• The Ward's Bride

  • Border Series Prequel Novella
  • By: Cecelia Mecca
  • Narrated by: Benedict Waring
  • Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (89 ratings)

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The Ward's Bride  By  cover art

The Ward's Bride

By: Cecelia Mecca
Narrated by: Benedict Waring
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Publisher's summary

Their marriage is forced. Their passion is real.

English knight Sir Adam Dayne is offered the ultimate prize by the earl who raised him: lordship of Langford castle. All he must do is accept a betrothal to the Scottish Marcher warden's beautiful daughter, a match made to keep peace at the tumultuous Anglo-Scottish border. Sir Adam relishes the prospect - until he meets the woman he is to wed.

Lady Cora Maxwell hates everything English, including the self-assured new lord who has claimed her hand in marriage. Desperate to return home to Scotland, Cora displays increasingly outrageous behavior in the hopes of dissuading the Englishman from the marriage. But when Adam proposes a unique challenge, Cora is forced to face her greatest fears and the burgeoning desire he has awakened in her.

The Ward's Bride is a prequel novella in a historical romance series set in 13th century Northumbria. If you like strong female heroines, alpha male types, and sizzling romance, you'll love the first installment of the Border Series. Transport yourself to the medieval world of The Ward's Bride today!

©2017 Cecelia Mecca (P)2017 Altiora Press

What listeners say about The Ward's Bride

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Feisty Bride

This is a well written and narrated historical that left me with the feeling of wanting to listen to more books in the series. Along with the historical theme, this story is exciting, has delightful characters, is romantic and has lots of sweet moments that left me smiling. I will be checking out more by this author.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily provided this review.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Historical Novella with An Arranged Marriage

This is a great short audiobook listen. The characters are independent and captivating. I'm not familiar with this author but this is a great Novella.

The narrator brought the story to life. His performance was excellent.

An arranged marriage between an Scottish bride and an Englishman is negotiated in order to reach an alliance. Cora is determined to do everything in her power to got back home. She does not want to marry an Englishman.

Cora's outrageous behavior is quite entertaining. She is so lucky Adam is a gentlemen and treats her better than most men would.

I'm looking forward to reading more books in this series.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An arranged marriage with a feisty Scottish lass

Any additional comments?

3.5 stars

I love historical stories from this time period and this is a short but entertaining, sometimes humorous and very enjoyable prequel to a series. Hopefully the rest of the series will be available on Audible soon. I'm looking forward to it.

The English and Scottish have been at odds forever. Many tenuous alliances were made through the practice of arranged marriages. Some were lucky and found love others were unlucky and miserable. If Cora gives her union a chance she may discover she's one of the lucky ones.

Interesting and well rounded cast of characters. For being a shorter book the characters had depth. Even though there is an instant attraction I really liked that so much time was spent on developing Cora and Adam as well as the relationship developing between them. Both the H and h are independent and strong characters. Of coarse you can't help but admire Cora's feisty demeanor and tenacity. She's determined to get back to Scotland. Adam was unbelievably patient, considerate and honorable when it came to Cora.

Benedict Waring did a great job with the narration. Nice voice that is perfect for this type of story. His accent lends an authenticity to the story. Clearly spoken with a nice pace. His male voices are great of coarse. His female voices are really good as well. Occasionally there was an odd pause. But it fit the story as if the characters were having a hard time expressing themselves. He was able to bring the characters and story to life. Hopefully he will be narrating the rest of the series. Very enjoyable

You can hear him swallow and take in breaths at times which gets a bit annoying after a while. It was not so much that it took away from my overall enjoyment of the story.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily provided this review.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • DK
  • 08-29-17

The Ward's Bride: A Prequel


✒️ To try to avert escalation of the border wars between Scotland and England, an arranged marriage is made between the Scotsman's daughter and an English nobleman/soldier.

Cora Mitchell(the Lady Scott) is set against this marriage. Almost as soon as she arrives she is wed to Adam (Englishman) thwarting her plans of calling off the marriage.

Despite a physical attraction and with the patience of Job, Adam acquiesces to all of Cora's demands, no matter how foolish or against the reasons for the marriage.

I don't want to share much more, as this is a prequel of only 3 hours +/-
I cannot wait for the rest of the series to come out and I hope to remember to add them to my wish list when Audible finally has them. At the time of this writing (2017) none of the rest are available.

The narration was great. I have never heard Benedict Waring before. His deep voice is perfect for the noble, fierce Englishman and the growly voice of a Scottish warrior. His interpretations of the female characters are very good, too.

*I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review

Thank you for reading my review. If you found it helpful, would you take a moment and select 'yes' below? Consider following me on Audible, as well.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Keeping the peace and falling in love!

Its no secret that the Scotts and the English had in the past instant distrust and dislike for each other and that is putting it mildly. In order to foster and to try to keep the peace often they would have to marry, not always going well. I loved this novella. It had so much packed into this book. Beautiful imagery, great strong characters and storyline that wasn't overly complicated or rushed. There is action, a little intrigue and you will laugh and be swept away by the passion between Cora and Adam.

I was provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Worth a credit: YES, but for $10.46 also worth the cost.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating Listen

Both the author and narrator were new to me. I really enjoyed this short listen. The characters are strong and independent, yet they have great chemistry. The forced marriage concept fit the time period for this book. Cora was fortunate that her husband (Adam) was not the brute most English barons were to Scottish brides. I thought the narrator did a very good performance with the various characters and was able to put the right emotion into the story. My review is not a synopsis of the book, but rather my opinion of it. I was provided with this review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily written my review. I will definitely look for more books in this series.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Love Has No Borders

Cecelia Mecca has been a wonderful new author to read. If you like to read medieval romance set in the border between Scotland and England, this book is for you. In spite of the fact that like most prequels the instant lust and love between Cora and Adam happened in a blink of an eye, somehow Ms Mecca managed to write an entertaining story. Adam and Cora were forced to marry in order to keep the peace between Cora's clan and its English neighbours. Adam had no problem with it, Cora had every intention to make her husband return her back home. And so the scheming began. I liked Adam sense of honour and Cora's feistiness. There are a couple of funny scenes too. Yes, I will continue reading this series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Battle of wills!!!

What did you love best about The Ward's Bride?

A new author with a great beginning in her first novella. Sir Adam Dayne, an English knight, is offered a prize that can't be refused. He gains his own castle if he marries and accepts a betrothal to the Scottish Marcher warden’s beautiful. Lady Cora Maxwell hates everything English, including the self-assured new lord and husband. Lady Cora thought she’s have time to convince her Adam that they would not suit, but instead they are married the day after she arrives. Cora provides Adam a proposal and if he accepts he will be in for the battle of wills with his new wife. Cora is forced to face her greatest fears and the burgeoning desire he has awakened in her.

What did you like best about this story?

A novella that delivers an excellent story of two people meeting for the first time, with different backgrounds and finding what they most need and desire, love and happiness.

Have you listened to any of Benedict Waring’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The Narrator Benedict Waring did an excellent job of narrating this audio book it simply came alive and was very enjoyable to listen to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Prequel for the coming series

Sorry to hear the Earl is sick and dying but good to know that you don't have to be blood to be family.

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Listener received this title free

Wonderful story

What a charming love story. I found it enchanting throughout. It was interesting to watch how a Scottish lady would find living in England with an English husband.

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