"a super Regency with a strong Gothic touch"

Anne Stuart never ceased to amazes me, turning out such strong works for decades. Many top writers of today such as Linda Howard, Nora Robert and Jayne Anne Krentz started in series romance years ago, and we have watched them grow into the talent they are now. However, you notice with Anne Stuart she was always great - right from the very start. Go back to her earliest works of Gothic and Regency Romances, and you'll see the same magic voice weaving solid tales in the same brilliance. Lord Satan's Bride is a prime example of this talented writer's works. Written in 1981 for Candlelight Regency Special (Dell) it originally sold for $1.50, and now you find it for nearly $10.00 used. Frankly, it's worth every penny!

Sylvie Wetherall is off for a season in London. Not that she's thrilled with the idea of the Ton, but at nineteen she's decided it's time she finds a nice comfortable husband, settle down and give her Father the Vicar grandchildren. She goes to London to live with her Aunt Tibelda and her cousin Amanda. Her Aunt Tibelda, in her 70s, is a Duchess. But once that Duchess was an actress. While she's more sedate these days, she still dresses like an ingenue, and in very vivid colours. She hopes having her two niece will liven up her life, but she gets a bit more than she wished.

On the trip to London, Sophie stopped at certain graveyards along the route to report to her father upon the age and historical details of each. However, a late night trip to one catches her up in a bizarre situation. She hears chanting and sees men dressed as Monks, then a woman screaming. As she rushes to see if she can help, she's caught by a tall man, who tells her to flee the place, and forget what she saw. He says the men are called the Heavenly Host and he s he is Satan.

Days later when someone begins to warn Sylvie to stay away from Nicholas Wyndham and that he is called Satan, Sylvie but cannot help but wonder if Wyndham is the same man she met in the graveyard. Odd things begin to happen to Sylvie. One the way to a ball, a highwayman stops her carriage. In the nick of time, (no pun intended!) Nicholas Wyndham arrives to save her life. Later, he dances with her at the ball shocking the whole ton.

Sylvie is in a dither. She knows Nicholas is the man calling himself Satan, knows he has a reputation that would rival Satan himself. But she sees a deep sadness within the handsome man. He keeps warning Sylvie to stay away from him, but then he repeatedly turns up in her life.

If her falling in love with the dangerous man is not distracting enough, she learns her cousin Amanda is in love with Aunt Tibelda's handsome Irish coachman. Sylvie is determined to play cupid. The secondary romance between Amanda and Tynan is just as enchanting as the growing love between Sylvie and Nicholas.

It's a super Regency with a strong Gothic touch, and done with Stuart's typical Bad Boy you cannot resist. What more can you want from such a classic story? It's a shame someone is not reprinting these older Stuarts. They are well worth it.

Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted August 17, 2004