Border Bride

By: Amanda Scott

Narrated by: Sally Armstrong

Set in treacherous sixteenth-century Scotland, the first volume of Amanda Scott’s Border Trilogy tells the unforgettable story of a woman sworn to defy the knight she is forced to wed - only to discover a love she’ll do anything to claim.

As Mary, Queen of Scots, languishes in the Tower of London as a prisoner of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, war tears Scotland apart. To save her beloved homeland, a proud Highland beauty named Mary Kate MacPherson must wage her own battle when she’s forced into wedlock with a knight, Sir Adam Douglas, from the barbaric borderland of Tornary.

Even as she succumbs to her seductive husband’s sensual demands, Mary Kate vows never to give him her heart. She will belong to no man. But Adam burns with something deeper than desire. Sworn to carry out a long-awaited revenge, he won’t rest until he has vanquished his enemies. Accused of treason, the last thing he expects is to lose his heart to the woman he’s determined to tame but never to love: His own wife.

©1990 Lynne Scott-Drennan (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Superb

What did you love best about Border Bride?

I love that the Author can truly paint a picture with words, and that the Narrator Sally Armstrong did an amazing job with the accent making the story more authentic.

What did you like best about this story?

The story keeps moving through Scotland with the Author describing everything so vividly.
I 'saw' the Castles, the clothing, the colours and clearly pictured the characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I just couldn't stop listening to this book

Any additional comments?

WHY are there no more of the MANY Highland themed books by this Author available? More Amanda Scott PLEASE.

Not my idea of romance

I'm not sure how the physical and mental abuse in this book can be classified as romance. It definitely isn't to me. Both characters are unlikable. She is a complete idiot and he is an abusive jerk. A prime example is when he slaps and berates her, then apologizes for saying he shouldn't have married her, and she immediately runs into his arms. I seriously think this is a little sick.

The only reason the "story" didn't get 1 star is because, for some reason, I couldn't stop listening. Morbid curiosity, maybe?

The narration, however, was exceptional!!

ok

Not my favorite but I found it entertaining enough to finish the book. On audio the accents were consistent

Just like her others!

Same storyline, woman always getting in trouble mean husband being arrogant. Then they make up. No side stories to build interest.

Conflicted

I enjoyed the story to a point, but got anxious as a result of the heroines constant state of anxiety. She was always in fear of her husband. She went into the marriage with the intent to ensure her husband knew who was in charge, yet from the onset she always cowed to him and lived in fear of him. I considered it an abusive nightmare of a relationship. The hero always found fault in her actions, never seeing fault in his own or others. He was just as guilty of her supposed faults. Yet at the end, she says she's happy in their marriage and loves him. I just didn't like the hero I suppose. And the heroine was a coward regardless of what she said.

But all that aside, it was well written and the narration was wonderful.

Nice story, but annoying main character

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would only recommend this book to friends I know have a weakness for this kind of historical romance.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I liked the description of the settings, and the era. Unfortunately the main female character was extremely annoying since she did not learn from her mistakes. I would not have minded had I read it when I was 17, but at age 40 I don't find stupid girls as entertaining anymore.

Have you listened to any of Sally Armstrong’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first listening to Sally Armstrong. Her beautiful Scottish accent was the main reason I bothered to finish listening to the book. I have learned a lot languagewise by listening to it. (English is not my first language).

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It would depend on the casting...

Any additional comments?

The book is actually really good and well written for its genre, but in my opinion it suffers a lot from all the conflicts that are caused by the characters' lack of communication and intelligence.

Border Bride

This book leave me with conflicting feelings .. overall it was good. Supposedly if we put the book in the historical context at Elizabethan time it will explain the bodily punishment of husband to wife. However both characters strike me as childish and immature and I think it would have been better for the author to have their character develop and mature with the story then the rather ridiculous plot at the end.

Good God it was drival

The main characters are horrible. The female lead is pathetic she shows some spine, but always wilted at the last moment, and the male lead is every horrible Highlander stereotype ever written. DRIVEL. MY FISH POOP BETTER THINGS THAN THIS.

Depressing

As others wrote it is about a physically and mentally abusive marriage so if that’s you’re into...go for it.

Don't Suffer - it's not worth finishing

I really wanted to give this a try but I just struggled. I did finally finish the book by listening to it at 1.75 speed and my hopes for redemption at the end were in vain. Take two 3rd graders and leave them unsupervised. That is basically the plot of the book. Two immature adults behaving like children, acting out, changing their mind every 2 minutes. It was a long drawn out soap opera that just wouldn't end. The narrator however, was amazing even with such bad material. Her voice, accents and inflections were the only thing worth listening to on this one.