Sunday Spotlight is a feature we began in 2016. This year we’re spotlighting our favorite books, old and new. We’ll be raving about the books we love and being total fangirls. You’ve been warned. 🙂

I have fallen into the biggest of reading slumps this year and I seem to only be reading in spurts. In the last few weeks, I’ve only wanted to read old comfort reads and that means I’ve read a whole lot of old school Julie Garwood. One of my favorite books ever is The Wedding and I just recently re-read it for like the hundredth time and it still hits me right in my feels. I still love it to pieces and it still remains one of my favoritest books ever.

It's a classic plot: a marriage of convenience that lays the groundwork for true love.

1119. Journeying from England to Scotland to wed a highlander, Lady Brenna had resigned herself to the arranged match. But when a band of fierce, painted warriors captured her en route, she fearlessly met their demand to marry their leader -- the quick-tempered laird Connor MacAlister. She couldn't know that her capture was merely the first act of vengeance against her betrothed, Connor's sworn enemy.

Brenna harbored no illusions that her husband was in love with her; after a hasty forest wedding, MacAlister assured her she could return home once she had borne him a son. But she could not deny that she had once proposed to MacAlister -- ten years ago, when she was just a child, and the visitor to her father's castle charmed her with his dazzling, unexpected smile. Now, as she sets out to win the brave chieftain whom she has come to adore, a legacy of revenge ensnares Brenna in a furious clan war -- and only her faith in her gallant hero can save her....

Memorable Quotes

If you haven’t read this book yet, you should really fix that because Julie Garwood’s historicals are one of a kind of romances that I honestly believe will stand the test of time. Whether you’re a newbie to romance or an old veteran reader like us here at Book Binge, you’ll love Julie Garwood’s older romances. They’re just super good with colorful settings, memorable characters and romances that will warm your heart and stay on your mind for years and years to come. Connor and Brenna MacAllister’s romance is one of the best and you won’t be able to help yourself. You’re going to fall in love with them and with their love story.

Here are some of my favorite quotes and scenes from the book…

“What did you say to the messenger, mi’lady? Do you remember the exact words of your last proposal?”

She recognized Quinlan’s voice behind her.

How in thunder could she possibly remember? Hadn’t any of them been listening?

She couldn’t turn to face Quinlan because their leader still had hold of her, and he didn’t seem to be the least bit inclined to let go.

“I probably said, ‘Will you marry me?'”

Connor smiled. He pulled her toward him, lowered his head, and kissed her just long enough to stun her.

He lifted his head then, looked into her eyes, and finally spoke to her.

“Yes, Brenna. I will marry you.”

Connor was such a sneaky little bastard. He was always going around tricking Brenna into doing what he wanted her to do…but oh Brenna had the last laugh because after all was said and done, it was Brenna who had Connor wrapped around her little finger.

“He held her gaze steady while he summarized her promises. “She will honor me, protect me, obey me only when she believes I’m being reasonable—but I shouldn’t hold out hope that that day will ever come—try to love me before she’s an old woman, and I’d better get it straight in my mind that she will respect me until or unless I do something to prove I’m not worthy, and God save me then. Have I left anything out, Brenna?”

Brenna wasn’t the easiest going heroine but man was she a delightful one. She rambled, she was forgetful but she was one of the sweetest heroines from Julie Garwood’s books. I loved her so much. It is not a coincidence that my daughter’s name is Brenna. 🙂 And I loved that with all of Brenna’s quirks, Connor loved her and wouldn’t have had her any other way.

“Your trying to take them away from me, and I can’t let you do that.I’m not ready to let go.”

“Exactly what am I taking away?”

“My family.”

“Brenna…”

She wouldn’t let him continue. “You are trying to take them away, aren’t you? And if you succeed, what will I have left?”

“Me.”

Say it with me now….”Awwwww. Brenna may lose every single person in her life but she’ll never lose Connor.” 🙂

“She let him know how much she liked what he was doing by scoring his back with her nails and crying out with pleasure.

“Oh, God.”

“Nay, lass. Connor.”

This is definitely the first thing that I think of when The Wedding comes across my mind. I laughed out loud the first time I read that scene. Holy cow it’s such a funny one. One of the most memorable scenes from this book.

As you can see, I have so much love for this book. It’s one of the books that I read in the early days, when I first started reading romance novels and it remains one of my favorite books ever. I have such fond memories of the people that I met online years and years ago who shared a love of this author and of this book with me. Honestly, to read this book is to love it so if you’re curious about this one, enter our giveaway below for a chance to win this book for your own.

Laird’s Fiancees Series

Giveaway Alert

We’re giving one lucky winner their choice of one of our Sunday Spotlight books. Use the widget below to enter for one of this month’s features.

Do you love Julie Garwood’s historicals as much as we do? Let us know how excited you are about all of the books coming out this month!

About Julie Garwood

It’s no surprise that Julie Garwood became a writer. Growing up in a large family of Irish heritage, she took to storytelling naturally. “The Irish relish getting all the details of every situation,” she explains. “Add in the fact that I was the sixth of seven children. Early in life I learned that self-expression had to be forceful, imaginative, and quick.”

Creating stories was always a passion for Julie, but she didn’t focus on making it a career until the youngest of her three children entered school. After the publications of two young adult books, she turned her interests to historical fiction. Her first novel, GENTLE WARRIOR, was published in 1985, and there has been a steady parade of bestsellers ever since. Today more than 40-million copies of her books are in print, and they are translated in dozens of languages around the world. One of her most popular novels, FOR THE ROSES, was adapted for a HALLMARK HALL OF FAME production on CBS.

Whether the setting be medieval Scotland, Regency England, frontier Montana, or modern-day Louisiana, her themes are consistent: family, loyalty, and honor. Readers claim that it’s the humor as well as poignancy of her novels that keep them coming back for more. Julie described her goals this way: “I want my readers to laugh and cry and fall in love. Basically, I want them to escape into another world for a little while and afterwards to feel as though they’ve been on a great adventure.”

Julie lives in Leawood, Kansas, and is currently working on her next novel.

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