A blue-blooded beauty bartered to a Beast…
He would pay any price to possess her. But even though Alexandra Bellamy sacrifices herself to save her family’s fortunes, a shocking betrayal sunders her marriage to a taciturn brute of a war hero, Colonel Magnus Brightwall, before it even begins. Five years of icy separation later, a scandal—with Alexandra at the middle—reunites them, and Magnus issues an edict: they will confront the ton, rescue their reputations, then Magnus will banish her to another continent—forever.
But alone in a suite at the Grand Palace on the Thames, a new battle begins—between pride and the unexpected volcanic passion stirring between them. The danger is real: Magnus rediscovers why Alexandra is the only woman who could ever break him. And even as she lays bare the beautiful heart beating beneath the battered hide of the near-stranger she married, Alexandra knows she may have already lost him—even as she finally falls fatally, irrevocably in love.
Release Date: Oct 22, 2024
Series: The Palace of Rogues
Book: 8
Heat Level: Hot
Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: Avon
Price: $6.99
Couldn’t put it down. The Palace of Rogues series delivers once again.
I enjoyed this book immensely for multiple reasons. Since this is a review, I should thoroughly count the ways. First off, Long knows how to set up a pair of characters and fascinate me from the opening lines.
Three of them were thieves (a silver candlestick, a half dozen handkerchiefs, a wheel of cheese, respectively), another one was a forger, and the fifth one had stabbed her husband in the leg.
Does it get any better than that? I don’t think so. The heroine, Alexandra Bellamy, has had such a fall from grace, and on the first page, she’s in gaol. How does she get to our famed boardinghouse from here? Well, her military husband, the war hero, Colonel Magnus Brightwall (aka the beast) rescues her of course. Cue the estranged married couple who haven’t seen each other in over five years, being reunited and in jail of all places. I was immediately entranced by not only one but three tropes I adore. Second chance romance, a quirky unlucky heroine, and the beastly hero. Bonus, this one is a slow burn, but sweet glory, the payoff is worth it.
The story is heart-wrenching, emotional, and poignant, the only way Julie Anne Long delivers historical romance. There is so much longing, self-discovery, and growth between these two characters over the course of only a fortnight. The power of the Grand Palace on the Thames is real. Add in plenty of humor, our favorite proprietors, their husbands, and the shenanigans of Dot and Mr. Delacorte. The reading adventure doesn’t get any better. I feel lucky, nay we are all so lucky to get not one, but two Palace of Rogues books in one year.
Overall, if you love romances with a perfect blend of emotional twisting, laughter, and a rewarding HEA, then The Beast Takes a Bride should definitely join your TBR. It is for readers who enjoy Julia Quinn.
~ Landra
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