a romance based on the misunderstanding trope, along with a suspense twist that includes a scheming, jealous relative with plans to marry the hero herself, Lucinda Brant delivers a compelling and addictive listen in the Salt Bride: A Georgian Historical Romance. This intriguing listen left me with no choice but to binge listen to this 12+ hour romance until the satisfying end even bypassing sleep to do so! Moreover, the soothing and sexy baritone voice of Alex Wyndham make this romance a fantastic choice to experience in audio format.

One night of premature, overzealous passion, and the perfect storm of ill-timed events, lead to both the happiest night and yet the most unfortunate series of events. Set in England in the 18th Century, these events eventually lead Jane Despard, a squire's daughter, to force the Earl of Salt Hendon to marry her--even if she will still be shunned by society for her sullied past. The fact that the Earl of Salt Hendon still has his own memories of that night (ones that he frequently revisits) is of little solace when he believes that Jane committed the biggest sin of all. But Salt is a man of his word and he will honor his deathbed promise to Jane's father unless he can convince Jane to release him of the obligation--a promise that he will thoroughly attempt to dissuade her from. What he doesn't know is that Jane is equally determined to go through with the marriage no matter what the consequence due to her own personal reasons.

Further complicating matters is Diana St. John, the widow of Salt's cousin and the mother of his two godchildren. Over the years, Diana has been aspiring and calculating how to further Salt's political career. Moreover, she has been effectively functioning as the Countess of Salt Hendon (in every way except for the bedroom) and fully expects to assume that role officially as soon as her scheming finally lands her the ultimate prize. Can there possibly be a HEA for Jane and Salt under the circumstances?

Alex Wyndham has become one of my favorite historical romance narrators, and his performance in Salt Bride is every bit the narration perfection that I have come to expect and enjoy from Mr. Wyndham. From his aristocratic, commanding Earl of Salt Hendon voice to Jane's sweet and loyal softer more feminine sounding voice, Mr. Wyndham is able to create spot on voices for all characters across genders. Mr. Wyndham also excels at delivering both the narratives and dialogues at just the right speed and with the appropriate pauses to make listening to this story seamless for the listener.

One plot point that I particularly enjoyed is that although this romance is based on the misunderstanding trope, the animosity between the main couple is expertly managed by Ms. Brant, so that by the time that the romance flourishes it is completely believable and heart-stirring. Additionally, I loved how Ms. Brant slowly introduces us to a whole cast of interesting secondary characters, who help round out and deepen the complexity of this story, including the couple who will no doubt be featured in book 2 of this series, Salt Redux: Lady Caroline (Salt's younger sister) and Sir Anthony (Diana's brother and Salt's brother-in-law).

All in all, the Salt Bride is a romance audiobook that historical romance lovers will not want to miss!

Source: Review copy provided for review purposes.

Being an modern American gave me the distinct disadvantage in believing I was about to read a novel that takes place in Georgia, in the 1700's. Of course, once I realized the main character wasn't being shipped off to the Americas, I realized my mistake, and from then on fell in love with Brant's story. Intrigue, deception, love, lust, triumph and despair are in ample amounts here. And she uses just as many adjectives as I used, only not altogether and much better. Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of Brant's work is the language. I fell in love with the speech of the times. Unlike some novels/movies that pretend to know how people spoke back then, Brant's obviously done her research. I would read more from this author and recommend "Salt Bride" to anyone who's an old fashioned romantic at heart. ( )