Hardcover; 209 pages
Publisher: Vanguard Press - April 5, 2011
ISBN-10: 1593156565
ISBN-13: 978-1593156565
Genre: Women's Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Book: Standalone, loosely connected to The Christmas Clock as it's set in the same town (Dreyerville)
Main Characters: Marly Hanson & Reed Bennett
On sale at: The Bookdepository Store

Summary:
Kat Martin brings readers back to the charming town of Dreyersville for another compelling story of love, loss, and hope in second chance.
Years after leaving Dreyersville "for good" with her boyfriend right after high school, Marilys Hanson returns to her hometown at the behest of her daughter, Katie, a brain-cancer survivor, who's never met her grandmother, Marilys's mother, Winnie. Now divorced from her husband, Marilys has a past she wishes she didn't have to face there.

Living next door to Winnie is the handsome young sheriff (and widower), Reed Bennett, and his son, Ham. Ham and Katie become fast friends, and when their parents finally meet, they hit it off quickly as well. But Marilys is insistent that her time in Dreyersville be limited. She's accepted a teaching position back home, and while she's willing to spend some of her summer putting up with her mother, she's intent on heading back and making good on her commitment. But will Marilys finally come to realize that her true destiny and, ultimately, her happiness, lie in coming to terms with her past?

Pearl's Review:
Marilys “Marly” Hanson escaped Dreyerville, her hometown, 12 years ago determined never to look back or come back. Then her daughter escapes death and her only wish is to see the grandmother she's never met. Marly is a teacher and a single mom with a complicated and painful past, now dealing with a daughter recovering from brain cancer. Her return home sets in motion a bunch of events: a reunion with her mother seems less impossible and the possibility of love and romance emerges.

Reed Bennett is Winnie's (Marly’s mother) neighbor and town's sheriff. He’s a widower and single dad and an all-around good and decent guy. Though the focus of the book is more centered on Marly, her mother and her daughter. Reed and his son do make memorable characters that formed a very good match and balance with the female ones.

This novella is not just about Marly and Reed, it's also about the people who surround them and play important roles in their lives. Kat Martin makes sure you get to know and understand them all, which pushes the romance a little bit to the background. Also, there are no love scenes, just kisses. However, I didn't mind that at all, because it's not that kind of book and having read THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK, I went into this book knowing what to expect.

A SONG FOR MY MOTHER is set in Dreyerville, like Kat Martin’s THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK. Although it's in the same setting it can perfectly be read as standalone because there’s no ongoing plot and some characters from THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK only briefly appear or are mentioned. Other than the main theme being love in its different forms the storyline is totally different too.

Kat Martin's writing is unique in its simplicity and the way it just pulls you in the story, no matter what genre it is. The POV transitions contribute to the pace and they're executed very smoothly. It doesn’t even matter what length the story is because even though this was a novella, in the small span of 155 pages Kat Martin gives the reader an emotional story about love in all forms, loss, regret and forgiveness and she even touches the heavy subject of abuse. But she also manages to depict vivid, realistic characters with such depth and back-story I was astounded and pleasantly surprised at the end that I didn’t even miss the sexy times in this book. The story and emotions carried this story so much better than any love scene could have ever done.

Despite the thoroughness with which the characters are portrayed Kat Martin's writing is swiftly paced from the very beginning, keeping the story moving and the reader eager to keep on going till you've read the last page and closed this lovely book with a satisfied sigh.

There were a few scenes that were memorable and made such an impact that I want to mention them in this review. One of them was the scene with Emily, when Marly realizes she needs to forgive her mother. That scene was so powerful and emotional it made me cry. The other one is the scene where Marly and her mom finally talk about the past and make peace. This scene had the same powerful impact on me as the earlier mentioned scene had.

A SONG FOR MY MOTHER is an emotionally heavy read and you have to be in the mood to read it as it will tug at your heartstrings in a most intense way.

Quotes:
Reed hadn’t really been attracted to a woman since Carol had died. Hadn’t felt that little kick in the gut a man feels when he meets a woman who appeals to all his male instincts.

She was attracted to Reed Bennett. For the first time in her life, she understood what it was like to feel desire for a man. When he kissed her goodnight, she didn’t want the kiss to end. When he held her hand, little tingles ran up her arm. When he laughed, she wanted to laugh with him. When he shared his thoughts and dreams, she found herself wanting to share her own, discovering in the process a few she hadn’t realized she had.

Mass Market Paperback; 363 pages
Publisher: Mira Books - April 27, 2010
ISBN-10: 0778327744
ISBN-13: 978-0778327744
Genre: Historical Romance
Book: Book Three in Bride Trilogy
Main Characters: Rule Dewar & Violet Griffin
On sale at: The Bookdepository Store

Summary:
Unrepentant rake Rule Dewar is living the good life when a most surprising event occurs - he falls in love with his wife.

After their strategic "marriage of commerce" three years ago, Rule quite forgot about Violet Griffin, the teenage heiress to a Boston manufacturing fortune. He simply spoke his vows, took over her father's business and returned to England to resume his usual pursuits: high-priced wine, high-stakes gambling and highborn women.

Yet when Violet, now a sophisticated woman, unexpectedly appears at Rule's London town house, husbandly duties no longer seem so odious - he can't wait to take his stunning bride to their marriage bed. Violet, however, is not so easily led: she has her own ideas and is seeking an annulment to marry another. But as Rule attempts to win her over, someone else is determined to frame him for murder and keep him out of the way for good..

Pearl’s review: The book starts with a prologue that sets up the story. In this prologue Rule Dewar is in America, making good on the promise, to his father on his deathbed, to build up business relationships with the colony. He has made a good life for himself in Boston and is on the verge of going back to England to run the English Branch of Griffin Manufacturing, the weapons factory he works for. When his employer, Howard Griffin asks him for a favor he can’t fathom it is to marry his young daughter to secure her future. Rule reluctantly agrees and sets of to England right after the marriage thinking that would be it.

The rest of the book takes place 3 years later when Violet Griffin wants an annulment from the man she married as decreed by her dying father. She heads over to England to find the man who married and abandoned her to free herself for marriage to another man. Rule wants to stay married because of the promise to both his and her father but also because of the benefits business wise. When Rule convinces Violet to give him a month to prove being married to him isn't that bad, a string of events leads them to something more meaningful than a marriage of convenience.

Rule is a womanizer, with an eye for business, loyal to his friends and family and a bit of a male chauvinist. I had a bit of trouble with Rule in the beginning. It was clear the marriage was not of importance to him and Violet was just a means to get his foot into her father's company. He didn't even keep his promise of making their marriage real after two years and now that Violet shows up a year overdue to end the marriage with an annulment herself, he acts all indignant and as if he thinks the marriage is important.

Violet is sweet but fiery and full of determination, she speaks her mind and can be a bit headstrong at times. I’m not fond of very young heroines and 19 years is on the fringes of what I can handle but Kat Martin made it work for me for most of this book. There were points were she acted her age and wasn’t as determined as she’d been made out to be. She sleeps with Rule, ruining her opportunity for an annulment but doesn't own up to it and puts all the blame on Rule. Her insistence that Rule only wants to stay married for his part in the business, portion in the company started to annoy me at one point.

For me this third and last installment in the Bride Trilogy was the least of the three. There were a few things that didn’t quite work for me and with all the anticipation build across the other two books I felt it fell a bit flat in comparison.

Both Violet and Rule acted unreasonable and a bit irrational at times and this kept me from completely sympathizing and empathizing with them and their issues. And the changes of heart they go through in order to get to the HEA felt a bit sudden and forced... The trademark suspense plot was there yet again and even if it was a predictable one it did liven the story up a bit and kept me reading despite that I didn’t completely click with the main characters.

In this trilogy Kat Martin has written the most interesting secondary characters that are able to intrigue as much as her main couples. It was no different in RULE’S BRIDE and I must honestly admit that in this case the secondary romance worked better for me than the main couple’s romance, for the reasons I stated earlier in this review. I was wondering from the start what was going to happen with the chemistry between Rule’s friend and Violet’s cousin and I was served promptly with a captivating secondary romance I truly enjoyed.

In the Bride Trilogy Kat Martin follows a certain vein in all three books that include the fulfillment of the individual promises the Dewar brothers made to their dying father, a suspense plot where the Oarsmen come to the rescue and offer their assistance, a seemingly impossible romance between the main characters and a lovely secondary romance. Yet despite the similarity and the repeated use of these elements, each book has a different and unique vibe and set-up. Though they can be read as stand-alone, together they form a coherent whole in which a full cast of both recurring and new characters plays the role they are given.

If you don’t mind a very young heroine and a hero that has a bit of male chauvinism going on, RULE’S BRIDE is a good and solid historical romance that wraps up the Bride Trilogy in a satisfying way.

Mass Market Paperback; 376 pages
Publisher: Mira Books, First edition (December 29, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0778327448
ISBN-13: 978-0778327448
Genre: Historical Romance
Book: Book Two in Bride Trilogy
Main Characters: Reese Dewar & Elizabeth Clemens
On sale at: The Book Depository Store

Summary:
Years ago, love-struck Reese departed his home at Briarwood with a promise from raven-haired Elizabeth Clemens: that she would make a life with him upon his return. But mere months later, she married the Earl of Aldridge, attaining wealth and status Reese could never match. Memories of that betrayal make his homecoming far more bitter than sweet.

Seeing Elizabeth on his doorstep dressed in widow's garb that twists the knife even deeper. But fear for her young son’s safety has overcome her pride: she begs Reese for protection from those would see the boy dead to possess his fortune. He agrees to an uneasy alliance, sensing Elizabeth still harbors some deep secrets—and Reese knows that he's placing himself in danger...of losing his heart all over again.

Pearl’s review: A leg injury prevents Reese Dewar from going back to the Army so he adheres to his father's last and dying wish and sets out to the country to make Briarwood, the Dewar family's country estate, his home. Underneath his harsh, bitter and controlled exterior lays a passionate, sensitive and honorable man. Reese's relentless pursuit of Elizabeth is driven by desire, need and a little bit of revenge for her having spurned him for another man.

Elizabeth Clemens is a courageous and loving widow of a cruel man. She has a past with Reese and when he returns to the village of Swansdowne she knows she won't be able to keep her secret for long. When her life and that of her son is in danger, she flees from her horrible in-laws to the one person who can help her, knowing he despises her, Reese. However, Reese's honor doesn't permit refusal and soon his hatred for her begins to thaw. After yet another attempt on Elizabeth's life, Reese decides the only way to keep both her and her son safe is to offer them marriage and adoption.

The supporting cast of characters was extensive, with some new and some old faces. I loved seeing Royal and Lily put in an appearance and finding out how they were doing after their own book. I hated Elizabeth's in-laws on the spot and I adored Jared, Elizabeth's shy son who is truly a darling boy. As in ROYAL'S BRIDE once again the help of "the Oarsmen", the group of friends from Royal's Oxford time, is needed and comes in handy in the suspense subplots.

REESE'S BRIDE is a story of reunited lovers that had quite a few storylines. These story lines were easily entwined to form a story that was a little predictable but this didn't prevent me from thoroughly enjoying this second installment of the Bride Trilogy. Again Kat Martin did not disappoint me. She delivered a wonderful book where suspense, well-rounded characters, deep emotions, romance and overcoming the past are mixed together against a historical setting.

All Kat Martin's historical romances I've read have been a joy to read from the first to the last page and REESE'S BRIDE is no exception. Even though REESE'S BRIDE had a lesser impact on me than ROYAL'S BRIDE did, and this mainly had to do with the different tropes, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to RULE'S BRIDE, which was released April 27th.

I would highly recommend REESE’S BRIDE to any reader who doesn’t mind a plot that is a little predictable and enjoys a touching historical romance carried by characters that are strong and determined to overcome the past despite all the difficulties.