Guest Review: The Other Guy’s Bride by Connie Brockway

Posted April 11, 2012 by Ames in Reviews | 2 Comments

Ames’ review of The Other Guy’s Bride by Connie Brockway

Determined to prove her worth as a budding archeologist, Ginesse Braxton vows to solve one of the world’s greatest mysteries–to find the location of the lost city of Zerzura. Unfortunately, no man dares take the risk of escorting the resolute young scholar across the open desert. But on her way to Egypt, Ginesse engages in a daring deception: She will switch places with Mildred Whimpelhall, who is traveling to meet her fiancé.

Cynical adventurer Jim Owen will do anything to escape the dark secrets of his troubled past. Betrayed by the woman he loved and scorned by proper society, he agrees to carry out a danger-fraught task: escort Mildred Whimpelhall across a lawless desert to her intended. But Jim is about to learn that “Mildred” isn’t exactly what she seems…and the dangers they face together are eclipsed by an even greater peril: falling in love, against all reason, with another guy’s bride.

If you’re like me, you may not care for mistaken or fake identities. You just know how things are going to turn out. But fortunately, Connie Brockway manages to make it work. She has a great handle on humour and that makes all the difference in the world for this kind of plot.

Ginesse Braxton is the daughter of Harry and Desdemona from As You Desire (links to my review).  As the daughter of such well known archaeologists, Ginesse wants to make a name for herself, her other siblings have done so and she just wants her time to shine.  Unfortunately, Ginesse attracks trouble like honey to a bee and she’s been exiled to England for her safety.  But while there, she did research on the lost city Zerzura and she’s positive she found the location of this hidden.  So positive she jumps on the next ship to Egypt…er, the next ship that gets her on the path to Egypt.  While aboard, she meets Mildred Whimpelhall, a very proper Englishwoman on her way to Egypt to marry her beloved.  Her path is all laid out, but she’s horribly seasick.  So Ginesse helps Mildred off at the next dock and arranges her travel to Egypt overland…but she takes Mildred’s place back on the ship!

Ginesse is a great character.  She’s fearless, clueless and guileless (assuming someone else’s identity notwithstanding lol).  She just wants a chance to prove herself alongside her famous family but everyone tries to stifle her.  Not anymore!  And that trouble-magnet thing I mentioned?  Check out the way someone described Ginesse:

“A djinn may change her appearance, but its nature stays the same: meddlesome, disruptive, and dangerous. You will see. Look for someone with a broken arm or in bloodstained clothing. Ginesse Braxton is sure to be trailing right behind.”

So true!!

Ginesse makes her way to Egypt where she is picked up by Jim – a man who owes Mildred’s fiancé a favor.  He is to escort her to her beloved, across the desert.  He’s not supposed to fall in love with his charge.  But that’s exactly what happens.  But the outcome isn’t completely predictable here.  Yes Jim gets upset when he realizes that Ginesse is not really Mildred.  But then that means she can be his!  Of course things aren’t that easy but you’re going to have to read it to find out what happens.

I mentioned the humour before and that we get in spades.  Because Ginesse, while in England, was working for someone who didn’t believe her about Zerzura.  But when she leaves abruptly, they start to look over her research and follow her!  Also, there’s Ginesse’s family in Egypt…who are looking for her.  LOL  The overall tone of the book was fun but when we need it to be, we get that emotion we’re craving, and the depth.  *sigh*  I really can’t go on anymore about how much I enjoyed this book.  I liked it more than As You Desire and I highly recommend it.  I’m giving The Other Guy’s Bride a 4.75 out of 5.

And I’m going to leave you with this gem of a passage.  It cracks me up, every time.

They locked him in the stockade for four days. No other prisoners occupied the other cells that ran the length of the room. He was alone, and that was fine with him. He needed to think, and that was best done in a place where he wouldn’t see Ginesse Braxton—Ginesse, not Mildred—because she did things to his thought processes, such as dammed them up completely.
She acted and he reacted: viscerally, irrepressibly, and ruinously.
She fell in the water; he dove in after her. She laughed; he smiled. She mentioned the beauty of the sunset; he saw colors in it he hadn’t ever noticed. She peeked at him from under her gold-tipped lashes; he grew hard as Damascus steel. Pomfrey said something derogatory; he wanted to kill the sonofabitch with his bare hands.
Things like that.

You can read more from ~ames~ at Thrifty Reader.

This book is available from Montlake. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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2 responses to “Guest Review: The Other Guy’s Bride by Connie Brockway

  1. Thanks for the great review! I have this for my Kindle… glad to hear that I made a good gamble when I bought it. I haven’t read any of Connie’s books before but I took a chance on this one b/c I liked the premise and I think it was on sale… gotta move it up in the reading list 🙂

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