This is really a little more like 3.75 Stars for me, but I'll go ahead and bump it up to 4. I was really looking forward to this book, I wanted to see what it took to finally get Olivia wrapped in the bonds of love and all that. This third book in the series was good, but I just didn't find myself liking at much as I liked the other two. In this book, it's been about a year and half since the events in the second story. Olivia and her father, and Phoebe are now living on the Isle of Wight, with King Charles being held in luxurious captivity. One day while walking along some cliffs overlooking the ocean, with her nose stuck in a book, Olivia happens to fall down the cliff, injuring herself in the process. She's found by some of Captain Anthony Caxton's men, and she is brought aboard his ship, where Anthony patches her up. She's unconscious for a few days, and when she comes to, she's quite taken aback to find she doesn't know where she is, and she's naked to boot. Anthony comes into the cabin and explains how she was found and how he doctored her up. She finds out that he's a pirate, but instead of being scared, she's exhilarated. Soon she's scampering about the ship, learning all kinds of new things. After a particularly romantic dinner on deck under the stars, Anthony and Olivia make love. But, alas, the next morning, tons of buried memories of repeated childhood molestations by the slimy Brian Morse come back to haunt Olivia, and she pushes Anthony away, afraid, and unable to tell him what's the matter. He returns her to her home, but she can't stop thinking about him. A few days later, Cato, Phoebe, and Olivia attend a soiree at the castle where the king is being kept. Olivia sees Anthony, but this time he's all dressed up like a fop and acting sort of brainless. Olivia isn't sure what to make of him. Turns out, Anthony has plans to help the king escape to France, and his brainless dandy act is to ensure that no one notices or suspects him. One night, Anthony sneaks to the Granville's house, and into Olivia's bedroom window. They play chess and their bond gets a little deeper. They make plans for another match as well. Olivia does some sneaking around, meeting up with Anthony in the night and making lots of whoopee, even going with him on a trip to Portsmouth. It's here she begins to think he's not just a pirate, but a wrecker who lures merchant ships to their doom on the rocks and looting their cargo, leaving dead people in their wake. She's turns cold to him again, confusing the heck out of him. Anthony is indeed not the one doing the wrecking, another slimeball, Godfrey Channing is. Channing, you see, has sort of joined forces with Brian Morse, and together they hatched a plan to get Olivia to wed Godfrey, a prospect she is dead set against, because he reminds her so badly of Brian, her tormentor. Once back at her home, Channing catches her alone in the orchard, and tries to force himself upon her, going so far as to call her 'little rabbit', which is what Brian used to call her when she tried to escape his molestations. She freaks out, takes off running, realizing Brian isn't dead as previously thought at the end of the last book. She runs smack into Anthony's arms, and in her terror, tells him everything, about how she was molested, and how Brian's not really dead, and all that. Anthony's relieved to know she wasn't terrified of his love making, and that she had a real good reason for her fright. He vows to get his vengeance on Channing and Brian. But he still plans on rescuing the king. Olivia overhears her father plotting to trap the king's rescuer, so she sneaks out to warn him. In the end, despite Anthony trying to get her to stay on the island, she faces her father's men and escapes with Anthony onto the ship. A few months later, she returns to explain her decisions to her father. He's not happy at all, but he'll accept it, because he loves his daughter. I wasn't really keen on this ending. After all the action, and build-up to the climax, I was sort of let down in a way. Olivia and Anthony sail off into the sunset, which was ok, but I wasn't so happy about her leaving her father and Phoebe and Portia and Rufus behind. I also wasn't happy at all about their decision to not marry. I thought that was kind of dumb. Especially if any children come of their union, seeing as how Anthony grew up an orphaned bastard, rejected by his father's family, never knowing his mother's family at all. I figured he would insist on them getting married, if only to prevent any future children from suffering what he suffered. But nope, he calls her his doxy, and they sail off into the blue. The ending is what made me give this book 3.75 Stars instead of the full four. I was glad that the bad guys got their due, and that Olivia overcame her awful memories and found love, but I just wasn't happy with the ending. I was hoping Cato could figure out a way to understand why Anthony was pirating and smuggling, and since he captured the real wreckers, I was hoping he'd get like a pardon or something. Instead, he's still a wanted man, Cato says there's enough proof against him to see him hang, and that if Olivia ever wants to visit him and Phoebe, she'd have to come alone. After all the books being about the bonds of friendship between the girls, I wasn't glad to see Olivia just up and leave everyone without a backward glance. I understand she wanted adventure, and her and Anthony's relationship was ok, if a little rushed in places. I just wasn't too keen on the ending that didn't seem like a real good resolution. Then, the epilogue, which in the first two books, showed Portia and Rufus happily married with children, as well as Phoebe and Cato, pregnant and glowing in love. In this book, the epilogue had nothing much about Olivia and Anthony's love and happiness. Instead, it ended with the king being beheaded. Ok, that signaled the end of the war that'd been going on throughout the series, but it didn't end with the same loving, happy sense of family and deep love that was in the first two books. And I'm still not happy about them not getting married. Especially back in the 1600's, I mean, come on. The daughter of a marquis, sailing off into the wild blue with a condemned pirate, under her own volition, with her father's permission, to remain unwed the rest of her days? Not really believable. Nor was the fact that they were banging like bunnies over the period of a few months, and she never turned up pregnant... I mean, pulling out is not a 100% surefire way of birth control, and since that's what he did before she ran off with him, ok whatever, I can accept it working a few times, but after she came to be his 'doxy' on the ship, together forever, I don't think it's believable. Sigh... I still liked this book though, the sense of adventure, and the descriptions of the ship and all that were very good. I've got a thing for the old sailing ships. It's just that their relationship disappointed me a little after the wonderful first two books... and I knew that Anthony would never live up to Cato in my mind. I will still be looking for more books by this author, that's for sure. I really like her writing style and character development, and I'm eager to try more of her work. 3.75 Stars
If you've read Feather's "Bride" series to this point and have some guesses as to the history between Olivia and the evil Brian Morse, well, you will get to see in this one whether you guessed right. Remember that Olivia swore that she would never marry? Well, it turns out she had good reason to feel that way. The "Brides" story takes a hard left with this one, veering into unexpected territory. Olivia is reading a book and walking (never a great combo--these days substitute texting) and she falls off a cliff. She wakes up naked, in the bed of the Perfect Man. This guy, whatever his real name is, is a legitimate if self-taught scholar and physician. Oh, and he happens to also be a pirate. Olivia is along for the ride, like it or not, and gets to take part in the capture of a Spanish galleon. (The b*t*ds took slaves, so I guess that's OK.) She enjoys the whole adventure and quite happily surrenders her virtue to the pirate. She's not going to marry, right, so who cares if she's still a virgin? The pirate, we'll call him Anthony, is a jack of a lot of trades, and a man of many disguises, it turns out. When he returns her to the family fold, he keeps turning up again like a bad penny in various guises. Olivia recovers the memories of childhood traumas and seems to smell Brian Morse's icky pheremones on the equally icky creep he sends to court her. Lots of misunderstandings and complications in the romance, and add a dash of real history (we get a sense of some of the reasons why Charles I was eventually executed), and you have a pretty fair story.This is not among Feather's best, but I liked it best of the trilogy.
What do You think about The Least Likely Bride (2000)?
Cant say that it wasnt an interesting book .. but it wasnt the best I liked the plot and the writing was great but there are times where i thought that it was unrealistic .. like the first fight that Olivia experienced in the Pirate ship, instead of being realistically worried she was excited which is something I couldnt see happening the ending was a huge surprise as to how their relationship stopped at, it was unexpected yet interesting .i dont want to give away too many spoiler for those who want to read this
—Antica
I really liked this story, a version of one of my all time favorite romantic adventures: Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood.We have a pirate who has many skills: sailing, smuggling, art and medicine and can play a fop like nobody's business. Anthony/Edward Caxton is a wonderful hero who rescues Lady Granville when she falls down a cliff. He takes her to his ship and tends to her wounds. Lady Olivia recovers and even goes on a pirate raid. Once Anthony is satisfied she's healed enough she is returned to the island she lives on. You see her father is involved with the exiled King Charles Stewart who is hoping to escape and be restored to his throne. (We all know how that ended!)Lots of adventures some great characters...And the ending was at least for me an unusual HEA....not quite what I expected. But overall a lovely tale!
—Arabella Thorne
It would've been nice if I started from Phoebe's or Portia's story. From the very start. Some things are insignificant to me for one reason. I don't know anything about them. Okay. But the story line is nice. Yes, predictable but bearable. Okay. I'm not in the mood to recount the story. xD Anyways, felt more attached to this than the Wicked something Trilogy of Jane Feather. I really like her setting and the time she uses in her stories. So vintage and unusual. The nicest thing is that even if it's setting was way back 1600s, she uses words that are formal yet understandable.If I met Anthony Caxton, I may have fallen in love with him too. xD
—Kin
