The Bride's Necklace

The Bride's Necklace
by: Kat Martin

The Bride's Necklace is the first in a trilogy, set in England in 1804, it is a historical romance, but tastefully done. The main characters are Victoria and her sister Claire, their stepfather, the Baron and Cord. Everything seems to revolve around them, but with some smaller, bit parts to others, that sometimes play a larger role for a few pages then drift off again.
The development of the characters and the relationships between them are explored and I loved watching them grow. Each person, although never out-right said, is scared by the past, by the actions of parents or friends, and it colors their judgements in the current relationships, which brings troubles, once the old wounds are exposed and laid to rest, the relationships blossom.
The historical setting, the 1800's when England and France are at war, was wonderful, more is made of the war line, as the sailing of ships is a sub-line in the story, but not much about the time period is really delved into in any great detail. It makes for a classic story that fits no matter the time reference.

This is the first book by this author that I read, and I really enjoyed it. She kept me interested in that I started and finished the book last night after dinner. I liked how, knowing that this was part of a trilogy, I could not surmise anything about the next book, until the last page or two of this book! I had no clue how it would continue until that point, which was really nice, it meant that the main characters had their stories told to a good ending point. I didn't feel cut off, that I would have to wait for the next book to find the end to the story line of someone, only that the next book might give small insides into the future, but that all was well with the characters and I didn't need to revisit them.