The Wayward Bride is the first book in a series, but it is spun off of another series from Anna Bradley. You can jump into this one without reading the others if you prefer, but characters from that series do show up here.

This was a good read with forced proximity and reference to the season and what happened that forced two of the characters apart. Things felt a bit rushed, though, and everything was so quickly and easily resolved at the end.

Thank you for approving my request for this book. Unfortunately, he last few books from this author have really lost their magic for me, and they don't feel authentic to the time period. I have lost interest in reading anything from this author.

This was an incredibly well written, and entertaining book, with count them not one... but two romance stories. The main story line is following the love between Isla, and Hugh who are both engaged to other people due scandal, and the second story line follows Lord Sydney (who is engaged to Isla), and Lucas a sexy redheaded farmer, and no your eyes are not deceiving you! The love story of Lord Sydney, and Lucas is indeed a M/M romance. I would definitely recommend The Wayward Bride, it is a great story that makes us all think about the choices we make in life and reminds us that we should always follow our hearts.

My first Anna Bradley book, but definitely not the last. I was blessed with an ARC of the story. Isla is one of my favorite heroine's. She's feisty and caring, and tries so hard to not cause trouble....but it seems to find her. An excellent read

As with all Anna Bradley book, this book didn’t disappoint! With great characters, a great storyline, and everything else you’ve come to love in one of her books - is book was an amazing read!

The "main" relationship of Isla and Courney was good (like a solid 3, a compliment), but I would've killed for the book to be all Sydney and Lucas. I've liked Bradley's books in the past and I'm so thrilled she expanded her main characters like this. It's not just a "we need diverse books" thing (although we definitely do) or an inclusion "thing" or even a "something different form the normal" thing; it's a human thing. Plus, she wrote such an amazing story that it outshone the "main" pairing.

This was a fun read! I liked the secondary romance being queer quite a bit; I only wish it had been included more clearly on the marketing and/or copy.

An enjoyable read. I like the way the character dynamics were handled and the story had some very unique elements that separate it from the standard fare. This is definitely an author I would read again.

I generally like the work of Ms. Bradley, however this book was not my favorite. I tried multiple times to read it and just could not get into the story. I didn't care for the heroine. I was honestly only able to get through half the book. It was not for me.

DNF at 25%. Just could not engage with the couple who are the main focus of this story. The plot seems to center on a”misunderstanding “ which is too vague to bother caring about when the H and h both seem boring and annoying. If a book can’t engage my interest by 1/4 through, it’s not worth reading. I’ve read this author in the past and enjoyed her, this was painful.

The Wayward Bride was a fantastic read that features two wonderful romances.

In six weeks Isla Ramsey is set to marry the Earl of Sydney, but her heart still belongs to Hugh Courtney, the Marquess Pierce. Pierce led Isla to believe their romance was forever only to toss her aside when she was touched by scandal. As Isla awaits her new fiancé's arrival, a terrible snow storm forces her to take refuge at Hugh’s estate where the two must confront the feelings that still linger between them. Meanwhile while on his way to Isla, Sydney is involved in a terrible carriage accident and is taken in by a local farmer, Lucas Dean, who nurses him back to health. But as he recovers, Sydney quickly falls for Lucas and he will soon be forced to choose between a marriage of convenience and the man he loves.

Isla and Hugh’s relationship gets off to a slow start as both of them are still hurt by how their courtship ended and neither one is willing to ask for an explanation for what happened. I loved that even while they were trying to convince themselves their feelings were gone, they continued to fall even more for one another. The scene where the pair finally sort everything out was well done and I was glad that after that nothing was held back between them. There is still one big stumbling block to their relationship after they worked everything out and that was the only thing I took issue with as I felt it was unnecessary. However once they do finally manage to work through that, I was happy with their happy ending.

Sydney and Lucas’s relationship moves fairly slowly despite the obvious attraction between the pair. The fact that the two come from vastly different worlds created doubts in Lucas that take time for Sydney to work his way past. I did love the conversations between them as Lucas is quite gruff and reserved while Sydney is boisterous and charming. Lucas was determined not to fall for Sydney’s charms but Sydney managed to slowly worm his way through Lucas’s defenses. I felt the pair were wonderfully suited to each other and I really enjoyed how their relationship worked out by the end of the book.

Overall I really enjoyed The Wayward Bride and I will definitely be continuing on with the series as well as checking out the author’s backlist.

DNF at 50%
The dual romance was a nice touch, with both the unhappy bride and the unhappy groom finding someone to love. On the other hand, there was too much telling us what they felt rather than showing us, and although the romance was the main point, there was Nothing Else happening in this story. It was pretty boring. I kept waiting for it to pick up and it never did.

I've been enjoying Anna Bradley's books since her debut and after getting to know Isla and her brothers in More or Less a Temptress (the third book in Bradley's Somerset Sisters trilogy) I was eagerly anticipating this story. I'm happy to say it did not disappoint!

This is one of the most emotional and angst-laden stories Bradley has penned and I loved every heart-tugging step of the journey. Her characters are multi-layered and complex, with baggage and past trauma throwing seemingly insurmountable hurdles in the way of love. Halfway through the journey, I had no idea how she would resolve everything in the end but, of course, she did and left me sighing with satisfaction. There is one loose character thread left dangling but I'm hopeful that will be tied up in another happy ending in a future book.

While The Wayward Bride is primarily the story of Isla and Hugh's journey to love, and I enjoyed their journey immensely, there is a secondary male/male romance that, for me, almost steals the book. The physical expressions of love between these two are limited to a few very mild scenes but the emotional connection that deepens into an enduring love is so sweet, so romantic, and so genuine that it made my heart sing. And yes, both couples caused me to shed happy tears.

The Wayward Bride launches a new series for Bradley and can stand on its own but I do think readers will have a deeper understanding of these characters and the challenges they face if they first read More or Less a Temptress.

4.5 stars

I received a copy of The Wayward Bride written by Anna Bradley from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. I have read Anna Bradley often. This is the first book in her Besotted Scots series but the characters were introduced in her previous series, The Somerset Sisters. Wayward Bride can be read as a standalone but The Somerset Sisters was a wonderful series as well.
After a public scandal, Isla Ramsey loses the man she loves, Hugh Courtney. Now engaged to her best friend, Henry, she longs for Hugh and rides past his home everyday wishing for a man that can never be hers.
Hugh Courtney struggles to erase Isla from his thoughts. With the scandal, he is hurt at how Isla used him. But when a sudden snowstorm forces Isla to take shelter at his home, the attraction continues to grows between them and the misunderstandings are aired. But is there time to correct the wrongs?
Meanwhile, Henry Northrup, best friend and fiance of Isla struggles with his longings until he meets his match during a sudden storm. But can he have what and whom his heart desires without hurting his best friend?
The story is both a conventional romance and M/M romance. While the love story between Isla and Hugh is the "main" story, Anna Bradley give Henry his HEA with his story in equal measure. Both stories revolve around each other wonderfully and works well. It was a wonderful story that kept my interest all the way through. All the characters struggle with their feelings and working through them as well as some other surprises. The HEA was almost perfect except for one secondary character which leads into her next book. I will admit, I wished she would have left that tiny blurb out of this book and delved into it in the next book but it is only a minor detail. All in all, it was a delightful read and gets 4 1/2 stars. #TheWaywardBride #NetGalley

The Story in 4 Sentences or Less: Isla Ramsey had thought Hugh Courtney, the Marquess Pierce wanted to marry her but after a scandalous scene in London left her with a ruined reputation, Hugh tossed her aside without a word leaving Isla to accept a proposal from Henry Northrup, the Earl of Sydney. Now at her family’s country estate which is next to Hugh’s, Isla pines away for Hugh until she’s caught out in a snowstorm and is rescued by Hugh himself. Now they’re locked up together at Hugh’s estate with nothing keeping them apart. But Isla is engaged to another and Hugh has his own reservations about marrying Isla.



Like It? Hate it? Love it? Why? I enjoyed The Wayward Bride more than the previous book but I still felt like there was something off. I’ve fallen in love with other books by Anna Bradley but Hugh and Isla’s story was just, there. Not terrible but not up to par with what I’ve come to expect from this author.

I had a problem with Isla from the very moment she and her now sister-in-law concocted and carried out a ridiculous plan to stop a villain in a previous book. Isla was reckless, a tad stupid, and prone to dramatics. But did she learn from that event that ruined her in the eyes of society?

Nope. Right at the beginning of The Wayward Bride Miss Woe Is Me goes riding in a snowstorm just so she can get a glimpse of Hugh’s estate and maybe Hugh himself. Who. Does. That? She risked not only her life because she got lost and injured, but the lives of her brothers who had to come out in the storm to look for her, and Hugh’s life as well since he’s the one who found her. My eye was twitching like mad over this very selfish and dangerous decision and obviously Isla learned nothing from her past experience. Not a thing.


But the fault can’t be laid entirely at her feet either. Hugh, for all his supposed “goodness” was essentially a tool. Yes Isla made a stupid choice to get involved in a plan that ruined her reputation but he was equally stupid for just walking away from her instead of talking about what had happened. It would have saved him the trouble then and prevented him from almost freezing to death looking for the reckless girl later. Instead he let society tell him what the “truth” was and made himself and everyone around him miserable.

As a couple, Hugh and Isla had a lot of physical chemistry but for all their angst ridden thoughts and feelings, they never really formed a deeper connection beyond the physical. It was actually the secondary romance that was more emotionally developed, in fact it was very beautifully done and had that attention been given to Hugh and Isla’s romance then this would have been a more satisfying read. That’s really where the three rating comes from, because I loved the way that romance played out. The secondary romance is M/M and wasn’t included in the blurb which doesn’t bother me but in the future I would advise that the author put a disclaimer or something for those who don’t like to read M/M romance.

Click It or Skip It? Click It. The Wayward Bride isn’t what I’ve come to expect from this author but it can still be enjoyed by the right reader.

This is a first for me. I chose this book based on the blurb about Isla and Hugh’s romance. But what we get is also the Earl of Sydney’s romance. So basically it’s a two for the price of one. However I was supremely disappointed that Anna would write a M/M romance but not list anything about it in the blurb. I feel a little misled in that respect. I probably wouldn’t have picked it up because that isn’t really my thing. I did read through the whole book to see if a M/M romance would spark my interest, but to tell you the truth it made me want to fall asleep rather than continue reading. I forced myself to get through it so I could hear more about Isla and Hugh’s romance.

Isla and Hugh’s story alone was very good. It had the heat and emotion I was looking for. It was interesting and exciting. I wasn’t even sure how she was going to give these two a HEA, but somehow she pulled it out in the end and everyone gets what they need except Lady Juliana. I’m sure Anna will figure out how to bring us her story though. I’ve read a lot of her other books and loved all of them. So even though I’m only giving this a 3.5, it is in no way a reflection of how much I love her writing, I just didn’t care of this story.

4+ stars

That was a quick, engaging and achingly sweet story. It was a satisfying HEA or HEAs, really. The title of this story should have been the Wayward Betrothal, however, because at the heart were two people in a betrothal for all the wrong reasons, being drawn to other people. The primary story was a second-chance heterosexual romance, though the separation is brief in terms of second chance. The secondary romance was a m/m story that took up nearly equal page space. I might have preferred separate stories, but they were interconnected so it worked. There were times I was frustrated with the switch of POV because I was really interested in the what would happen next in the current storyline, but then felt myself drawn in by the next couple.

Despite this being first in a series, it would probably help to read Hyacinth’s story first, [book:More or Less a Temptress|38673223]. The situation that led to the wrong betrothal is in there.

I liked all the characters, though there some initial (though necessary to the story) silliness on the part of the heroine. The longing and tension was well done, and love scenes were tasteful or fade to black - not overly explicit. Overall, it was a fun read, and I look forward to the next in series.

*I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. The writing was so detailed and had so much depth. The character's were lovely.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

My first book by this author.
Pleasant, sexy, romantic historical romance.
The plot starts a bit slow, but picks up very quickly and wants you to finish fast because it's a good one!
Chemistry between the leads is good.
I have to read more books written by Anna Bradley, because she has a huge potential to entertain the readers!

This was a wonderful read! The characters are delightful and the book is well-written and well-plotted. It could have easily been a 5-star read for me had the blurb mentioned that there was an m/m romance as well as infidelity. The couples aren’t married, but they are formally betrothed and during that period, that is about the same thing.

This is the first book of a new series, but this book sort of continues from the Somerset Sisters series in that the heroine in this book is the sister of the hero of the last book of the Somerset series. You don’t have to have read the previous series to love this book, but if you have, you’ll better understand the closeness of the characters – besides – it is just a good series. I had thought that the next book might feature Isla’s brother Ciaran, but that isn’t the case. Maybe #3 will be his.

Isla Ramsey was involved in another scandal and it wasn’t her fault, but the only solution was a betrothal. Her very best friend, Henry Northrup, the sixth Earl of Sydney offers for her and is accepted. They have absolutely no secrets from each other, so each knows exactly what they are getting. They don’t love each other romantically, but they do love each other. Each thinks they are doing the best thing for themselves and each other. Isn’t it wonderful that their hearts step in and show them what real love is – if they can claim it?

Isla was deeply, irrevocably in love with Hugh Courtney, the Marquess of Pierce. She was totally devastated when he just abandoned her during the scandal and wouldn’t even let her explain what happened. So, she had no choice but to become betrothed to Sydney.

Hugh was also deeply, irrevocably in love with Isla and he had thought she felt the same about him. However, she immediately became betrothed to another man just after her scandal. Hugh didn’t care about the scandal, he only cared about Isla. Evidently, she didn’t feel the same.

Sydney loves Isla as a friend and she knows all of his secrets and doesn’t judge him. He has to marry to provide an heir for the title and when Isla needs a betrothal, he steps in. He cannot ever openly fall in love, so a marriage of convenience is perfect for him – it just has to be to someone he can totally trust.

Isla and her family have left London for a visit with their brother, and his estate is directly adjacent to Hugh’s estate. Each day she takes her horse out for a ride – and cannot resist always riding in front of Hugh’s estate. She’s sure he isn’t there, but she can dream of him behind those walls. Then, during a horrific ice storm, Isla is trapped, lost, frightened and it is Hugh who finds her. He takes her to his home because it is nearest and he’s fearful she won’t survive. During their time together, they find out what happened in London, and realize they are still in love. Sadly, each of them is betrothed to someone else.

At the same time, Sydney is on his way to see Isla when he is caught in an ice storm and his carriage wrecks horribly. He’s on the brink of death when he is lifted out of the water-filled ditch. He’s only half conscious, but he’s sure there is a bear – and a man with haunting grey eyes. Later, when Sydney regains consciousness, he learns that the bear is a huge dog and the man who rescued him is Lucas Dean, a local farmer. The attraction is instant and as Sydney convalesces, they get to know one another and love each other.

Frankly, I’m not sure which romance I liked better. They were both written very well and were both sweet and poignant. However, it bothered me that the very real danger of the relationship between Sydney and Lucas wasn’t even mentioned. During that time, being a homosexual was a hanging offense, yet neither Sydney or Lucas seemed to worry about that. They went to Sydney’s estate and were openly living together and were planning trips, etc. I really wish that the story had included them finding a way to be together and work around or circumvent the dangers somehow. It isn’t a fair representation of the times to treat homosexuality like it is no big deal and I think it shortchanges the characters – because they had to be brave indeed to pursue their relationship.

This is a lovely read and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.