Series: Wales (Book 1)
THE FIRST WEDDING NIGHT
that Lady Juliana St. Albans spent with her bridegroom,
the dark and daring Rhys Vaughan, was one of divine discovery, as she realized
the fiery fulfillment of a man's driving hunger and her own awakened
sensuality.
THE SECOND WEDDING NIGHT
that Juliana spent with Rhys Vaughan was six years later,
after he had mysteriously vanished and then returned to claim her just as she
was about to wed another. This time he possessed her with a vengeance, turning
her ecstasy into a tempest of conflict between them. Yet there was that blaze
of passion to light their way through the maze of mystery, menace and mistrust
-- to the love they once shared and would have to find again...
Very good book, written in 1995 and recently revised by
the author. It is a story of second chances, pride, trust and ultimately love. Julianna
is twenty one when she meets Rhys. She is the daughter of an English lord,
living on an estate in Wales. She is fascinated by the Welsh culture and
language, in spite of her family's viewpoint of it as barbaric. This leads her
to secretly attend a meeting of local radicals, where she meets Rhys. He is a
man who is a proponent of preserving the Welsh lifestyle, taking their lives
back from the English. He is also the son of a man who lost his estate to
Julianna's father and then killed himself in shame. There is an immediate
connection between Rhys and Julianna, until he discovers who she is. But in
spite of his common sense, he can't stay away from her. Over the next few weeks
they meet secretly, sharing their passion for Welsh culture, while the
attraction between them grows. Rhys talks her into eloping with him. But the
next morning, Julianna wakes to discover that Rhys has disappeared. Six years
later he returns from the dead, determined to have vengeance on the woman he
believes has betrayed him. While he's no longer the idealistic crusader he was,
Julianna has also changed from an innocent young girl to a woman with the
strength to stand up to him.
The beginning of the book was taken up with their meeting
and courtship, such as it was. Julianna is innocent and a bit naïve, not
realizing the trouble she could get into. I loved her fascination with all
things Welsh and her determination to learn as much as she can. She doesn't
understand her family's attitude, and continues her activities in spite of it.
She is immediately drawn to Rhys and his passion for his country. Rhys is
fascinated by her also, but when he finds out who she is, he is angry and
believes the worst of her. He's rather hotheaded and does something that gets
her into trouble before he realizes what he has done. His apology is heartfelt,
and his fascination with her continues, as they meet secretly each evening in
her room. They manage their elopement and their wedding night is sweet and
passionate, but all too short. Rhys is kidnapped by her brothers while she
sleeps, and handed over to a press gang, but not before they fill his head with
lies about Julianna. They then continue their interference by lying to Julianna.
But things don't go quite the way they planned, as Julianna has developed a bit
more backbone than they expected. I loved seeing her stand up to them and her
father regarding her marriage to Rhys.
Six years later she has lost hope. She has made a life
for herself at Llynwydd, and now wants more. She's about to announce her
engagement to another man when Rhys reappears. She is stunned, and overjoyed to
see him, until he begins to speak. Rhys has spent six years believing that she
betrayed him and was responsible for his kidnapping and impressment. He is
determined to have his revenge, and make her pay for his actions. The scene
with him, Julianna and her brothers is heartbreaking, as she proclaims her
innocence and he believes the lies her brothers continue to spout. He makes his
plans clear, to claim "his" estate and his wife.
Now Julianna must fight for her marriage and her
husband's love if her life is to be at all bearable. There's no denying that
the passion is still there between them, but that isn't enough for her. I loved
her determination to stand up to him until he can accept the truth. Julianna
realizes that until he trusts her again, there is no chance for them to have a
true marriage. There were times that I wanted to reach through the pages and
shake Rhys for his stubbornness. How he could believe her brothers, when he
knew their attitudes toward the Welsh people, over Julianna, I simply couldn't
understand. There were some fantastic scenes with Julianna resisting his
attempts to get her back in his bed, and Rhys experiencing great frustration. I
loved seeing how her actions often confused Rhys, as they were contrary to
everything he believed about her. I liked how she broke down his walls, little
by little, but there was still a core of distrust that she couldn't get past. I
loved that she continued to hold out for everything rather than accept less
than she deserved. The final hurdle was the hardest and I ached for her as she
laid her heart on the line for him. I loved the ending and his big moment, as
he finally faced the fears that had been driving him all along.
The concurrent story, involving Rhys's friend Morgan and
Julianna's maid, Lettice was also good. He was taken at the same time as Rhys,
leaving Lettice to face her own challenges. Julianna's older brother had a
large part in this. I loved Morgan and his far more clear-headed reaction to
everything that happened. His belief in Lettice, in spite of appearances, was
great. I enjoyed his attempts to make Rhys see the truth, and his frustration
with his blindness. It was especially satisfying to see the retribution they
visited on Julianna's brother.
Her family was a group that was easy to dislike.
Julianna's mother was rather cold and stuck on appearances. Her father was
ruthless and conniving and I loved seeing how Julianna ultimately won in her
battle with him. Her brother Darcy was an arrogant ass, who believed that he
deserved to get whatever he wanted. He pretended he was looking out for his
sister, but it was really all about him. It was interesting to see the effects
his actions ended up having on his life Overton was pretty much spineless when
it came to standing up to him. I liked seeing him finally do the right thing in
the end.
One of my favorite characters was young Evan, the Welsh
boy who Julianna was teaching. I loved his intelligence and desire to learn. I
loved how Rhys and Julianna were able to make his dreams come true. I also
enjoyed how he defended Julianna to Rhys.
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