Books like Salt Bride

3.5 stars. I must have really been in a historical romance novel kind of mood the last couple of days, because I whipped through three of them, all Kindle freebies, in one day (some skimming may or may not have been involved). Don't judge (I had a really rough week with work and I was looking for pure escapism). This one was the best of the three by a fair amount (the other two were self-published freebies, Lord Grenville's Choice and Ruse & Romance. The funny thing is that all three involve marriage-of-convenience/forced into marriage kind of plots, which is more than likely an indication of just how overused that trope is in romance novels, but it's still kind of fun when it's done well.We're in the Georgian (pre-Regency) period here, with the Earl of Salt Hendon and country squire's daughter Jane Despard reluctantly getting engaged, him because of a deathbed promise and her because her father's will tied up a fortune that her beloved stepbrother will only get when she gets married. But it gradually becomes clearer and clearer that "Salt" and Jane have a History--and how! That history is disclosed bit by bit over the first few chapters, but half the fun is gradually figuring out what exactly went wrong between these two, and how it happened. The other half, of course, is finding out how they're able to redevelop trust and love for each other, especially when there's someone close to Salt who's extremely determined to make sure it doesn't happen, and has absolutely no scruples about how she goes about it.It's a highly melodramatic tale, and occasionally the story wanders off onto random trails and dead ends that don't really help the plot along and/or are unnecessary distractions. Also Jane is a Mary Sue, perfection personified in every way, while Salt is the rake with a heart of gold who treats her cruelly at first because he thinks she betrayed him four years ago, so you have to be down with those kinds of personalities. Overall it was a fun way to spend a couple of romance-reading hours, and this is one of the better romance freebies I've found. As of the date of this review, it's still a freebie, as is another of Brant's books, Midnight Marriage, which I liked even better.