I agreed to give a fair and honest review in return for being allowed to read this ARC. Any book that starts with a prologue like this "She was tied to a pole in the center of the Sioux village, naked from the waist up. What was left of her bodice was tangled at her waist above a striped muslin skirt. She still wore a pair of dusty boots. The top of one creamy shoulder was unblemished, but the rest of her back was so crisscross with bloody stripes that there was barely any flesh left. The blond pigtail that ran a short distance down her nape was crusted with dried blood. Her head had sunk forward, and he wondered if she was dead. As he watched, she lifted her head and straightened her shoulders almost defiantly, emitting a harsh, wrenching sound that caused his insides to clench in sympathetic response to the excruciating pain sh must be feeling..." tells you just how good this story is going to be. Buy this book, you will not be disappointed!

What a wonderful story. I loved Blackthorne's Bride. From the very first it had my attention and held it until the very end.
Both the Hero and heroine had painful events which shaped them and the choices they made. They were well suited and perfectly matched.
I won't give even the slightest hint of a spoiler, but you should read this book. You won't be sorry.

BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE by Joan Johnston, book four in her MAIL-ORDER BRIDE series, is Josie Wentworth’s story. It takes place after she was abducted by a renegade Sioux when her family’s wagon was attacked in America. Josie fought back, which enraged her attacker, subsequently resulting in her capture and punishment. Her sisters search for their youngest sister for two years before they know what happened to her during that time.

Marcus Wharton, the Duke of Blackthorne, witnesses Josie’s brutal punishment by the renegade who inflicted her pain and almost caused her death. Blackthorne bargained for Josie’s release, then tirelessly cared for her during the journey by ship back to England. His traveling companion and best friend, David Madison, the Earl of Seaton, questions Blackthorne’s sanity. Especially since Marcus is due to marry the earl’s sister, Fanny. But Blackthorne is determined to help Josie heal then send her back to her family in America when he finds out who they are.

Two years later, and after his wife Fanny’s death, Blackthorne advertises for a wealthy American bride to help him save his family’s heritage in exchange for a title. Josie learns of her inheritance at the same time and happens upon the advertisement. In previous books we learn that Josie’s brothers and sisters were orphaned during the Chicago fires. Their time in an orphanage led a couple of the girls to become mail-order brides to escape, bringing some siblings with them, which leaves Josie as the last sibling whose fate is unknown until now.

Josie blames Blackthorne for what she endured over the past two years. The only thing that’s important to her are the duke’s two nephews, who had languished in the same castle where she was forced to work as a maid. Can Josie trick Blackthorne into marrying her without relinquishing who she really is? Her plan is to escape to America with his nephews before he finds out.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series, and even though this final book isn’t my favorite, it kept me riveted for most of the story. Fans of the series have anticipated Josie’s story probably more than the other sisters’. That’s because she was the one abducted and we didn’t know if she was alive. It wasn’t until her sister hired a Pinkerton agent who located Josie and made her aware of their mutual inheritance.

Let me forewarn you that what Josie endures is brutal. It’s described in the prologue, so if violence offends you, this is the only place it’s vividly defined. I know that sometimes violence toward pioneers portrayed in Western historical romance is a big bugaboo with some readers. In this case, it was a renegade group of Sioux, which doesn’t excuse the stereotypical “white woman is abducted by an Indian,” but it explains the violence as if it were a group of outlaws.

For a large portion of the story, the reader is fully aware of where Josie has been since her brutal attack, but the duke is left in the dark. He doesn’t come off as a very caring individual by his deeds, other than that he personally attended to Josie’s wounds and was prepared to send her home to family when she was well. When Blackthorne meets her again, he’s unaware of who she really is but is instantly attracted to her. A marriage of convenience quickly becomes one of love for the duke, even before he realizes Josie is the woman who haunted his thoughts for two years.

This plot is complicated and oftentimes outrageous, but even that didn’t stop me from reading. I have a fascination with Joan Johnston’s books, even when I’m shaking my head at myself for gobbling these up. Josie’s inner thoughts were too repetitive, and I really didn’t like Marcus at all. Oh sure, he was compassionate and saved Josie, but he was sort of an idiot during the next two years. I didn’t find him romantic in the way he handled his virgin bride. He was brutish and determined to consummate. Their lovemaking never felt right, even though Josie didn’t complain.

But, little by little, the man starts to show who he really is, and Josie begins to fall in love with him. She’s not happy about that any more than I was, so we were on the same page there. Still, even with all these mixed emotions I felt while reading, I rushed to the end. I enjoyed the journey overall and was happy with the conclusion, so I don’t mind a few quibbles.

I highly recommend that you read the first three books before BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE. It can be read as a standalone, but TEXAS BRIDE, WYOMING BRIDE and MONTANA BRIDE successfully lead up to this conclusion. It’s an engaging series that is better read as a whole because of the interwoven storyline of a family separated by tragedy.

Although BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE doesn’t contain the wackadoodle hilarity from some of the characters and situations I’ve grown to expect from the series, it’s still absorbing in a darker way until its satisfying happy-ever-after. It’s good to finally have the answers to questions I’ve had since the beginning of the series. If you need a break from reality, then this family’s story will charm you. Once you read the MAIL-ORDER BRIDE series by Joan Johnston, you’ll have a variety of other related books to consume, both contemporary and historical, starring the Blackthornes and the Creeds.

Reviewed by Dorine, courtesy of Romance Junkies. For links to reviews of the previous books in this series, see the review at Romance Junkies.

I loved this book! The Spirit Josie showed was great to see in a heroine! I couldn't put this book down.

I mean it's Joan Johnston, what more to say? The book was great! I literally did not put it down until I was finished, only little regrets from being so tired the next day lol!

While visiting America, Marcus, Duke of Blackthorne, rescued Josie Wentworth who was being tortured by Indians. Not knowing anything about her, he, and his soon to be brother-in-law David, took her back to England to heal. David was supposed to send her back to America when she was well, but instead sent her to work at Marcus’s remote estate. Marcus’s two nephews live there with a governess and housekeeper who don’t like the boys. Josie’s family in America has hired Pinkerton agents to find her and bring her home. When the agent finds her, she learns she is wealthy and promises the boys she will come back for them.

Marcus is wallowing in self-pity as his wife died and he is broke. He placed an ad for an American heiress to wed a titled gentleman. While preparing to leave England, Josie sees the ad and applies, hoping she can have the boys. Marcus doesn’t recognize her as she looks nothing like the beaten woman he rescued. They agree to marry. Marcus is not always likeable but improves greatly as he figures out who she is and why David didn’t send her home.

This is a very good, complex story and I do not want to spoil it. It will have a HEA, but how they get there is for you find out.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. It is part of a series, but easily read without reading the earlier books. Thank you to the publisher for giving me an ARC. They did not ask or require me to write a favorable review. Release date is July 25th.

Flawed upon closer inspection…only a fraction of a larger world

I would like to thank Joan Johnston, Dell at Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Josephine Wentworth despises the Duke of Blackthorne. He’d saved her life, nursed her back to health, and promised to return her to her family—then shut her up in one of his deteriorating properties in the middle of nowhere to become a slave—or rather, a maid-of-all-work—under the most spiteful woman she’d ever known. What’s worse, he’d sent his young nephews to the same place under the “care” of a heartless governess. And he left them all there to rot for two years, never visiting or communicating in any way.

When a Pinkerton agent shows up on the doorstep and reveals unforeseeable circumstances had resulted in her becoming a very wealth heiress, Josie begins to scheme. Her first priority is to get the boys she’d come to love far away from their abusers. If she found some way to exact vengeance on the Dastardly Duke along the way—icing on the cake.
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I was in love with this book as I was reading it, but when I was done and began writing this review, I realized it wasn’t that great.

Spoilers

I don’t recall reading much of Johnston in the past, she’s not an author I collect at this time, but I’m familiar with her name—because it’s everywhere. I saw the book available for request on NetGalley, was intrigued by the blurb, and decided to give it a shot, thinking there has to be a reason for her immense popularity.

I wanted to call this book “classic,” but I think I mean more that it’s traditional. The characters, the plot, the tone felt like the majority of historical romances I’ve read. It makes me wonder, should I read more of Johnston’s work, if it would all blend together eventually. I’d bet it would.

From what I can tell, a good portion of Johnston’s work revolves around the fictional town of Bitter Creek and its residents, namely the Creeds. This book is only the latest installment in that line, with three direct predecessors and umpteen relatives. The series to which it directly ties is the Mail-Order Brides series, though I’ve seen it called the Bitter Creek Historical series as well. If you have absolutely no curiosity whatsoever and have no sense at all of a bigger picture, I suppose this story could be read as a stand alone…but it’s made very plain that this was only one short chapter in a bigger story, and I became very annoyed with the token backstories for characters who already have their own novels. I didn’t need recaps for them to understand Josie’s story. How the sisters came to be with their husbands wasn’t relevant. How much their husbands cherished them wasn’t relevant. It was fluffy, cheesy fan service.

Josie’s memories and thoughts of the past were fragmented, and I never felt that I truly understood what had happened in her life to bring her to the present. Her parents’ deaths, the orphanage, her uncle, heading west, and whatever the Great Fire of Chicago had to do with any of it—I couldn’t put it together in a cohesive, linear timeline if I was asked to. I never felt completely familiar with Blackthorne’s past, either; there seemed to be a LOT left unsaid about his family. The circumstances of his parents’ and brother’s deaths seemed suspicious, but that could just be the nature of throwaway explanations. And what was with his uncle Alex? Why did the Creeds dislike him so much? Why did Blackthorne condemn him for fighting for his rightful inheritance? Just…wtf?

We were told the bits that were influencing Josie and Blackthorne’s decisions, and that’s it. Sure, viewpoint and perception is a matter of keeping in character—but at some point, in order to have complete arcs, the characters need to see beyond themselves and discover the truth of the world around them. It’s called maturity. There was some, I’ll grant you, when Blackthorne finally realized he hadn’t been grieving his wife, he’d simply had his head stuck up his ass, as well as when Josie realized Blackthorne wasn’t heartless, simply ignorant and arrogant. But not enough.

I liked Josie and Blackthorne as characters in a general sense. At heart, they were both kind and noble. But objectively, they were incredibly selfish, reactive, and presumptuous. I’d like to think those flaws were curbed by the end, but I’m not confident they were reformed. To her credit, Josie had most wanted to save the boys from further cruelty, but though there were several things she could have done to achieve that, she’d decided to kidnap them. Also to her credit, she never actually did so—out of spite, anyway. She did eventually steal them away—but as to that, WHY didn’t she just leave some sort of message for her husband? She had no time to waste, but she also had a Pinkerton detective at her disposal. If she was so conflicted about it, if she had wanted to consult Blackthorne before taking off, if she hadn’t wanted to leave him altogether, she could have done things differently. The reasoning for how that final sequence of events played out is flimsy. Ah, well. Dramatic storytelling.

I’m not sure I can judge the plot itself, because it was so dependent upon the characters behaving precisely as they did, as I just ranted above. It was character-driven, I’ll give it that, but perhaps not in a good way. I’m not sure we needed the subplot with Seaton and Lark. It’s purpose was to get Blackthorne and Josie moving in the right direction—literally—give Blackthorne more reason to doubt his friend—aka create shallow, presumptuous drama—and separate him from Josie so that she could run…but with some brainstorming and tweaking, I think Seaton and Lark’s side track could have been removed and the same ends met.

Despite all this, I wouldn’t say Johnston is a bad writer. She’s far too popular for that notion to have any credence. But this is definitely not the book I would choose as an introduction to her work.

noapologybookreviews.com

this was a dnf for me. Really bad when the first few pages depict a white woman being scalped and beaten and then sold to the hero, western European white aristocrat.Do I doubt it could have happened? Potentially but its perpetuating a negative stereotype.

When I started this book and the first thing was a girl hanging on a pole being tortured. I thought another western. But this was not the case. The Duke of Blackthorne was on the end of his last adventure before getting married. Josie was the girl on the pole. She had fought the indian and he did not like it.
The characters are amazingly life like and the dialogue is so true to life. The descriptions add to the story and give you a way to picture what is happening, to understand the motives. There are some twists and turns to the plot, that have brought it together, into a cohesive and smooth story.. I absolutely loved it and can't say enough praises for this marvelous story. I could not put it down. It captured my attention with the first paragraph. I intend to get the next book in this series. I so highly recommend this book and thank you for giving me the chance to read it. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review.

Thanks Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and netgalley for this ARC.

Trying a new genre does not always work out. Now I know it's not for me.

This historical has become a favorite of mine. I love how the heroine is strong and stands up for herself and the heros nephews. I also love how the hero comes around and we get our HEA!! I highly recommend this book!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

This book is part of a series but it really don't need to read the other books to follow it because you get constant information about the other characters so you kind of already know their backstory. While I generally don't expect much from historical romances this book kind of let me down. For one, there's somewhat of a sub-plot romance that hijacks the book towards the end. I get the author needed some type of catalyst event but the way those chapters were written it was like I was ready a totally different book. I think it would've been better if the sub-plot hadn't played such a huge roll in the overall book.

I also felt there were still a few questions and unresolved questions at the end of the book. I like my historical romances to wrap things up nicely but I felt this book left a few things open. Plus, I kind of got confused how everyone was related so certain plot events didn't make sense to me until I realized who each character was.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the finely detailed scenes were vivid in my mind. I have read other books in the past by this author and always enjoyed them. This was the first of the Bitter Creek books that I've read and now I want to read the others. From the very first line, I was hooked and eager to find out more about the story and the people in it. The characters were fun and engaging, and I found myself rooting for them early on to get their happy endings.

Book four in the Mail-Order Brides series. I am a huge fan of Johnston's Bitter Creek series and this book is essentially a companion book that goes back to the very beginning of the family. To be honest all four books in this series has been a starting point for further offspring which I have to admit I just love. For this book we get the story of the Duke of Blackthorne that owns Blackthorne Abbey. He needs a rich wife to save all that he owns. Josie is one of the sisters from the previous books that he saved from Indians while he was still in America though he does not know this when she applies to be his wife. Josie is just trying to get custody of his abandoned nephews that he ignores. So each of them has an agenda which makes the development of the relationship quite interesting until they realize they love one another. This is an incredible historical romance novel just like all of hers are. I absolutely loved it and give it 5/5 stars.

Blackstone's Bride is the fourth and final book in the Mail-Order Bride series. Can be read as a standalone, but I would start at the beginning. What a great conclusion to this exciting series, we finally find out what happened to Josie Wentworth after she was taken. Sparks sure fly between Marcus Duke of Blackthorne and Josie. Great ending!




I received this from Netgalley!

It was not a bad book, but not a great one. I ready Wyoming bridge a couple of years ago, and wanted to read the conclusion, the twin sister that was captured, which is Josie. Marcus saves Josie from the indians after she was tortured, poor girl. What I did not like was that, if he was not going to stay after developing feelings for her while tending to her injuries, then give her to her family, but no he gives her to friends to take care of her. Of course, things do not work out that way, she is working as a maid, practically a servant, and is protecting Marcus's neglected nephews, so she develops hatred for Marcus, understandable and justified. Marcus loses his wife, and the whole time, supposedly he could not forget Josie, yeah right, so that is why you never inquired about her well being, I could not accept that. Josie, finds out her family is looking for her and she is an heiress, she plans on marrying Marcus, to keep his nephews, but develops feeling for him. Eventually they have an HEA.. To each its own, I couldn't do it.

Marcus Wharton, the Duke of Blackthorne & his best friend David Madison Earl of Seaton are travelling in America when they come across a young girl being whipped, Marcus buys her for his grandfather’s gold watch & a knife, Marcus tends to her wounds on the return journey to England. Two years have passed since Josie Wentworth was bought from the Sioux. When Marcus breaks his promise to return Josie to America, she ends up as a maid in the Northumberland home of his charming but neglected nephews Clay & Spence. Then a Pinkerton’s agent employed by Josie's long-lost family finds her, however, the suddenly wealthy heiress sets out to save the two boys from their indifferent uncle and teach the duke a lesson in honour.
Learning that Marcus is seeking a rich American bride to save his estate, Josie plots to catch his eye-, certain he'll never recognize the beauty she's become as the ragged captive he rescued. But Josie doesn't wager on her marital charade taking a tender turn, as the nobleman she's despised for years proves to be a very different man than she's imagined. And there's no denying his passionate caresses, as she falls deeper under the spell of a husband determined to claim her heart.
A well-written page turning book. The characters have plenty of depth, are well portrayed & are very likeable. Josie finds it increasingly hard to imagine Marcus as the Dastardly Duke. The plot is well paced & there are subsidiary threads intertwined in the main thread which all add to the enjoyment. This is the first book I’ve read by the author but certainly won’t be the last

In Blackthorne's Bride, Marcus comes across a girl while touring America, who is being beaten. He comes to her aide after admiring her strength while she's tortured. He nurses her back to health on the ship back to England and this is where his infatuation with her grows. His intention is to see her well, then ship her back to America with enough funds to find her family. This is where the story of Marcus and Josie begins. I have to say, I love their dynamic. I find too often in books that the main characters have so many miscommunications, I literally end up frustrated reading the book. That was not the case here. Of course there is some friction, which leads to a good story, but I never had a moment where I needed to take a break to get away from the drama. I couldn't put this book down! It has a very heart warming ending.

Joan Johnston's Bitter Creek romance series has a prequel series called Mail Order Brides, and it is your guilty pleasure romance required reading this summer. I have read several of the Bitter Creek novels, and Blackthorne's Bride did not disappoint me. I appreciate her ability to always have a satisfying conclusion to each story - appealing characters, interesting dialogue, inhabit the world of Joan Johnston to escape reality!

My rating would actually be 3.5, but I rounded up to 4 because I really did enjoy the story.

The story follows Marcus Wharton, Duke of Blackthorne and American Josie Wentworth. It has a really exciting beginning with Marcus and his best friend coming upon a Sioux renegade whipping a young woman (Josie) who is tied to a post and stripped to the waist. She’s almost dead and Marcus rescues her. Marcus is fascinated by the girl’s bravery and instead of leaving her in the care of someone in America, he brings her aboard the ship he is taking back to England. However, when he gets there, he turns the arrangements for her care and eventual return to America up to his best friend. Since Marcus is marrying his best friend’s sister as soon as they return to England, he doesn’t want his rescue of the girl to cause any issue with Fanny – his betrothed. Things really go awry from there – Fanny dies, Josie has been virtually imprisoned on one of Marcus’ properties (without his knowledge), Marcus’ estate is bankrupt and he has to marry an heiress. The rest of the story is filled with Marcus and Josie getting together and falling in love. I won’t give you a step-by-step because that will spoil the story for you.

What didn’t I like?
* The author really needed to do more research. Evidently, she normally writes westerns or contemporary novels and that is probably why this book just doesn’t ‘feel’ right for the time period and the place. A couple of examples of where more research would help.
** Marcus is NOT a royal duke, but the author mentions that over and over and over in the book. In order to be
a ROYAL DUKE he must be the son or grandson of the current reigning monarch and the story doesn’t say
anything about that at all.
** Spencer and Clay are not Lord’s. As children of a second son, they would be plain Spencer and Clay. They
do not have an honorific.
* The regular use of the term ‘mail order bride’. That is a common American term, and I understand that is the name of the series, but it isn’t a normally used term in England and therefore, the Duke wouldn’t think of himself as marrying a mail order bride. He would think in terms of him having a marriage of convenience.
* I didn’t like Fanny – and maybe I wasn’t supposed to. She is supposed to be this ethereal, sweet, and angelic (too good to be true??) person, but she does some pretty rotten things.
* The ending/solution just felt rushed to me. I could have done with less of the book on the American part of the family and more on the resolution of the issues between Josie and Marcus.

What did I like?
* I absolutely LOVED the epilog – it was a great wrap-up for the story.

"I requested and received this book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher."