Ugh, I hate this cover with the single white rose.
Apparently this book is part of a four part series focusing on war heroes after returning from the Napoleonic wars. "To Catch a Bride" falls into place as Book Three, but you do not need to read the first two books to enjoy this one. The references to the other heroes (and their loves) are minimal, mostly contained to the beginning of the novel. Rafe is attending Book Two's wedding and meets an elderly woman (a childhood friend of his own beloved grandmother) looking for her long-lost grand-daughter. She believed her son, his wife and only daughter all died of the plague in Cairo, but has recently discovered her grand-daughter, Alicia may still be alive. Since Rafe's older brother the Earl of Axebridge has just arranged Rafe's marriage without consulting him, he decides a trip to Egypt will be just the thing to piss off his brother and relieve some pent up post-wartime aggression. As you may have guessed he will fall in love on this trip, but there are monkey wrenches and twists as he does.
You could break this novel into three sections: Egypt, The Journey to England by Boat, and the Arrival in England. The final section is actually the shortest, and felt a bit rushed. While the journey had plenty of potential for closeness and tension, if I'm being completely honest the book started off well in Cairo, and went down hill from there. There were too many added elements and silly plot twists, along with some pretty silly misunderstandings. This would have made a wonderful novella in an anthology, but does not hold its own as a full-length Historical Romance. The pacing was off, and I one minute I would really be enjoying it, and the next my mind would trail off to dinner plans or my to do list..
Overall, it was a pretty average story that could have been better.
