The Bridegroom by Darby York

Short Stories by Sapphire Night Books

Turquoise Morning Press

The Bridegroom

By Darby York

Book Blurb:

Medieval life is hard for everyone, especially for noble women forced to marry their enemies. Yet even then women longed for love and fulfillment. Can a reluctant bride find true happiness in an arranged marriage?

I read The Bridegroom twice. I really wanted to be fair so I read it last night and then again this afternoon. Unfortunately I still have the same impression. I didn’t care for it but it is fair to say, some readers will love it. I wish Darby York would have avoided the constant thrust of medieval dialogue. I felt the conversations were forced to fit the ancient talk.

At just over halfway through The Bridegroom the couple had yet to touch or kiss. She basically doesn’t like him, yet for some reason lusts for him. Finally the unhappy couple marries and once they find themselves alone she loses her virginity quick, fast and unfulfilling to the reader. There is no warm up and barely any foreplay.

After their first lackluster love making scene, the story jumps two months ahead. There is a reprieve from the previous marriage misery as the couple are in the midst of a Christmas celebration. There is dancing, singing; celebrating and you feel a calm fall over the couple. The set up is lovely and you can picture the party in full swing. It is evident that some romance has seeped into their forced marriage and she decides at the celebration “I would be your wife”. Unfortunately the wonderful romantic build up resulted in another anticlimactic coupling for me.