When She Said I Do (Worthington #1) by Celeste Bradley
Historical Romance
January 29, 2013
St Martins Press

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “I exist here in this moment. I exist for her.“

I love retellings of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. Especially when we are presented with such a deliciously naughty beast and a curious heroine who is more than able to tame him.

Miss Calliope Worthington is travelling with her parents and brother when their carriage overturns during a rainstorm and they are all forced into an abandoned mansion. Calliope’s search for food and dry clothing takes her throughout the mansion until she finds a dusty trunk filled with jewels. When the master of the home catches her with a long string of pearls, he accuses her of being a thief and demands payment…with her body. For each pearl she has “stolen”, she owes him a night of passion and obedience. Before things can go too far, her brother finds them and demands satisfaction for Calliope’s supposed compromising. Calliope is shocked by the feelings the man has invoked in her and seeks to rework their bargain before her brother kills him. She will marry him and repay him for the necklace, as long as she is able to go home once the last pearl is ‘repaid”. They come to an agreement and Calliope finds herself married to the beast.

I love historical romances that make me laugh and this one definitely did that. Callie and Ren are so wonderfully different yet they are perfectly matched. Callie is a delightful heroine with a delicious snarky attitude and some extremely naughty thoughts.

“Heavens. How brazen of me. Oh, look, I’m doing it again.”

She is not a milksop though. She is very intelligent, astute, vivacious, and quite stubborn when she puts her mind to something. She absolutely drives Ren insane. She listens to him, nodding as if in agreement, and then goes off and does what she wants. There is one scene where she challenges him to a sword fight and he is pleasantly surprised to find she is not only good, but her playfulness calls to him as she begins to “strip him” one swipe at a time. She constantly keeps him on his toes.

Ren Porter (whom we see in Bradley’s The Liars Club and The Royal Four series) is quite the curmudgeon. A real beast. A former spy for the crown, he was double crossed on his last mission. Beaten and left for dead, he is scarred both on the inside and out. When his fiance abandons him, due to his injuries, He isolates himself in his mansion, slowly waiting to die.

Watching Ren fight his attraction for Callie is heartbreaking, especially when you realize the reasons he is doing it. His past has left him cold and unable to completely trust anyone and he honestly believes that should she ever see the real him she will run screaming. He also has a strong sense of honor that berates him for trapping Callie into marriage with him.

Their physical attraction is apparent from the beginning-lots of luscious sensual scenes that leaves no doubt these two are sexually attracted to one another. I loved that Callie got impatient and angry with Ren for sexually teasing her and not committing to the deed.

“He treated her like the untried virgin she was. Bastard.”

The story does touch on the erotic. Our hero blindfolds our heroine and demands obedience in making her kneel and giving her commands to not move. Their bartering games are both funny and sexy.

Interesting and intricate subplots makes the story much more than a simple romance. When I started reading this, I hadn’t read anything by Celeste Bradley. I have since learned that she has another series called The Liars Club to which this spins off of. Characters from that series do bleed over into this one but you are not required to read the other series in order to understand this one. Vivacious secondary characters keep the story fresh and moving along at a steady pace. Callie’s family are basically pains in the butt but Callie loves them, warts and all. They are narcissistic, self absorbed, and cause mayhem wherever they go. There is a small clue towards the end though that makes you think that maybe they aren’t are useless as you think. Our villain(s)who seeks to drive our couple apart isn’t so much evil as selfish though the lengths they will go to are pretty extreme. Various characters from The Liars Club appear, intent on helping Ren re enter the land of the living and showing him that his isolation is of his own making. Plenty of humor intertwines within the story, balancing nicely with the emotional journey of our couple. I especially liked that our hero isn’t a jerk. Not to say he isn’t an ass at times, because he is, and he jumps to conclusions a lot. But he soon learns his lesson when dealing with his bride and repents in a proper manner that leaves no doubts to his feelings for her.

As with most romances, our hero and heroine have to run a pretty rough gauntlet in order to overcome any objections to their being together. The uniqueness here is the obstacles are almost entirely of Ren’s making. Bradley uses an age old trope to make Ren admit his love and we are granted our happily ever after.

Ah l’amour. I adored this story and the wonderful hero and heroine who shed all their inhibitions and fears in order to go on the most powerful journey they ever embarked on…falling in love.

Overall Rating: B+

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