Maiden Bride, by Deborah Simmons

I've started Maiden Bride, by Deborah Simmons.

Plot summary (edited from Literary Times):

Nicholas de Laci's only purpose in life is revenge against Baron Hexham, but his brother-in-law killed the baron and as far as he knows, there are no more Hexham family members to take his revenge upon. Nicholas is not very close to his sister, and the concept of family doesn't mean much to him.

Then one day, a messenger arrives from the king and announces that a female Hexham heir has been found and the king demands that Nicholas marry her to settle the dispute of the lands. Nicholas is overjoyed with the prospect of being able to carry out his revenge after all. Nicholas finds her at the convent where she is living, and marries her before going to his home.

Gillian Hexham is glad to be out of the confining, sheltered life, but she is wary of this warrior who has claimed her as his wife. Nicholas tells her that as the Hexham heir, her blood is tainted and that to have his revenge, she will be his slave. Gillian is a spirited woman who defies him every chance she gets, and they have rousing fights.

A game of Hoodman Blind results in a searing kiss, and while Nicholas admires her feistiness, he is frustrated because his desire for his beautiful wife is more intense than his desire for revenge; and he gives in to his physical desires. Though Gillian and Nicholas begin to accept their feelings for each other, illness, old fears, and the surprise appearance of another Hexham may just destroy their already fragile relationship.

I'm only reading this because it's Deborah Simmons. Usually, I wouldn't really be tempted to read about a guy who decides to take revenge on someone because of a transgression committed one of their relatives. I don't hold with the "the sins of the fathers are visited upon the son" (or however that quote goes) philosophy. I wouldn't trust most authors to succeed in making the hero any other than a jerk, but I'm willing to give Simmons that chance.

Posted later...

Finished Maiden Bride. I knew before I started it that the hero was going to bother me, and that I was going to get very angry, but I was right in trusting Simmons to pull it off.

I must admit I hated the first part. I usually keep a Post-it note on the first page of a book to write down my thoughts as I read, and my comments for that part are "What a jerk! He'd better grovel good!" and "Why the hell does he blame her! What does she have to do with her uncle? Feeble minded idiot!". Gillian didn't fare much better: "WTF? She's attracted to this imbecile why? TSTL." Even Edith irritated me: "That stupid hen Edith tries to matchmake because she wants a child to hold on her knee. Blech! Overused and contrived."

But everything starts improving when they start having sex and even more when Gillian falls ill. Nicholas accepts that he's come to care for her without much fighting it, and he just dismisses his thoughts of revenge without torturing himself overmuch. I liked that even when Gillian's supposed brother comes he doesn't kill him. Not quite the epiphany I was hoping for, with Nicholas realizing he shouldn't blame Hexham's family for his sins, but good enough. And the suspense subplot was lightish, so it was ok.

Still, the book still had some problems in this easier to read part. For one, I hated all the baby stuff. First, Nicholas worrying about childbirth out of the blue (it was refreshing that he didn't care about not having a heir, though). Then Gillian going bonkers about wanting a baby. Freak! (Yeah, I'm evil, so what?) And the stupid epilogue... 6 brats? And going for more? Yuck!

To summarize, I enjoyed seeing the jerk that was Nicholas change into a loving husband (even if he never really groveled), and this was good enough that I could like the book in spite of its other problems. A grade of B.