His Betrothed [Mass Market Paperback]

In 1556, at a London party on the eve of her wedding, Lady Roselyn Harrington sees her fiance, Sir Spencer Thornton for the first time. She finds Spencer lacking in simple courtesy. Roselyn wonders if that is the fault of his mother's Spanish blood. He really fails in comparison to her father's kind groom Philip Grant, especially when he becomes drunk. Spencer does not want to marry Roselyn, but she leaves him with his hangover at the church steps to elope with the understanding Philip.

Three decades later, Roslyn remains disowned by her family and is now an impoverish widow. During a sea battle with the Spanish, an injured Spencer is washed onto the beach near Rosleyn's home. She recognizes her former fiance as he does her. Though he must reach Queen Elizabeth with vital information, Spencer decides to punish Roselyn, but neither one expected love to forge itself on top of a foundation of mistrust.

HIS BETROTHED is an exciting Elizabethan romance that stars two lead protagonists struggling between an attraction and their past on the eve of Drake's victory. The story line is fast-paced though it needs a needle in the haystack chance of meeting in that remote location to allow the reader to feel a pivotal point in history. Still, the battle of the sexes and not the war of two great nations, as Roselyn and Spencer humorously squabble with their own feelings and each, other own this tale. Gayle Callen opens this sixteenth century trilogy with a page-turner that never rests for even a paragraph.

Harriet Klausner

From the back cover:

She was a reluctant bride...

When Lady Roselyn Harrington discovers an injured sailor from the Spanish Armada washed up on shore, she's stunned to see he's the fiance she abandoned at the altar two years before. When she'd first met Sir Spencer Thornton, he was far from the man of her dreams. But the Spencer she nurses back to health now is very different from the aloof nobleman who once scorned her. And in his strong embrace, Rose discovers passion...with the one man she can never trust.

He was a determined groom!

Spencer had jumped at the chance to escape London and serve Queen Elizabeth as a spy against Spain. And though he's now dependent on Rose's good graces to hide him from the traitor trying to kill him, Spencer decides to play an even more dangerous game: to make Rose fall in love with him so he can reject her. But the impetuous girl has become a strong beauty, and Spencer's intended revenge turns into a wholesale wooing of the one woman he can't resist--his betrothed.

And my review:

I'm a fan of Gayle Callen's books. While I don't find them to be keepers, they are usually an enjoyable, fast-paced, can't-put-it-down read. HIS BETROTHED was enjoyable, but not as good as some of this author's other books.

For one thing, I felt that she relied just a little too heavily on sexual attraction to bring Roselyn and Spencer together. Even by the end of the book, when they actually declare their love, it just didn't ring true for me. There seemed to be just lust, and no real tender feelings to support the raging hormones. They were two strong characters--but unfortunately, I just didn't see them as a couple, even by the end of the story.

I often felt like there was more focus on the "spy" storyline (and the lust) that the romance part of the book wasn't as well developed as it could have been. This was still an enjoyable book, but I've liked some of her other books, such as HIS SCANDAL (the sequel to this book, which is Spencer's twin brother Alex's story), or BEAUTY AND THE SPY much better. Maybe I didn't enjoy HIS BETROTHED as much because I was expecting more of this author.

One other complaint: the hero was so sweaty! Seriously, the guy was dripping with perspiration just about every scene. I know he was often sweating from being injured, or from exerting himself trying to recover faster than was wise (or because it the weather was just hot), but it was really overdone. Honestly, I started to wonder if the hero had some kind of gland problem or something, considering the way he was ALWAYS soaked in sweat. It got kind of gross after a while.

Fans of this author are probably going to buy this book regardless of the negative and neutral reviews. I would recommend trying to borrow this one first, even if you are a fan of Gayle Callen's, as it's not up to par with some of her other books. It was an enjoyable way to pass a few hours, but not a story that really moved my emotions or stayed with me once I'd finished reading it. I would recommend HIS SCANDAL or BEAUTY AND THE SPY over and above HIS BETROTHED.

this is my first book by Gayle Callen. I loved it. The story, set in Elizabethan England is of arranged marraige gone wrong-and how true love and affection can make it right.

I give credit to Ms. Callen's writing-she wrote the hero, at the beginning, as such a jerk that I really couldn't stand him. But as the book progresses you see that the hero and heroine have issues in the background that have caused them to behave this way.

I thought the book highly charged-emotionally as well as sensually. There is lots of sexual tension and the love scenes are well written.

I don't quite understand the mediocre reviews. I highly recommend this book.

5 stars:)