The Unlovely Bride by Alice Coldbreath
I have books that immediately scream “Write a Review!” I’ve enjoyed a lot of books that don’t necessarily inspire a blog post. This one, over time, has definitely done that.
First of all, I bought this in 2020, around the time the pandemic hit, and it was very timely. Lenora has survived “The Red Pox”, a terrible disease that swept through the royal city of Karadok. She, known as the most beautiful woman in Karadok, has scars from her experience-and not just the ones on her face. She faces an uncertain future, an indifferent family, and a huge desire not to be pitied. The author doesn’t spare the reader the experience. And I’m glad she didn’t. Lenora’s illness shapes her character, a character I came to love.
To secure her future on her own terms, she approaches the one knight she knows won’t pity her at all-Sir Garmin Orde. His own past has created scars that he had no intention to heal. But by taking on Lenora, he has his own growth, which makes him one of my most hated AND most loved characters. I HIGHLY recommend this book.
Now, to talk about why this book inspired me to blog three years later. In the time since I’ve bought this book, I’ve reread it more than once. Something about Lenora’s desperate step into courageous exposure reached inside me and made one of those “grooves” in my head. Like a song. I want to go back and “play that groove” again. Like on a record player, my brain’s needle returns to that place all the time.
Sometimes, it’s a scene. Most of my favorite authors have scenes that stick with me. Joey W. Hill’s Council scene with Daegan, Allwyn, and Gideon in “Vampire Trinity”. The heart wrenching scene in “Golden Trail” by Kristen Ashley where Tanner finds out why Rocky left him when they were young. The punt scene in “Gaudy Night” when Harriet realizes there’s more to Peter than just a quick mind. And Ngaio Marsh’s “Death In a White Tie” when Rodrick Alleyn bows to his true love Agatha Troy and calls himself her turkeycock. I go back to these books all the time because of a scene I want to read/hear again.
For “The Unlovely Bride”, the one that always stabs me in the heart is the scene that begins with Sir Garmin ordering Lenora to pack her things because she was leaving to serve as his long desired revenge. The desolation of this scene is compounded as they travel to his ancestral home, the somber scene that follows, and his eventual abandonment of her. (I know it sounds awful. Like I said, Sir Garmin is my most loved AND most hated character).
What breaks my heart is the layered hurt I feel for Lenora. In the beginning of the story, she is shunned by the people who should love her. And in the climax of this story, she is shunned by the man she realizes she loves. And the best part of this story for me is Lenora’s steadfast hope in the face of this pain.
The happy ending in this tale is NOT that Lenora and Sir Garmin find love, it is that Lenora discovers her worth and Sir Garmin deals with his demons. Alice Coldbreath rarely writes a story with trite happy endings, but truly allows human nature full reign. Her characters are deeper and, therefore, relatable.
She only gets better in my opinion.
Redneck Romance Writer 