When I Find You, by Dixie Lee Brown

"If I were you, I'd find someone I could trust and stick with him ..."


Darcy may not be married to the mob, but she's close enough to feel the pressure. Too close. So when her boss becomes the victim of a professional hit and she's forced to run, she heads for the relative safety of home.  But being on the lam is just a bit more complicated than she thought because now there's not a soul she can trust. Not Grant, the good looking law student who offers her a lift. Not Cooper, the U.S. Marshall assigned to her case, and certainly not Walker, the rogue combat vet who claims to be one of the good guys. But surviving means she has to trust someone and Darcy picks the one man who seems the most interested in keeping her alive. And while she may be physically safe - for the moment - her emotional safety is far from secure.

Ms. Brown has a way with suspense; I didn't know who to trust either, up to almost the very end of the book. Her writing is precise, with just the right amount of snappy dialogue laced with humor and heat. Ms. Brown is adept at changing the point of view between the characters, particularly Darcy and Walker - and especially later in the book, when things were really rocking and rolling. This made up for some confusion in the first few chapters, when Ms. Brown backs up over the plot from the two different POVs. The technique is distracting as Darcy's desperation calls for nothing but rapid forward progress. Not a value add in terms of the story and, IMHO, it would have worked better without it. Despite all that, I adored the characterizations. Darcy's hidden strengths surprised me, while the hero's humanity and honor won me over completely. I loved the story, loved the characters and loved the book. Edge of your seat stuff, folks.  Well done!

Wanted: Wife by Gwen Jones

"My childhood had been peppered with tales about Pineys, crazy backwoods Jethros who shotgunned first and asked questions later."

"Either this man was yanking my chain or there were still people out there who could surprise me. 'You don't think advertising on a utility pole for a wife is a bit out of the ordinary?'"

"He wasn't medieval; he was positively Neanderthal."



What's up with Andy?

No one can be that perfect, the rare combination of a "manly-man," sexy, sensitive, romantic, gorgeous and half French.  First hint that all is not what it seems: he's a native of New Jersey and living in that great state myself, I know these attributes are oh so thin on the ground.  So when Andy Devine advertises for a wife by hanging flyers on telephone poles, you know there's got to be much more going on.  And Julie Knott, a Philadelphia reporter drawn to the unusual, is on the case.  Julie's personal life is in shambles but the story comes first, especially when Andy, after interviewing 100 wannabe Mrs. Devines, decides Julie fits the bill. Having very little left to lose, Julie agrees to Andy's proposal - and brings her own secrets to the South Jersey Pines.

An unforgettable hero, an unusual premise, an unlikely setting, (the New Jersey Pine Barrens, for goodness sake!) and a spot-on first person narrative combine to make this one of the freshest, funniest contemporary romances I've read so far this year.  The truth does eventually prevail, and when it does, you find yourself on your feet, rooting for this romantic pair.   Wanted: Wife is a winner.


Available for pre-order now on Amazon.com.  Publication date is June 4, 2013.

Good to Myself, by Heather Wardell (Toronto Series)

"I was so very tired of games. But I'd never met a sexy guy who didn't make me play them."

"...that tall sleek body dressed in a dark green dress shirt and black pants that hugged him like they'd loved  him all their life." 

"Then I stopped savoring, and the words 'good to myself' rang through my head." 

I adore books I can relate to. Better yet, if a book makes me reconsider my personal status quo, it's forever labeled a favorite. I knew by the title that Good to Myself by Heather Wardell had that potential.  It does. In spades.

Lydia Grange is a popular online columnist. Single, savvy and smart, she's perceived as Canada's answer to Carrie Bradshaw.  When one of the lead columnists in the office leaves, Lydia is asked to compete with her two coworkers for the high profile job. The premise of the competition is  straightforward - increase site traffic through a "Be Good to Yourself and teach your followers how to be the same" campaign.  Lydia believes she has this one nailed down, after all she's good to herself all the time. Unchecked retail therapy at bargain prices, sexy guys leading to sex with no strings, slices of fabulous cheesecake whenever possible and a staggering Starbucks habit chock full of sugary, caffeinated heaven. All in the name of feeling good as often as possible. However, as the competition goes on, Lydia discovers that her version of being good to herself usually falls short of the intended result. And it's this self discovery that kept me turning the pages. 

Lydia certainly made me uncomfortable and for several chapters I didn't understand why. Then I realized she reminded me of, well, me.  Her epiphanies come slowly and are hard earned, but when they arrive, I guarantee you, as a reader, will be nodding your head and cheering her on and perhaps seeing more than a little something of yourself in her.  Oh, and the purse on the cover.  Been there and bet you have too. 

Ms. Wardell is one of my favorite authors and in Good to Myself, she reminds me why. A modern romance where the protagonist finds her way first is the very best kind. Well written and well done.  Two thumbs up. Way up. 

It Happened One Midnight: Pennyroyal Green Series by Julie Anne Long

Thomasina De Ballesteros and Jonathan Redmond are as unlikely a couple as ever there was. And Julie Anne Long takes the circuitous route in bringing them together, which makes It Happened One Midnight an irresistible romance read. I love the way Ms. Long weaves a story and this one is certainly no exception. Tommy and Jonathan dance a slow circle around each other, testing, pushing, learning each other as the layers are peeled away.  Ms. Long's talent for placing the reader inside the story makes it seem as if we are doing the same - slowly, deliciously, page by page, coming to know Tommy and Jonathan as they really are, not as society defines them. This careful reveal kept me turning the pages while at the same time wishing I could just stop - so as to make the telling last. It was a brilliant feeling.

Great read by one of my favorite authors and available for preorder now on Amazon.

Blame it on Bath: The Truth about the Duke

The second in Caroline Linden's new Truth about the Duke series, Blame it on Bath is the story of Lord Captain Gerard de Lacey, the youngest offspring of the late Duke of Durham. All three ducal sons  are entangled in what has come to be known as the Durham Dilemma, a situation which may find all three declared bastards and destitute. Each brother sets off on a mission to find and dismiss the rumor that their parents' marriage was illegal and their father was a bigamist.  Edward, the middle de Lacey, had his story told in the recently reviewed, One Night in London. 

Gerard is home on bereavement leave from the Peninsula Wars, and is determined to use his time to track down the blackmailer threatening his family and his livelihood. He finds himself propositioned into marriage by the widow Lady Katherine Howe. A merchant's daughter who married a viscount, Katherine is starved for attention and affection and finds herself still in love with Gerard, years after a chance encounter on a rainy country road.  She needs this marriage in order to extricate herself from the expectation of a match to her dead husband's heir. Lacking any self-confidence, Kate sees Gerard as her ticket out of the quandary heavily promoted by her formidable mother. Fortunately for her, Gerard needs an heiress to marry in order to guarantee his income should the Durham Dilemma resolve itself against the De Lacey's. And so, after much thought, he agrees to the marriage.

I loved this book because Gerard himself is so very lovable. He's the quintessential romance hero. Despite an arranged marriage, he tries to make a go of it and when faced with Kate's insecurity complex, he takes his time to coax her (both in bed and out) from her shell. She begins to truly believe in herself for the first time in her life and in return, earns Gerard's love for herself as well.  The blackmail story becomes the backdrop for this beautiful love story set in Bath.

Blame it on Bath is out on February 28, 2011. I look forward to reading elder brother and heir, Charles' story. I've found that this novel is incrementally better than the previous one. If that continues to be the case,  the last in this series will surely not disappoint, especially since Charles has the furthest to go to redemption.

She Tempts the Duke (The Lost Lords of Pembrook) by Lorraine Heath

They called them the Lost Lords of Pembrook.  They are in reality three young men, one meant to inherit a dukedom, who disappeared years ago only to reappear twelve years later to claim the inheritance their unscrupulous uncle wants to take from them. Sebastian, the 8th Duke of Keswick, was 14 when his father died and his uncle locked him, his twin brother Tristan, and his younger brother Rafe in the tower at their ancestral home of Pembrook.  Uncle David's intent was clear. He would murder the three as he had murdered his own brother and assume the title for himself in retribution for his brother marrying Sebastian's mother.

Lady Mary Wynne-Jones, 12 year old neighbor, best friend to Sebastian, and daughter to the Earl of Winslow, overhears David's plans and manages to free the young lords. The boys then disappear into the night, each to live the next 12 years in their own exiles of hell before they come back together in dramatic fashion in order to take back what's rightfully theirs. In the escape, they leave Mary behind. She in turn, suffers her own form of exile when her father finds out exactly what she did that night and why.

Lorraine Heath's characters are horribly scarred psychologically by their ordeal. Sebastian even carries these scars as a physical manifestation, which adds to the dark undertones running rampant through this ultimately wonderful love story. The entire second half of the book is devoted to what we hope will be Sebastian's ultimate redemption, and the beating back of his demons and his unnatural need for retribution. Mary tries to break through the wall that surrounds this damaged grown up little boy, but it's only when Sebastian realizes what truly matters, that she succeeds. But will that realization come too late?

In the first of  a series of three novels, Ms. Heath takes us to the darkest reaches of despair and makes us wonder if perhaps this is the first time we will read a novel in this genre where a main character is so far  beyond all repair.  And seeing how this novel turned out, I can't help but hope that Tristan and Rafe's stories will follow in very short order. Published February 1, 2012.

The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae by Stephanie Laurens

Congratulations are in order. I am the owner of a brand new Kindle Touch. And to christen my latest bundle of technological joy, I immediately downloaded an advanced readers’ copy of Stephanie Laurens’ The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae. This is the third novel in the Cynster Sisters Triology and, as usual, Ms. Laurens delivers. Get ready, romance lovers. We have another winner.

The fun begins at a ton ball where a split second decision to act by the desperate Dominic Lachlan Guisachan, eighth Earl of Glencrae, changes the course of Angelica Cynster’s privileged, if somewhat mundane life. But the Scottish earl’s reputation as a dastardly villain does not accurately reflect this gentleman’s true nature; there is more to the story than meets the eye, for Angelica’s mother and Dominic’s father share a history – a history that the current Countess of Glencrae is none too happy about.  Irrationally jealous, Dominic’s mother steals a precious artifact – a goblet earmarked to be the financial salvation of the clan – and sets a ransom for its return. Dominic must deliver to her a Cynster, specifically a ruined Cynster. Then and only then will she hand over the goblet.  Dominic’s first two attempts at abduction (In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster and Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue) end in failure, but the third is the charm as Angelica turns out to be more cooperative than Dominic could have hoped. But Angelica has her own motives for assisting. She’s convinced Dominic is her hero, her one and only true love, and it’s just a matter of time before he reciprocates in kind.

Every book in Ms. Laurens’ Cynster series is well written with engaging protagonists in truly sigh-worthy romances.  The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae, the latest and perhaps my favorite of all, does the franchise proud.

Bond Girl, by Erin Duffy

In this stellar debut novel, Erin Duffy proves that "write what you know" is great advice indeed. Ms. Duffy, who spent years in the financial industry, spins the story of UVA alum Alex Garrett who, fresh from graduation, begins work at the Wall Street trading firm Cromwell, Pierce. Alex has known all her life that the financial industry is where she wants to make her mark. In a brilliant and almost too precocious light bulb moment at age eight, after visits to her father's place of work, Alex realizes that everything she's told not to do and everything she is undervalued for as a child, is actually permissible and admired on a trading floor.

At twenty-two, Alex arrives at Cromwell and meets her boss "Chick" Ciccone, and her assorted group of co-workers, all male, all older and all anxious to show the new "girlie" where she belongs on the office totem pole. What Alex does is turn her role as resident gopher into a chance to prove to herself and to them that she belongs, and over time she does just that. Some of the mistakes she makes on her way up her learning curve are quite hysterical, and her boss's punishments don't quite fit the "crimes" but we laugh at them anyway. Alex is faced with some challenges in the form of a duplicitous office love interest, a client who shows a bit too much enthusiasm for Alex's spare time, and the financial crisis of 2008. In true chic lit fashion, she overcomes it all, and comes out of it way ahead of the game.

For a debut novel, Ms. Duffy does an excellent job in serving up a fast-paced, absorbing page turner. Alex's embarrassment, trials and triumphs are all experienced first and center by the reader and by the end of the novel, we're ready to cheer her on to the next great thing she undertakes. It's an engaging story, very well-written, although the subject matter once again reminds me why I didn't study finance in graduate school. While it's a complicated subject to master, it's a heck of a lot of fun to read about. Highly recommend, and out on February 1, 2012. Published by William Morrow.

Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins

You never know what lurks in the shadows of an e-reader. Apparently a little while ago, I downloaded Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins, one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. I guess real life got in the way at the time and I didn’t get to it. Let me assure you, folks, had I known what I was missing, I would have cracked it open the minute it landed on my Kindle.

Cordelia Osterhagen, known to all as Posey, runs a salvage company, lives in an old church, owns three cats, a Great Dane and has been in love with one person since freshman year in high school. While her looks may have set her apart from her unusual but loving adoptive parents, her childhood was relatively normal and happy. That is until high school. Scrawny awkwardness doesn’t win teen popularity contests and Posey, given a choice between being the cool kids’ running joke or becoming invisible, chooses the latter and hopes no one notices.  Her plan to stay firmly on the fringe stays on course, even when the new, cool, straight out of juvenile detention kid in school takes a part time job in her parent’s kitschy German themed restaurant. Liam Declan Murphy is distant but cordial to Posey and this small amount of neutral attention thrown her way develops into a powerful one-sided teenaged crush. Posey painstakingly nurses her devotion to Liam – in fact, her entire existence revolves around him, even after he falls hard for another girl. But when Liam acts the bad boy toward Posey, proving he’s no different than any of the others at school, she is devastated. But she picks herself up and moves on, a little older in spirit and perhaps now a little wiser …

The decision to return to Bellsford, New Hampshire from San Diego isn’t an easy one for Liam, but as a widower, it seems the right decision to make for his teenaged daughter. The move will give her the chance to be closer to his late wife’s family. And being back will hopefully help him move past the painful, sometimes debilitating memories of his high school sweetheart’s death.  Liam is not surprised to find things haven’t changed very much. Guten Tag, the Osterhagen’s restaurant where he worked as a kid, is pretty much the same as is Cordelia (as he always called her). She’s still skinny, and still quirky. But as the weeks go by, he finds himself spending more and more time in her company – and surprisingly, enjoying it just a little too much… 

I’m a huge fan of all of Ms. Higgins’ work, but it’s the characters in this story that make it my favorite of hers. Both Posey and Liam are very unusual, Posey more for her looks than anything else. She is by far not a beauty, as the physical comparisons between her and her robust adoptive mother and cousin make obvious. But Posey’s personality is what makes her beautiful. At first Ms. Higgins administers only small doses of her character’s potential. But the fun is in watching Posey grow into herself, to finally fit into her huge personality – to be comfortable in her own skin.  Liam captured me in an entirely different way.  Appalled by his actions as a teen-aged boy, I was completely captivated by his behavior as a man. The author gives Liam touching humanity as the single father of a fifteen-year old daughter. The irony of this responsibility should not be lost on the reader as it is definitely not lost on Liam. And his struggles with OCD, panic attacks and general anxiety regarding his daughter's well being make this former bad boy motorcycle mechanic one of my favorite male protagonists.

As usual, Ms. Higgins scores huge. Until There Was You is most assuredly different and definitely divine. It's also very highly recommended. 

The American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin

Just before the beginning of the 20th century- The Gilded Age-when machines were installed into cotton mills, and the railroads made a trip take a quarter of the time it would have in a horse-drawn carriage, American heiresses were sought after by the English aristocracy to shore up their long suffering estates.  The American Heiress is the story of Cora Cash, daughter of a multi-millionaire, whose mother has but one goal in mind- a title for her daughter.  Cora was raised surrounded by the finer things in life, and with the knowledge that her mother would stop at nothing to gain the social standing she craved.  After a fiery spectacle at Cora's coming out ball in New York, she and her mother make the trip across the Atlantic on their own steamer to find Cora a husband.  Mrs. Cash, relentless in her pursuit, but knowing no one in England, pays for the services of a well to do woman to introduce them into ton society.

Cora is not the typical heiress; for while being raised in luxury, the one thing she wants the most is to be out from under her mother's rule.  An accomplished horsewoman, Cora is riding the hunt with her host and becomes lost in the woods.  After a run in with a branch, where she is knocked unconscious, our heroine is rescued by Ivo, the Duke of Wareham.  For her mother, a more perfect suitor could not be found, and within two days of her stay at Lulworth, Cora is engaged to Ivo.  It's no secret the Wareham dukedom is in need of funds, as the run down state of Lulworth suggests.  Old English aristocracy and new American money collide as Ivo and his mother (a double duchess to boot) make the trip to New York for the wedding.  Ivo is repulsed by everything in American society: the vulgarity, the money, the excesses that define American society during the latter 1800's.  Upon Cora and Ivo's return to England, Cora, the novice of ton society, is basically left to the wolves to fend for herself.  Ivo, while loving, is preoccupied with taking his seat in the Lords, and fighting off a lover from his past.  Cora's missteps are celebrated by her mother-in-law, and instead of helping, Ivo and his mother make matters worse for Cora.  Banished to Lulworth due to her pregnancy, Cora spends months and months alone at an estate she does not truly have control over, while Ivo is off accompanying Prince Eddy in India, and shaking off his embarrassment caused by his wife.

Ivo is not a hero that is easy to like, and indeed, I hated him at many points in the book.  On the surface, Cora seems to be a spoiled heiress, but you quickly realize there is more to her than money.  She married Ivo for love, and despite his faults, in the end, he becomes likable.  The entire book is a wonderful example of the Gilded Age, where excess was the way of society in America.  Goodwin does an excellent job at getting each and every detail of this excess perfect, and you get a true feel for what it must have been like during this time in American history.  A wonderful read about a time long past.

Trouble at the Wedding: Abandoned at the Altar by Laura Lee Guhrke

At the turn of the last century, it seemed American heiresses with money to burn and British peers with a burning need for that money, married. Ms. Annabel Wheaton, a Southern heiress whose fortune originated in her daddy's gold strikes, finds herself in this situation. But to her, marriage to a peer is a way to finally be accepted after a hardscrabble upbringing in the backwaters of Mississippi. As the novel opens, she is set to marry Bernard Alastair, the fourth Earl of Rumsford. But as fate (and historical romances) would have it, a monkey wrench in the form of Christian Du Quesne (pronounced DuCane, thank you very much), the Duke of Scarborough, appears. The ensuing love story is typical of Laura Lee Guhrke's writing. That is to say, it's full of romance, reforming rakes and hot nights in interesting locations. Trouble at the Wedding, another offering in the Abandoned at the Altar series, does not disappoint.

Christian, dead set against remarrying and a confirmed rake to boot, is asked by Annabel's Uncle Arthur to put a stop to her shipboard wedding to the Earl. Christian complies as a way to earn a good deal of money and assuage his guilty conscience over the death of his own American heiress wife 15 years before. The doubts Christian plants in Annabel's mind regarding life as a member of the British ton are  far-fetched, but they begin to take hold. Annabel starts to have serious doubts about her impending marriage. After a scene innocently reminiscent of that famous cargo hold scene in Titanic, The Movie, Christian stands up at Annabel's wedding and declares (loudly) that he knows why these two cannot be joined together. When the entire wedding guest list assumes Christian has compromised the bride before her wedding to another man, Annabel hatches a plot to save her reputation and to avoid marrying a very reluctant Christian. She appoints him to be one of her guardians and a trustee of her fortune, thereby explaining his performance at the wedding in an entirely different way.  The plot then moves to London, where the two of them become closer than any guardian and ward should be.

Trouble at the Wedding is a fun romp through Edwardian England seen through a Southern belle's eyes. The requisite rake is reformed and redeemed through an unexpected love, and a girl looking for acceptance finally finds it in the arms of a man who she never expected could love her back. All in all, like all of Laura Lee Guhrke's novels, it's a wonderful ending to an utterly endearing story. Due out on January 1, 2012.

How The Marquess Was Won, by Julie Anne Long

It makes sense that as a huge fan of historical romances, there are a few novelists I gravitate to naturally. But there are only two authors in that genre who I’m willing to bet will never disappoint.  One is Grace Burrowes and the other is Julie Anne Long. Ms. Long’s newest novel, How the Marquess Was Won: Pennyroyal Green Series, proves my point yet again. Her voice is unique, sophisticated and polished - consistently so. So when opportunity knocked, I answered with alacrity and found an advanced reader’s copy of Marquess in my hands.  Sometimes, things just cannot get any better.

Ms. Long starts the story almost at the end – an intriguing way to begin. We find Julian Spenser, Marquess Dryden, bleeding from a gunshot wound and professing a most uncharacteristic and unfortunately for him, unrequited love as Colin and Chase Eversea (of the infamous Eversea family, subjects of the author’s other Pennyroyal books) tend to his wound.  This scene does exactly what it is intended to do – we are now insatiably curious and want to know with whom Lord Ice (as this particular haughty member of the aristocracy is also known) has fallen in love and why he sounds as if his world has ended (bullet hole in his shoulder notwithstanding).  Chapter Two takes us to a time six weeks earlier, before he's even aware of the woman responsible for his current heartache.

But Phoebe Vale is certainly aware of him. Marquess Dryden is a frequent topic of the London broadsheets Phoebe devours when she isn’t teaching Latin, Greek and French history to potentially problematic young ladies in Miss Marietta Endicott’s Academy. Through the spectacular stories in the broadsheets, Phoebe knows Lord Ice is the current trendsetter – the man everyone emulates – a cool, calculating customer and a very wealthy member of the aristocracy. And it seems he is now in the market for a wife.  His life, and the comings and goings of others like him, fascinate Phoebe, but she understands her place in the world. Once a charity student at the academy, Phoebe is in an entirely different social sphere. She is also alone, but for Miss Endicott and her students, and has recently made a life changing decision that will take her far from Pennyroyal Green. 

But before Phoebe can pack her bags, a series of events throws her in the path of Lord Ice. This string of circumstance provides the framework for an enticing tug of war between a reluctant Phoebe and an extremely determined Julian.  Eventually, we are led to an astonishingly satisfying ending (the continuation of the first chapter). But I will leave the delicious particulars of this journey for you to discover for yourself.  As in What I Did for a Duke (reviewed February 22, 2011), Ms. Long infuses this solid story with crisp narrative, lovely dialog, subtle humor and plenty of heart. Her track record with me remains unbroken. How the Marquess Was Won is a clear winner.

Blank Slate Kate by Heather Wardell

I finished reading Blank Slate Kate by Heather Wardell almost a week ago. Usually, when I offer my opinion of a book to our loyal following, I do it within minutes of turning the last page. This one, however, needed to marinate in my head; a long soak amid the gray matter before I felt I could articulate with any clarity how much I loved Ms. Wardell’s latest. I still don’t know if I can do that task justice, but I think I’m ready to try.

Imagine waking up naked in a stranger’s bed with no recollection of how you got there. And add to that the undeniable fact that you are in a thirty-two year old body with the thoughts of a seventeen year old and no memory of who you are, where you live and what you’ve been doing for the past fifteen years. This is exactly what happens to Kate Anderson as she abruptly discovers that the years between 1996 and 2011 are nothing more than a blank slate.  Terror, depression and acute frustration vie for top emotional billing as Kate (with help of Jake - the bighearted, gorgeous stranger) tries to find out who she really is.

This is not a flighty contemporary romance. Some heavy topics are tackled, including severe depression, teenage pregnancy, adultery and date rape. The sum of these rather grim parts could have easily swept me into a deep, black hole, but much to Ms. Wardell’s credit, they did not. Just the opposite, I think, as I found myself carefully examining my own life experiences during that same period of time and while I would clearly like to forget a few of them, unlike Kate, I have little to regret.  

For me, the greatest strength of the story is the inherent unpredictability of the plot. For two-thirds of the book, I leaned heavily in one direction and then the fragility of Kate’s new discoveries pulled me down an entirely different path. I loved that I needed to be coaxed and persuaded, just like Kate, to discover, embrace and savor what seemed familiar, yet was still completely unknown. And, as is usual for Ms. Wardell, the secondary characters are well written, playing their supporting roles perfectly. One character in particular (and I can't mention the name without spoiling Kate's journey for you) is ripe for a book of his own. I'm still a little in love with him, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  

Much in the same vein as Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros, Blank Slate Kate is an unexpectedly uplifting, surprisingly unconventional and deeply touching story.  It’s definitely worth the emotional investment. A must read. 

The Rose Garden, by Susanna Kearsley

I've always used Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series as the yardstick with which to measure any book containing even a whiff of time travel. Up until Susanna Kearsley's novel,  A Winter Sea (reviewed here  in May, 2011) any and all have fallen short. With The Rose Garden, Ms. Kearsley's newest effort, I think even Ms. Gabaldon has met her match. The Rose Garden is a sumptuous love story, one which encompasses three centuries and will warm the coldest of the coming winter nights. I am not being flowery or overdramatic here. I mean it. It is that good. The writing is so descriptive and the characters so real, I could envision every paragraph of every page as if I were a part of the story too. That to me is the mark of a truly great book.

Eva Ellen Ward has recently lost her older sister Katrina, a celebrated movie actress, to an unnamed disease. Katrina's husband entrusts Eva to take his wife's ashes and spread them "where she was happiest." Eva, who worked public relations for her sister, knows just where that place is, and travels from Los Angeles to Cornwall and specifically to Trelowarth, the house and rose farm where the two girls spent many happy summers as guests of their late "Uncle"George and Claire Hallett, friends of their father's. Twenty years after she last stepped foot in the house she's welcomed back by Claire, as well as George's children Mark (Katrina's first love), and Susan, Eva's former playmate. When she starts to experience what she thinks are hallucinogenic episodes, she chalks it up to sleeping pills and grief over losing her sister. When the episodes become frighteningly real, Eva has to accept the fact that she is indeed straddling a time line that takes her in and out of the Trelowarth of 1715. She meets the then owners of the house, brothers Daniel and Jack Butler,  and their loyal friend Fergal. She is also a witness to the sowing of the seeds of the first Jacobite uprising, the plot to bring King James from France to assume his place on the British throne. What she doesn't anticipate are her feelings for Daniel Butler, who knows exactly what she is and not only accepts it, but returns those same feelings, seemingly tenfold. It is at this point in the novel where Ms. Kearsley infuses Daniel with a romanticism not often found in male protagonists, and allows Daniel to sum up their love with these words, "whatever time we have, will be time enough." Prosaic words for a man who falls in love with a time traveler with no control of her appearances and disappearances, except when she's away from Trelowarth itself.

While the notion of time travel can be a hard sell in a story, Ms. Kearsley makes Eva's experience entirely believable.  It fits so well and flows so naturally here, that this reader did not question it as far-fetched fantasy. I actually caught myself thinking that anything is possible, and who's to say that something like this could not in fact, actually happen? I would make a wager that this reaction is not uncommon when reading this novel. And that's certainly a tribute to Ms. Kearsley's story telling abilities.

Without getting into too much more detail because this is a story best read and savored (and believe me,  you don't want me to give this part away), there is one surprise toward the end of the book that will leave you so enthralled, you'll read it over and over, just to help you work out all the brilliant clues left that you may have missed beforehand. These clues are scattered like breadcrumbs on a trail helping you find your way back from whence you came. It's masterfully done and adds an additional dimension to what was already a brilliant story.

It seems I've gotten into the habit of saying this for this author's work; The Rose Garden, by Susanna Kearsley is a must read. And as they say, there's no time like the present....

Before I Go to Sleep, by S.J. Watson

What if you woke up every morning, thinking you were twenty-five, and then looked in the mirror and saw a forty-something?  What if you discovered you were in bed with a man every morning that you didn't know, in a room that was unfamiliar?  This is the life of Christine, a writer, who suffers from amnesia.  Christine cannot retain memories after she falls asleep at night.  In the morning, she wakes to thinking she is twenty-five, with her entire life ahead of her.  Every morning, her husband, Ben, tells her who she is, and who he is, and then leaves for work for the day.  Christine is left alone in a house she doesn't know.  Then at the same time every morning, a cell phone rings, and a Dr. Nash tells her to go to her closet, in the shoebox, and read her journal.  She reads about what she's done previously, with no memory of the events.

Then one day, after appointments with Dr. Nash that Ben doesn't know about, she goes to find her journal without being told to.  Bits and pieces of her memory begin to return, but they do not correlate with what Ben has told her of their lives together.  She remembers a son, but Ben told her they had no children.  Christine remembers Claire, her best friend from college, but Ben tells her she's moved away.  Bit by bit, with Dr. Nash's help, Christine begins to remember more and more, but what remembers isn't what it seems.

Watson was a new author for me, and this book was chosen for my book club with fellow reviewer Lindsey.  You really get into the mind of Christine and her daily struggles to remember her life.  The last 100 pages or so are so full of new revelations and action, that I could not stop reading- even if the house were on fire!  The twists in the plot are so subtle, you don't realize what's going on until Christine does.  A nail-biting story that will leave you feeling a bit unsettled.

The Dark Enquiry, by Deanna Raybourn

It's always a good day when a Lady Julia book lands on my front porch.  When author Deanna Raybourn caught my attention with Silent in the Grave, I hadn't expected to discover a series where each book is just as good as the last, if not better, and the storyline of Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane constantly evolves into something more and more exciting.  Now that we are at Lady Julia book #5, I've been thinking back to the previous novels and analyzing my reactions to each.  The first 3 were filled with such intensity between Lady Julia and Brisbane, and you were hanging on the edge for them to get together.  My sigh of relief at the end of Silent on the Moor could probably be heard for miles!  Dark Road to Darjeeling began the journey into the married life of Lady Julia and Brisbane, and therefore an additional mystery.  I've spoken to several readers about Dark Road to Darjeeling, and their reactions to the way Raybourn wrote the now married detectives.  I'll admit in my review of the book, I never touched on this aspect of the story, as I was drawn into the suspenseful plot and didn't give much thought to their marriage.  Other more astute readers did not, however, and I've heard some relate they were not happy with the way the couple treated each other, and that it wasn't what they thought the marriage would be.  I've given it some thought since my last discussion with dear friend and fellow reviewer KristinH, and I've come to the realization that I expected more from their marriage.  The Dark Enquiry is what I was looking for.

Lady Julia and Brisbane have taken up residence in London, and we get a glimpse into what life is like for residents as Lady Julia is working on yet another recipe for black powder, after several failed batches.  Aquinas cannot keep staff because of the strange comings and goings, and Lady Julia is still trying to work her way into Brisbane's life by being his partner in investigations.  Lady Julia's enthusiasm for all things related to Brisbane's business leads her to worm her way into cases by means of not telling her husband until she is need of rescue.  In fact, the entire book is full of Brisbane trying to keep Lady Julia out of harms way while she is assisting him with a case involving a medium with possible links to espionage.  As the novel unravels, you see a different side of the Brisbane's; the side that shows just how devoted they truly are to each other.  Brisbane cannot live without Lady Julia, and his visions begin early on with a sensation of being suffocated, which comes to shocking reality towards the end.  His visions are connected to his emotions towards his wife, and these visions he is unable to fight and numb with medicines.  Lady Julia is just as devoted, and her entrance into her husband's investigation stems from her worry that he is in trouble.  All this not love, however, as Brisbane shows his anger more than once at Lady Julia's actions and puts his foot down.  There is still the tug of war about Lady Julia's place in his investigations and her safety, but the passion they have for each other is proudly displayed even if it's not written in detail.  Their love for each other can be felt.

The story itself involves espionage and a cast of secondary characters that as always in a Raybourn novel, have interesting back stories and complete the plot.  I was very happy to have more Plum in this book, for he is my favorite brother, and of course, Lady Portia and her new addition are present.  This book will lead you through a roller coaster of emotions, and I went from sitting on the edge of my seat, to laughing, to having to set the book down and cry my eyes out. (you'll know when you get to that part)  If you are a fan of mystery/suspense, and like it with a dose of Victorianism, you will want to pick up this book regardless if you've read the entire series.  Oh, and it's a must have for fans.  Brisbane only gets more swoon worthy as the series goes on, and this book is no exception.

Brief Encounters, by Phillipa Ashley, Nell Dixon, and Elizabeth Hanbury

What a great way to get back into the swing of things!  I've been bombarded with reading all things homework related since January, so for such a perfect combination of short stories to fall on us here at Bookishly right as I am getting set to read what I want to read makes me very happy!

Brief Encounters is a collection of stories by the above named authors.  There is mix of modern and historical, so all should love these witty works.  The collection starts off with a modern and fun story called Plus One Guest by Nell Dixon.  Lucy is invited to her ex's wedding, and it's the day before and she has not found her "plus one guest".  Not willing to attend the wedding alone, she is somewhat tricked by her coworker Diana into allowing her boss, Harry of the fraying cuffs, to escort her.  The more time Lucy and Harry are together, the more Lucy realizes she rather likes her boss, and he is more than fond of her.  A sweet and funny story that made me smile with every word.  Dixon's next contribution, A Weekend in Venice, is the rather sad story of Kay and her attempt to regain a little of her life back after a tragic accident that took the life of her fiancé.  After becoming lost, she enters a shop where she meets Roberto, a rather gorgeous Italian, and she learns she can heal and live again.  A sad, yet sweet tale that makes you believe in happy endings.  

Author Elizabeth Hanbury is no stranger to Bookishly, and she is a favorite of mine.  Hanbury's first contribution to Brief Encounters is the historical Miss Pattingham Requests, the story of Gyles Beaufort, a leader in the ton, and his brief engagement to Miss Merryn Ward.  After a whirlwind romance, Gyles receives a letter one day, indicating Miss Ward has left for parts unknown and without giving a reason.  Despite his search, Gyles cannot find his fiancée and is devastated.  When a letter from his former governess arrives with a request to visit her, he resists going, but in the end relents.  Imagine his surprise when he enters and sees Miss Ward is a guest as well!  A lovely short about love gone awry, only to come back again.  Hanbury's second contribution is The Virtuous Courtesan, A Midsummer Eve at Rookery End story.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Rookery End stories please see my review here.  This is the story of Leonora and Marcus, the gracious hosts of the previous stories.  The story begins with Leonora breaking into Rookery End, the seat of the Earl of Allingham, to steal a portrait her father sold.  A portrait that was not an original, but a copy.  She is caught, not by a servant, but by the Earl himself- a much younger version than what she expected!  Sparks fly in this sweet tail about housebreaking, and love at first sight.

The final works in this delightful collection are by author Phillipa Ashley, another favorite of mine. (do you see a pattern here?)  Ashley contributes two sweet stories to this collection, starting off with the Feast of Stefan.  And before I go on, you will want to feast on Stefan before you come to the conclusion of this tale!  Nick has had his eyes on Sarah for awhile, but was afraid to ask her out because of the death of her husband.  Then along comes Stefan from Slovakia, tall, handsome, and witty to boot.  Stefan is there for work, which just so happens to be the same place Nick works, and they get to know each other over time.  Everyone in the village loves Stefan, especially after his first gesture is buying the entire pub a round!  Nick’s feelings for Sarah are strong, but he wonders of Stefan and they way they talk to each other.  Sure that Sarah has eyes for Stefan; he slowly resigns himself to losing Sarah.  It’s only after a freak snowstorm and hitting his head do these two come together in what is a very sweet story.  The final story of the collection is A Bolt From the Blue, the story of Lisa and her quest to get over the betrayal of her fiancé.  A weekend of camping and hiking with a friend turns into a mountain rescue as her friend is injured, and Lisa is led back down the mountain by Hagar as they jokingly call him.  Lisa comes face to face with a Viking God or the equivalent in this case, which will set your heart pounding.  After packing up their equipment, Lisa sets off to thank the rescue team and meets up with Hagar again, and this time sparks fly.  We never do learn his name, but it’s not really necessary, and I’m sure you will agree.  I do always love Phillipa’s leading men.

Brief Encounters is a must read, and its size makes it the perfect evening getaway.  Be sure to download this as quickly as you can!  It can be found at all online bookstores, and according to author blogs, the print version will be out in September.  Well done, ladies!

April Romance Reading Challenge Book: My Irresistible Earl, by Gaelen Foley

When the newly widowed Lady Pierson, Mara,  sees her long lost love after more than ten years, she is livid that he still looks just as handsome as he did way back when.  Jordan, the Earl of Falconridge left her in a garden one evening after a rash proposal from Mara to make him stay with her.  His duties to the Order left him no choice but to abandon his lady love and undertake his mission.  With a promise to come back for her, he leaves her, hoping she will wait for him and they can marry.  When Mara never hears from Jordan, she marries Lord Pierson to get away from parents who did nothing but criticize and abuse her.  Now it's fourteen years later, and they are both older and wiser, and still very much attracted to each other.

Jordan's mission is to take him close to the Prince Regent, Prinny, and root out a traitor working with the Prometheans.  Mara's relationship with Prinny is the perfect way to get himself cozy with the Carlton House set, and closer to Mara.  Jordan and Mara cannot keep their hands off each other, and soon they're inseparable, being seen everywhere together and spending nights in each other's arms.  Jordan desperately wants to tell Mara about his mission, but is sworn to secrecy to protect her and her son Thomas.  When the Prometheans kidnap young Thomas in order to get a valuable list of names of the Order, Mara and Jordan face the enemy together in order to save the Crown.

As always with Gaelen Foley, her novels are descriptive and sensual; a fresh look on formula Regency romance.  Jordan and Mara literally cannot get enough of each other, and it shows on every page, whether they are in each other's arms, or not speaking.  My Irresistible Earl, part of the Inferno Club series, is due in stores April 1, 2011.  Make sure to pick up this one!

One Night is Never Enough, by Anne Mallory

Charlotte Chatsworth is frustrated. She's trying to come to terms with her father's gambling debts and what, exactly, that means for her marriage prospects. This is her third season on the "mart" and her father, in his quest to up the ante and score a huge marriage settlement, has so far refused every suitor who has  asked for Charlotte's hand. Before you get the idea that this is a light historical romance, full of irreverent dialogue and witty repartee and complete with the bumbling father and the dashing nobleman who is finally brought up to scratch (with pretty words and a marriage settlement), let me assure you that One Night is Never Enough is exactly the opposite. It is a dark, cold look at one woman's loyalty to family and lack of choice and freedom, and the resulting forbidden love affair with a man who is the exact opposite of what a gentleman should be.


When Charlotte first meets Roman Merrick, owner of more than several gaming establishments and other nefarious businesses, he has just finished dispatching a man. As he looks up after the deed is done, he recognizes Charlotte, watching him. She is the woman he has taken notice of around town; the one woman who is so far out of his reach that he decides to cheat at a card game with her father, who unbelievably bets £10,000 against a night with his daughter to the winner of the hand.  Charlotte, resigned to her fate to marry according to her father's wishes so that her sister Emily can be free of his machinations, has no choice but to honor the bet. The evening she spends with Roman changes everything. While they do nothing but play chess and talk, the stage is set for a torrid affair. It's a situation that neither Charlotte nor Roman can resist, despite the threat to her reputation and the possible loss of "value" in her father's scheme to sell her off to the highest titled bidder.

Anne Mallory's style of writing lends to dark, sometimes hard to follow mental dialogue among the characters. There are glimpses into their thought processes, but I had a hard time following the line of reasoning. It wasn't until a scene was over that I realized exactly what the characters were thinking. The actual spoken dialogue between the characters was heartfelt, a bit on the lighthearted side, and revealed the protagonists' thoughts just as well or even better than those silent ruminations.  I would have preferred more of the former and less of the latter.  The scene I found most remarkable was the card game scene late in the novel, when Roman brings Charlotte into a card game that he plays with his brother and his trusted associates. While that evening did not end well for the relationship, it revealed more about Charlotte than any prior scene in the novel. Roman's relationship with his adopted brother, Andreas (I'm assuming the next story in this series will be his), his friends and the orphan boys he puts to work  for him, all reveal a side of him that was hinted at, but not really revealed up until this point. Until now, it was guess work on this reader's part to determine if Roman was really one of the "good guys" or if Charlotte had actually gotten herself mixed up in some very bad business. This uncertainty did make for some tense reading, something not usually found in this genre.

When Charlotte (with help from Roman in an unexpected way) realizes that her sister is not counting on her to "save" her, that her mother is capable of finding happiness outside of her loveless and humiliating marriage, and that she herself is entitled to find happiness of her own, revelations come fast and furious. Charlotte makes a matrimonial choice, yet decides to carry on her affair with Roman. He, in the meantime, has begun to pay off her father's debts, and has a change of heart about his own personal state of being. All in all, the ending, while very neat and tied up in a bow, works. And even Charlotte's father comes around.

I'll admit, at times, I found the writing in this novel just a bit too heavy and long-winded, but at the end of the day, I realized that there was  a reason the author included the details and thought processes I found so ponderous. When the solution to the situation comes about, and Charlotte is free to be herself, you actually feel the weight lifting off of her shoulders, and for a moment, you become the character you've just spent days reading about. No reader  can ask for more than that. I'm looking forward to what I am sure will be the next in this series (Andreas' story) if only to revisit with Charlotte and Roman. This is a new book, just out on February 22, 2011. If you like your romances with a cerebral twist, you'll enjoy this one. When it was done, I did, too.

March Romance Reading Challenge Book: What I Did for a Duke, by Julie Anne Long

I usually begin a review with some short and, I hope, vaguely entertaining insight regarding the book in question. Not this time. This time I'm simply going to say What I Did for a Duke, by Julie Anne Long is one of the most well written historical romances I've ever had the pleasure to pick up. And that's saying a lot considering how many really, really good historical romances I've read.

Alexander Moncrieffe, the Duke of Falconbridge, is a man with a reputation - not as a rake, but as a mystery. Rumors swirl around his involvement in the death of his first wife.  He is wealthy. He has won more than one duel. He has gambled with cards and with his investments and has, as the gossips like to say, never lost. That is perhaps until now. His Grace is engaged to Lady Abigail Beasley and their plans to marry come to an abrupt end when he confronts her, along with a very naked Ian Eversea, in her bed. 

Alexander is well-acquainted with the ways of the devilish Eversea brothers. And while His Grace "allows" Ian to leave the bedroom alive (albeit naked and through a two story window), he does not intend to let this Eversea escapade go unpunished. After all, he has a reputation to uphold for, as they also say, he is not kind. So Lady Abigail is quickly dismissed from his life and a fitting plan of revenge is formed. 

Genevieve Eversea, Ian's younger sister, is in love with Harry Osbourne and has been for as long as she can remember. And when Harry invites her out for a walk, alone, she's convinced it's to ask for her hand in marriage. The love of her life is thinking of matrimony, but unfortunately not with her. Just as Genevieve believes her future is sealed, Harry lets her know that he's planning on asking their mutual friend Millicent to honor him by becoming his wife. 

Genevieve may be devastated, heartbroken and angry, but she's not dimwitted. Far from it, in fact. And when the Duke arrives as a houseguest and begins to pay extra special attention to her, she realizes something is not quite right. Especially when she looks at her brother Ian who, while in the Duke's company, is much paler than usual. After correctly surmising Moncrieffe's intentions, Genevieve discovers an unusual ally in her quest to win Harry back. And His Grace? Let's just say he also gets more than he bargained for. 

Ms. Long's writing makes this novel a pure pleasure to read. Her voice is unique and masterful. The story is sprinkled liberally with exquisite verbal gems that literally dance off the page. There is humor,  emotion, depth of character and eroticism all fully developed and bundled neatly inside a truly ingenious plot. 

What I Did for a Duke is one classy, A+ romantic read and, very simply, I highly recommended it.