The Price of a Bride by Michelle Reid

Forced to marry! When Mia Frazier agreed to her father's demand to marry Greek millionaire Alexander Doumas, she knew both men stood to gain from the deal--Alex would win back his family's island, and Mia's father would get the grandson and heir he so desperately longed for. But what about Mia? She had her own reason for agreeing to be Alex's wife--which was not financial gain, as Alex cynically believed. But how could the truth stay hidden, when she shared such intense passion with her new husband...and was now carrying his child?

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Intense, harrowing, and utterly gut wrenching

I cannot recollect the number of times I have read this book. The Price of a Bride is the OG of all forced marriage romance books with brooding hero and mysterious heroine with a tragic backstory.

Well, on the surface, the hero is forced to marry while the heroine seems to be getting the better end of the deal. But not all is what it appears to be, is it?

The tale has it all, the classic misunderstanding, the ultra-brooding of the hero who believes he has been conned and a villainous parental figure who acts cupid. But what makes me return to this story again and again to cry is the way Michelle Reid sets the various scenes between the protagonists. While the hero, Alex taunts and berates Mia every chance he gets, there are deeper issues underlying his toxicity. Of which he isn’t proud but Mia’a aloofness brings it out in him. Sometimes, just to get a rise out of her.

While, whenever the POV shifts to Mia, it is clear that there are layers of complex emotions and facts are pushing her to behave the way she does. Secrets upon secrets that she holds, the weight of which threatens to shove her deep in the ground, but she fights on. Just like every woman. To the outside world, she stoically plans her every move, never rises to any provocation, remains calm through all the insults that are thrown her way, taking refuge under a haughtiness which beguiling. 

And the end… it has a twist. I did wish for a harsher punishment for the villain, but karma has many forms, not all of which are apparent.

This is the story which made me fall in love with Michelle Reid’s writing. I wish she would write more.