The Butterfly Bride by Vanessa Riley – a Review

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM

Description:
Frederica Burghley wants to be married by Yuletide. Or else her father will set her up with one of his friends. The bonbon-loving illegitimate daughter of the duke wants to choose her own husband. Advertising in the newspaper seems like the way to go. But a sinister response, with threats against her life, leads her to enlist the help of her very handsome, dear friend Jasper Fitzwilliam, Lord Hartwell.

A father and widower, Jasper is not only tasked with keeping Frederica safe but also with helping his vibrant friend choose a suitable husband. The more he tries to keep the ever-surprising woman alive and find her a good match, the more Jasper realizes he cares for her. The two friends risk their lives for each other, so they should be able to risk their feelings for a chance at a deep and true love together. But he’s not looking for marriage and she’s not looking for convenience.

Review:

The Butterfly Bride begins with Frederica Burghley going up to her room, not feeling well.  The next thing she knows is that someone is coming in through her bedroom window.  Scared, but still feeling ‘off’, she flees her room, only to wake up some time later in a strange bed with none other than her longtime friend, Jasper Fitzwilliam.  Shocked to her core, she knows that if anyone finds out that she was alone with a man, even though she knows nothing happened, the scandal that followed would be, well, scandalous.  She convinces Jasper to climb out the window, and then makes her way back to her own room to discover that it has been ransacked and a treasured item that had belonged to her deceased mother had been taken.  Once her father, the duke, sees all of this, he makes the decision that she has to find a husband, or he’ll arrange one for her.

The duke is leaving on his own honeymoon, he entrusts her care and safety to Jasper.  Frederica finds herself, and those she cares for, threatened more than once.  Jasper vows that no harm will come to her on his watch, and also tries to help her find a suitable husband.  What he doesn’t realize is that the thing Frederica is most worried about is her heart………and his.

The Butterfly Bride is a nice addition to Vanessa Riley‘s Advertisements for Love series.  The first parts of the book were engaging and intriguing.  Frederica, being the product of an affair, has worked very hard to try and distance herself from said affair, all the while loving both of her parents dearly.  She’s feisty and loyal and tries to see the good in everyone.  Jasper, every so guarded, made me want to thump him a time or seventy.  I liked his character, but did not like the fact that it took him until almost the very end of the book to admit his love for Frederica.  I found the middle of the book repetitive and slow, but liked the overall story.  I did enjoy the two of them together, but I wished for more of a spark.  The revelation of the bad guy was satisfying, and as always, the secondary characters are well written and intriguing.  If you’re a fan of this genre, you’ll enjoy the read.

Reviewed by Vickie

Copy provided by Publisher