Reviewer: Tracy
Wedded Bliss by Celeste Bradley
Series: Worthington #5

Publication Date: May 2nd 2017
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As a ship's captain, high-born bastard Morgan Pryce has spent his life sailing away from England. The last thing he needs is a wife. But when he fears that his titled half brother Neville is about to be snared by a gold-digger, Morgan aims to protect Neville by trapping the lovely crook into marriage first. He knows he can't allow himself to believe a word she says. If only she wasn't so convincing .

Determined beauty Bliss Worthington is not terribly fond of finding another man waiting for her at the altar after all, no one tricks a Worthington and gets away with it. Somehow she must persuade her dangerously handsome new husband to grant her an annulment because her heart is set on his brother. Soon the newlyweds must deal with a secret but mutual attraction. Morgan finds himself oddly devastated by her tenderness and braveness. When Neville shows up to rescue her from a loveless marriage, she will have to quickly decide which man is the right one for her...."

Bliss Worthington and Neville, Duke of Camberton, love each other.  Bliss knows that Neville’s uncle is against their relationship so Bliss takes it upon herself to plan a clandestine wedding.  She sent notes to Neville telling him of the plans and headed to the church the night of the wedding.  Unfortunately her notes had been read by Neville’s uncle and not Neville.  The uncle talked Neville’s half-brother, Morgan into taking Neville’s place at the wedding.  He stated that Bliss was a manipulative gold digger and as Morgan loved his brother dearly and would do anything for him, he agreed.

Bliss is obviously heart-broken and distraught when she finds out that she’s married the wrong man.  She tries to talk Morgan into an annulment but he won’t agree.  She does all she can to talk him into it with no luck.  Morgan just wants to consummate the marriage and move on.  His uncle promised him that he would own the ship he’s been sailing for his brother’s fleet and he wants that more than anything.

As time goes on and Morgan gets to know Bliss he finds that she’s not the person that his uncle made her out to be.  He starts to question his uncle and his motives and then starts to realize what he’s done to his brother.  His guilt eats at him but he can’t feel too bad about the marriage as he falls in love with Bliss.

This was a very sweet story that I really enjoyed.  I thought that Bliss was a lovely heroine and I admired her continued strength after everything she’d been through in her life.  She kept her calm and just went on with life as best she could, despite the circumstances.  She never planned on falling for Morgan – she thought she loved Neville!  But as she gets to know Morgan and her feelings grow she realizes that she never truly loved Neville and probably would have been miserable with him.  I loved the way the author wrote Bliss and the dawning realization of her feelings for Morgan – it was done well.

Morgan was the bastard son of a duke but his father had always treated him as a son and not someone he needed to forget about.  He let his sons play together and as such the pair created a bond that Morgan thought was unbreakable.  When he realized the mistake he had made in believing his uncle and marrying Bliss he felt horrible.  The confrontation between Morgan and Neville was awesome and while it turned out well it kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened.

Overall I thought it was a lovely historical romance.  While it’s the fifth book in the series I thought it was a great stand-alone.  This was my first read by Bradley but it definitely won’t be my last.

Rating: 4 out of 5