His Yankee Bride

Rose
Gordon
Genre: 
Historical

Southern belle Carolina Ellis is at a ball trying to dodge yet another prospective marriage proposal from another undesirable match.  Englishman John Banks enters and with one look she knows she has found the man she wants to marry.
John is simply searching for his friend Gabriel and his first impression of Carolina is that she is too forward and would not make a good wife no matter how beautiful. Fate, however, has a different plan and they are thrown together when John takes a job on her family’s plantation. He is returning to England as soon as he can earn enough for his passage and will enter the ministry as a vicar.  The close proximity between them begins to ignite sparks. Regardless, John will not make her a marriage proposal but Carolina is determined he will with the right amount of convincing.  
This book starts out with a typical southern belle but very quickly turns into an unusual story that includes an insight into slavery and the American revolution. Carolina is a very determined heroine and the reader is not always convinced that her determination is not just plain foolishness. There tends to be a bit more bickering than passion but when that  passion arrives it restores the reader’s faith in the love story after all.  John is not cut out to be a vicar although he is strong and likable.  The additional characters certainly help to add balance.  With Carolina's mother, though, one has a hard time accepting the amount of hatred she has without a full explanation. Witty and engaging, this is a good choice for those particularly interested in historical southern stories.
Margaret Faria