A historical romance as tantalizing as the Kama Sutra epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter.
One gamble leads to another.
Nicholas Hatherly is a rake who doesn’t gamble, but gambling has ruined his life anyway. When the future Duke of Barrington learns that his mad father has lost him to the ruthless Alfred Tombs in a card game, and he has been promised as a husband for Tombs' daughter, he immediately plans his escape. For her part, Alice Tombs isn’t much happier than Nick to hear the news; having spent the previous three seasons avoiding marriage, freedom was nearly in her grasp and, with it, the ability to travel abroad to her heart’s content. Sensing an opportunity, Nick and Alice agree that they will marry, spend one summer together, and then head their separate ways. Nick, convinced he is genetically doomed to go mad soon, and Alice, who has secretly been translating the Kama Sutra, marry quickly and start to enjoy their brief wedded bliss. Soon, their passionate evenings leave them wondering whether there could be something more than a few months between them, and both must decide whether their solo plans for the future are worth sacrificing for each other. With the third book in the Disgraceful Dukes series, Bell (If I Only Had a Duke, 2016, etc.) has written a marvelous variation on the traditional marriage-of-convenience story. In particular, Nick and Alice’s relationship outside the bedroom adds serious heat to an already spicy pairing. As Nick realizes he finds Alice’s wit as compelling as her beauty and Alice discovers a secret mission that Nick has been pursuing for years, their mutual admiration adds believable depth to the rapid development of their relationship. Thoughtful exploration of mental health treatment in the Regency era rounds out this satisfying and intelligent romance.
A historical romance as tantalizing as the Kama Sutra epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-239776-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Agreeably credible lovers and a neat piece of home-restoration compensate some for the hokey hauntings on the bayou. Loyal...
A gumbo seasoned with ghosts, love, and murder on the bayou.
When 30-something Declan Fitzgerald of Boston, a successful lawyer and a member of a large and loving family, breaks off his engagement to very suitable Jessica, he knows he needs to change his life. Lawyering is not fun anymore, so, recalling Manet Hall, an old deserted plantation house he once visited with law school classmate and New Orleans native Remy, he buys the property and moves down south. Declan is also a gifted craftsman, a born decorator, and very, very rich. Soon, he meets beautiful Lena, who’s visiting her grandmother Odette, Declan’s friendly Cajun neighbor. Declan is as certain that Lena is destined to be his wife as he was that Manet Hall would become his home. But, surprise, Lena has a troubled past (like the house) and is determined to resist Declan’s courtship. While he suits Lena and works on the place, Declan experiences troubling dreams. It seems he’s actually reliving the novel’s parallel story, which took place in 1899. In that year, the maid, Abbey Manet (from whom Lena, coincidentally, is descended, and who married wealthy Lucian Manet), was raped and murdered by her brother-in-law Julian as she nursed her baby daughter. Her body was dumped into the bayou by her mother-in-law, who despised her. And grief-stricken husband Lucian, away at the time, being told that Abbey had run off, committed suicide. Now, in an unconvincing twist of gender and reincarnation, it’s Declan who hears a baby crying , experiences childbirth and rape as the reincarnation of Abbey, while Lena is Lucian. The two accept all this with equanimity, and, Manet Hall’s secrets revealed, it becomes the setting for predictable and much foreshadowed resolutions.
Agreeably credible lovers and a neat piece of home-restoration compensate some for the hokey hauntings on the bayou. Loyal fans will enjoy.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-14824-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2001
A little slower-paced than the typical Roberts romantic mystery (Black Hills, 2009, etc.) but every bit as steamy. It may...
A dog trainer and a wood craftsman dance around love and danger in the Pacific Northwest.
Fiona Bristow is the only victim who got away from serial killer George Perry. Now a copycat, inspired and perhaps guided by the jailed Perry, is on her trail. After Perry murdered her fiancé, Fiona rebuilt her life as a dog trainer and search-and-rescue expert on lovely Orcas Island. She’s recently met talented woodworker Simon Doyle and his misbehaving puppy Jaws, and her dormant love life is about to revive as she and the reluctant Simon slowly build a complicated relationship. Though she’s done her best to overcome her fears and make herself whole again, this new series of killings, with herself as the ultimate target, can’t help but strain her nerves. As the police and FBI track the killer, a persistent reporter makes Fiona’s life more difficult by printing information about her life and location. Through it all, Fiona keeps working. As she continues to go on rescue missions with a team that may soon include Simon and Jaws, her friends help to keep her balanced. But ultimately it will be the trust she has built up with Simon and the talents of her dogs that will change her life forever.
A little slower-paced than the typical Roberts romantic mystery (Black Hills, 2009, etc.) but every bit as steamy. It may well add dog lovers to her legion of fans.Pub Date: July 7, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-399-15657-1
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010
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