[Livro] Blackthorne’s Bride, de Joan Johnston

 Ler em Português      Read in English

Título em Português: --
Série: Mail-Order Brides #4
Autor(a): Joan Johnston
Editora: Dell
Páginas: 368
Data de Publicação: 25 de Julho de 2017

Sinopse:

Two years have passed since Josie Wentworth was bought from the Sioux for a gold watch and whisked back to England by Marcus Wharton, the Duke of Blackthorne. When Marcus breaks his promise to return Josie to America, she ends up as a maid in the home of his charming but neglected nephews. Once 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 honor.
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

~ Recebemos este eARC através do site NetGalley. Obrigada! ~

Opinião:
Este livro foi um pouco estranho. Não porque foi mau, pelo contrário, mas criou por vezes sentimentos contraditórios.

Marcus Wharton, Duque de Blackthorne, manteve-me sempre um pouco na dúvida. Heroico o suficiente para salvar uma rapariga e poder morrer ao fazê-lo, mas não o suficiente para a ver entregue pessoalmente em porto seguro. Eu sei que ele a entrega ao seu melhor amigo e futuro cunhado, mas mesmo assim. Se eu tivesse salvo alguém e cuidado dessa pessoa praticamente todos os dias para ter a certeza que iria sobreviver, não a deixaria com mais ninguém. Mesmo que houvesse algo atenuante.

O mesmo com o “abandono” dos sobrinhos. Para alguém que diz amá-los, não deveria bastar uma carta muito ocasional da perceptora. Pelo menos uma visita por ano (mais, na minha opinião, mas vamos manter a barra baixa) para ter a certeza que eles eram bem cuidados e que estavam a aprender o que deviam – concordo com heroína, em como Marcus devia ter mandado os rapazes irem viver com ele, mas compreendo que no início pudesse ter sido uma decisão difícil – mas não sempre.

Josie é forte e obstinada, determinada a conseguir a sua vingança por ter sido feita criada e não a terem enviado para casa, para a América, mas também determinada a cuidar dos dois rapazes praticamente abandonados pelo duque. Quando a oportunidade aparece, Josie fica dividida entre voltar logo a casa e vingar-se ao mesmo tempo que tenta levar os rapazes com ela para a América. Escolhendo a segunda opção, Josie engana o duque, convencida que ele é o vilão de toda a história. Mas à medida que o conhece, percebe que ele é um homem partido e que acredita piamente que Josie está na América, com a sua família, e que os sobrinhos são mais felizes no campo e devem estar bem porque isso é o que a preceptora diz. Josie diz-lhe que, basicamente, ele devia pensar por ele próprio e ver as coisas com os próprios olhos, e não ter outras pessoas tratarem dos seus assuntos por ele – foi assim que ele se meteu nesta alhada.

Eu percebi desde logo como tudo ficou misturado, mas imagino que todo o livro esteja construído para tentar fazer com que o leitor acredite que não há nenhum vilão, antes só pessoas que achavam estar a fazer o mais correcto, mesmo sendo o errado.

No fim, foi um livro que acabei por gostar, porque a Josie conquistou-me e conseguiu fazer com que Marcus percebesse os seus erros e tomasse as decisões certas. E no fim, como deveria ser, toda a família se reúne na América para uma visita com as personagens dos livros anteriores (que eu não li). Um final feliz, sem dúvida.

Title: Blackthorne’s Bride
Serie: Mail-Order Brides #4
Author: Joan Johnston
Publisher: Dell
Pages: 368
Publication date: July 27th 2017

Synopsis:

Two years have passed since Josie Wentworth was bought from the Sioux for a gold watch and whisked back to England by Marcus Wharton, the Duke of Blackthorne. When Marcus breaks his promise to return Josie to America, she ends up as a maid in the home of his charming but neglected nephews. Once 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 honor.
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.

~ We received an eARC through NetGalley. Thank you! ~

Review:
This book was a bit odd. Not because it was bad, on the contrary, but sometimes it created contradictory feelings.

Marcus Wharton, Duke of Blackthorne, always kept me guessing. Heroic enough to save a girl and almost lose his life doing it, but not enough to deliver her directly to a safe haven. I know he “hands” her over to his friend and almost brother-in-law, but still. If I had saved someone and made sure they survived taking care of them, I wouldn’t have them with someone else at the end. Even if there was a nuance to consider.

Same thing with the “abandonment” of his nephews. For someone who said that loved them, a small letter from a governess shouldn’t be enough. At least (more in my opinion, but let’s keep a low bar) a visit once a year, to be sure they were well fed and well taken care of and were learning what they needed to learn. I agreed with the female lead character – Marcus should have sent the boys to live with him, but I understand that at the beginning, it might have been a difficult decision – but not forever.

Josie is strong-minded and she is determined to get her revenge for being left in England and not sent back home to America, and made a maid in her supposed-to-be rescuer's country house. She also wants to avenge the two boys that the duke left almost abandoned at that same house. When the opportunity arises, Josie was a bit torn about going straight home or getting her revenge, for herself and the boys, which she planned to take with her to America. Choosing the second option, Josie tricks the duke, thinking him the horrible villain, but she then starts to realize that he is a broken man, who is still suffering, and he actually believes that the girl he saved is back home with her family and that his nephews are happier in the country where they can play, than with him in the city. Josie basically tells him that he should think for himself, that he should open his eyes and see that he deals with his matters himself, and not shove them to someone else, even if he trusts them – that’s how he got into this mess.

I realized right from the beginning how everything got mixed up, but I believe the point the author wanted to make was that there wasn’t a “real” villain, but just people who were flawed and did what they thought was right even though it was wrong.

In the end, it was a nice book, because Josie managed to entice me and made Marcus understand his mistakes and correct them. And, in the end, as is should be, all the family gets back together in America, for a visit with the characters from the previous books of the series (which I haven’t read). A happy ending, no doubt.