Tempting The Bride - Sherry Thomas

Helena Fitzhugh understands perfectly well that she would be ruined should her secret love affair be discovered. So when a rendezvous goes wrong and she is about to be caught in the act, it is with the greatest reluctance that she accepts help from David Hillsborough, Viscount Hastings, and elopes with him to save her reputation.       
Helena has despised David since they were children—the notorious rake has tormented her all her life. David, on the other hand, has always loved Helena, but his pride will never let him admit the secrets of his heart.       
A carriage accident the day after their elopement, however, robs Helena of her memory—the slate is wiped clean. At last David dares to reveal his love, and she finds him both fascinating and desirable. But what will happen when her memory returns and she realizes she has fallen for a man she has sworn never to trust?

I was curious about Helena and David's story after reading about them in the previous books of this trilogy. But I wasn't in a rush to start their story seeing as how I didn't grade those books very high. However this Tempting the Bride was a nice surprise that I read almost in one sitting. I didn't particularly like Helena in the previous books and truth be told I didn't particularly liked her here either. David, however, is a completely different story. 

David has been in love with Helena since they met when they were both very young. Being foolish and insecure he teased her and played pranks on her instead of charming her. Now that they are both adults he seems unable to change the way he has always behaved towards her so she dislikes him intensely. But he loves her to the point of wanting to save her from social ruin when she is about to get caught in a compromising situation with another man. They plan to elope, although Helena is very reluctant about the whole situation, but she suffers an accident and can't remember anything about their relationship. It is her family, and David, who tell her about the elopement but without adding details of their strained relationship. Continuing with their plan to pretend they are married David takes her to the country to recover.

I loved how Thomas has David telling their story to Helena step by step, how he doesn't lie to her and tells her how horrible he was to her while growing up. How they took their time in order for Helena to build some feelings for David before advancing with their marriage. I really liked what Thomas did with these characters. I liked their relationship while Helena's memory loss persisted and was sorry that they couldn't have found that contentment before. They were funny and sweet together. Once her memory is back I liked how David does accept his blame for how she saw him. When he is faced with Helena's anger and resorts to his old ways he is fast to repent and ask her forgiveness.

Helena eventually sees what everyone else has seen from the very beginning. That David is perfect for her and she has nothing in common with the other man. I only wish she had arrived to that conclusion a bit sooner. While David was no saint when dealing with her in the past he was perfect in every way when given this new chance to win her love.

Grade: 4/5