The Changeling Bride
The Changeling Bride by Lisa Cach is a time travel novel set in Georgian
England of the 1790’s and is part of the Heartspell series.
Wilhelmina Regina March (Elle) is a modern day woman who is granted a chance of a lifetime when she is rewarded with a coupon for a free husband to be redeemed at will.
Annoyed at the matchmaking efforts of her brother she decides to try to redeem the coupon. Calling out she asks for a husband “who is civilized, owns a very big house, and doesn’t expect me to dote on him”. A landslide grants her wish when she finds herself staring at her exact double who is lying dead. The fairies who grant her wish change her clothes and lead her to her new home and a new life as a bride to be.
Confused and disoriented it does not take Elle long to realise that she is somehow in another time. Hoping that she is just being granted a wedding she plays along and tries to pass herself off as Eleanor Moore. A task which is easier said than done when she has a distinctive American accent. Convincing everyone that it is the effects of the illness that Eleanor had been suffering from Elle finds herself getting into the role as the wedding approaches, despite her sister Louise’s stories of how horrible Lord Henry, the groom, was. Stories which Louise had heard first hand from Elle herself.
Lord Henry meanwhile is not looking forward to his wedding at all. However he knows that he will have to go through with it in order to secure he monies he needs to keep his family estate running. He knows that their marriage is a business arrangement whereby he gets her money and she gets elevated in Society. He knows that their life ahead will not be easy and is prepared for the worst.
As exciting as she finds the upcoming wedding, Elle is unsure what will happen afterwards. She is not prepared to spend her entire life in another time and hopes that after the wedding she will be sent back to her own time where her dog Tatiania is waiting for her.
Calling out to the fairies she declares that the adventure would not be worth it if it meant she lost her dog. But instead of sending her back they merely made sure that her dog came back in time to her.
Her new husband is a surprise to her but their marriage gets off to a bad start when she fumbles her way through their first dance and he believes she has done it on purpose to humiliate him.
Soon Elle comes to understand that she is not able to go back to her own time and that the husband she has been granted is for life.
Henry and Elle travel to Brookhaven where Elle immediately feels at home and starts to settle into her life as mistress of the house and wife of Lord Henry.
Elle soon makes friends with Lady Annalise, Henry’s great-grandmother and over time she comes to believe that it is through Lady Annalise that she has come back in time to Henry.
Elle however rejects Henry from her bed however through fear of pregnancy and thus denies him the possibility of children and herself the opportunity of knowing the love of her husband. She does not count on the magic of the fairies freeing her of her fears and when she realises what has happened she is even more fearful of the future.
Elle and Henry’s love grows but between them is always the secret of where Elle is from. Only if Elle can let go of her fears and confide in Henry will she find true happiness and then only if she can accept the gift the fairy folk have given her.
The Changeling Bride is a touching story with a hero and heroine who immediately endear themselves to the reader. Not to mention the adorable Tatiana. There is also an interesting story within the story to explain the fairy wish.
I did think that it was a shame that the original Eleanor should have
died instead of having a second chance at life, possibly in the 20th century.
But Elle and Henry’s story was a wonderful time travel romance with all
the magical elements we could wish for.
RATING : 
(if you need an explanation of the hearts ratings see my homepage)
Also by Lisa Cach: Bewitching the Baron, George and the Virgin, The Mermaid of Penperro and Of Midnight Born
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