Laura Freeman's Blog, page 9

Dangerous Secrets

Dangerous Secrets by Caroline Warfield 2015 Regency Romance

The story takes place in 1820 Rome with Major Jamie Bently, aka Lord James Phineas Heyworth, taking the job of interpreter for widow Eleanora Haley. He has a past he can’t forget or forgive and is avoiding his three friends who live in England by staying in Rome.

The hero in a romance often has demons tormenting him and the love he feels for the heroine helps him come to terms with them. Warfield does an excellent job of taking us on Jamie’s journey to find redemption.

Nora’s father is a vicar who does not approve of her traveling alone to see her ill brother, Robert, who converted to Catholicism in order to marry. Robert names Nora guardian of his daughter Isabella and dies. Nora, who can’t have children, falls in love with the child, who also takes an intense liking to Jamie.

Isabella lives in a convent, and the Reverend Mother Margarita is a shrewd woman who knows who Jamie really is and warns him to tell Nora. When Isabella is kidnapped Nora agrees that they must marry to avoid Isabella’s Italian relatives from taking custody of her. Add in Jamie being recruited to spy on the relatives while trying to hide his own secrets, and Nora has plenty of reasons not to trust him.

Although the hero and heroine fall in love, they have plenty of problems to sort through before they can live happily ever after. Some stories are too simple, but this one had a complex plot that keeps the pages turning.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#romance #Rome #Regency #CarolineWarfield

A Family Affair: The Homecoming

A Family Affair: The Homecoming (Truth in Lies Book 17) by Mary Campisi 2019

Delilah O’Reilly, a television hosts, and Nicholas Boradu, the son of a wealthy clothing businessman met six years ago and fell in love. They didn’t share their personal lives in great detail, and six weeks into their marriage, Nick’s father threatens to disown his son if Lilah doesn’t divorce him and tell him she only married him for his money. She agrees to save him, but he feels betrayed. Loving and losing puts this story in the second-chance category.

She misspeaks on air and loses her job, returning home where Nick is working for her father, Frank. Magdalena, NY, has lots of couples who have struggled to overcome obstacles to find their soul mates and is the tie that binds the series. Everyone sees the sparks between Nick and Lilah when they have to work together at her father’s restaurant after he goes into the hospital.

Each character has a backstory that prevents them from having a happily ever after. A writer needs to put obstacles in the path of each character’s goals. A reader turns the pages to find out how they overcome them and reach the happy ending.

Delays help keep the couple from admitting their feelings or figuring out past problems. When Nick and Lilah first kiss, they are interrupted by a phone call from her father. This postpones the conversations they need to have to reconcile their past.

The story also introduces the other characters and a snippet of their stories which are in the other books written by Campisi. She also provides a unique but true-to-the-character’s-profession solution to how they share their true feelings. Don’t give your character any old job. A profession/occupation should impact a story and move it along.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#romance #MaryCampisi #secondchances

Mind Your Own Murder

Mind Your Own Murder, Persephone Pringle Cozy Mysteries: One by Patti Larsen 2021 Cozy Mystery

Persephone Pringle is 50, newly divorced from her special agent in charge husband, Trent Garret, and leaving her nervous 20-something daughter, Callie, as she takes a four-week adventure to discover herself.

Going on a trip, especially after a life-changing event like a divorce, is a great way to introduce a character to new sites, new characters, and add emotional baggage to the impending problem of a murder.

Persephone talks to her daughter and ex on the phone and explains their relationship problems. He ignored her or put her last, and her daughter wants her to meet someone new. She’s not sure what course she plans to take. Placing a character at a crossroad keeps the reader guessing which path she’ll take.

The story is written from first person and Persephone’s thoughts add humor and insight for the reader.

Upon arriving in town, another car nearly collides with her, and she has a shouting match with a man who turns out to be her neighbor when she reaches the beach cottage she’s rented for four weeks. Not only is the man, Kendall, loudly arguing with his daughter, Candace, the neighbors, Henry and Annie, who has dementia, are watching.

Cozy mysteries require the small, quaint town is inhabited by a number of eccentric characters, has a not-very-good sheriff, and trouble has risen to the surface. In this coastal town, the development deal for a new hotel fell through a year ago because Kendall and his late wife, Mary, wouldn’t sell. This provides a motive for his death, but since so many people were impacted, the list of suspects is long.

The dead man was hated by more than one person, but Persephone is the main suspect. Remember, the sheriff is inept. He was also a main investor in the project. This forces our holistic therapist to try to solve the murder. In a cozy, the detective is an amateur. Add a cat, a gnome, and increased danger as the heroine closes in on the solution, and this story makes an enjoyable escape.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Cozymystery #cozy #mystery #PattiLarsen

To Heal An Earl

To Heal An Earl by Alexa Aston 2020 Regency Romance

A regency romance requires rich relatives behaving badly toward their no-so-rich relatives. In Jane Austen novels women who have no brothers are left penniless when their husband/father dies. When Lady Charlotte Nott’s father dies, her half-brother promptly sends her on her way with just enough money for the coach.

She is 18 but resourceful, having run Rumford Park in Kent. She becomes a companion and then a governess. After two employers try to seduce her, she ends up at Gray Manor. On her first day the lady dies in childbirth and her new employer drops dead from the news. She is left in charge not only of three children but the house until Danforth Grayson can return from Spain where he is a major in the army.

Grayson is a broken man having seen too many men die under his command and only plans to stay long enough at Gray Manor to put things in order, hire necessary help, and go to London to wallow in self-pity. His nephew Rodger is the new earl but the twelve-year-old boy suffers from asthma and is dying.

The story focuses on healing the relationships between the family members while the attraction grows between Gray and Miss Nott. She was born a lady but considers herself too low for the attentions of Gray especially since her brother insulted her opera-singer mother and warned her she would be an outcast in society. Gray doesn’t think he can love anyone as he guards his heart from pain.

Men in romance stories often have some trauma that causes them to close themselves off from others, especially love and relationships. Aston does an excellent job of showing Gray’s struggle to rejoin humanity and love again.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#romance #regency #AlexaAston

Leave A Widow Wanting More

Leave A Widow Wanting More, A Steamy Historical Romance by Charlie Lane, 2021

Sarah Pennington is a widow with a 15-year-old son attending Harrow. She works at a bookstore to support them, but the owner, Mr. Hopkins, has decided a man would be better at the job.

Lord Henry Eaden, famous adventurer and scholar comes to the bookstore looking for a first edition of “Gulliver’s Travels.” He went to school with Hopkins and Earl Hellwater, who has the book. Sarah makes a deal that if she can obtain the book, Hopkins must allow her to keep her job. She goes to Hellwater’s house in the rain. Henry is there and is terrified she will take ill and die.

Henry’s wife and infant daughter died five years ago, and he has been going on adventures to avoid the heartache of losing someone he loves. His daughters, Ada, Nora, Pansy and twin wards need a mother so he can leave them alone. Hellwater plays matchmaker and gives Sarah the book. Henry proposes marriage to Sarah three times, listing the benefits.

When her son shows up needing a new suit, she agrees, and discovers his children either hate him for leaving all the time or don’t know him. She sets out to make them a family.

With an older heroine the plot can become more complex. Does she still love her first husband? Will the stepchildren hate her? How does she fix all the problems she has inherited? Lane examines many of the problems Sarah and Henry face as they blend their families and resolve the biggest question – what will she do when Henry leaves again?

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Romance #historical #CharlieLane

A Brazen Curiosity

A Brazen Curiosity, A Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mystery – a Regency Cozy by Lynn Messina

Miss Beatrice Hyde-Clare is introduced in this book as a 26-year-old orphan living with her Uncle and Aunt Vera and cousins, Russell, 21, and Flora, 19. They have been invited to a visit to the country home of Lord and Lady Skeffington, a school friend of Vera and another guest, Mrs. Otley.

This is a cozy mystery and all the houseguests become suspects when Mr. Otley is found dead in the library with a gash to his head from a candlestick. It sounds like a “Clue” game. Bea was looking for a book to read and discovers the body and Damien Matlock, Duke of Kesgrave standing over the body.

She had an instant dislike to the arrogant duke but being a poor relative who is mousy, she can only imagine what she would do to him. He orders her to return to her room and not be caught in a compromising situation. Bea knows it is insulting that he would consider it a horror to be forced to marry her and uses that as an excuse to torment him later.

When Bea is awakened by her aunt and cousin, they tell her Mr. Otley committed suicide. Bea is determined to find out the truth and runs into the duke, who is also investigating the murder, which is why he had the magistrate rule Otley’s death a suicide. They join forces temporarily, but it is Bea who uncovers the truth.

The story follows the rules of a cozy with the murder off stage and no sex. The victim was unscrupulous and disliked, so the suspects are numerous with different motives. The setting is quaint with a restricted suspect group. The only thing missing is a cat. The danger level ramps up for the heroine at the end, but she solves the murder. For those who write or enjoy Regency and Cozy Mysteries, this is a good combination to satisfy both.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Regency #Cozymystery #mystery #LynnMessina

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Whom Shall I Kiss…

Whom Shall I Kiss…An Earl, A Marquess, or A Duke? Tricking the Scoundrels by Laura A. Barnes 2019 Regency romance

Sidney Hartridge helps her father research projects and conducts her own research. Her latest project is to compare men in their efforts to ruin young ladies. She plans to have three men court her, kiss her, and see if they propose marriage. Her best friend Phee Turlington tries to dissuade her but is caught up in her scheme.

What possibly could go wrong? This is a good way to lure your audience into a story by setting up the heroine or hero in a situation that is doomed for disaster. How will they react when their plans fall apart and how will they get out of the trouble?

Her three subjects are Alexander Langley, the Duke of Sheffield; Marquess Noah Wildeburg; and Rory, the Earl of Roderick who is also her friend. In the past Sidney dressed plainly, styled her hair in a bun, and wore glasses. Phee helps transform her into a beautiful young lady who captures the attention of the three men. They compete for her attention while she takes notes for her paper she plans to publish.

Barnes is good at describing actions and reactions of attraction and slowly builds the relationships between Sidney and the three men. She throws in a scandal and a mystery to heighten the tension.

Sidney is playing with fire and everything comes to disaster in the final chapters when she loses control of her “experiment.”

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#romance #bookreviews #LauraABarnes

Frozen Crimes

Frozen Crimes by Chrys Fey 2020 Disaster Crime #5

Fey combines romance, a thriller with a psycho killer, and a natural disaster in her stories so there is plenty going on. In this story Beth is 7 months pregnant and missing her husband, Donovan Goldwyn, who is away at a monster truck show. She hears someone outside her bedroom window.

I haven’t read the previous stories, but Beth has been through a kidnapping, death threats, and a gunshot not to mention a tsunami and fire. She alerts detective Thorn and takes precautions. After all, she runs The Fighting Chance which teaches women self-defense. One of her workers is Amanda, whose ex-husband stalked her.

At one point Fey says a stalker goes through rage, mania, kidnap, torture, and kill.

The stalker adds roses, a mysterious tie in her car, text messages, and a gift for the baby that says “daddy” but it’s not from Donovan. She finally recognizes the handwriting, but threats get worse as Thorn investigates the stalker but can’t find him.

They escape to visit Donovan’s mother and grandmother in Michigan and are caught in a blizzard with Beth going into premature labor. Could things get worse? You bet. The stalker has found them.

Fey ratchets the threats from noises in the dark, to troubling messages, to in-person threats, which every thriller or crime writer needs to perfect. The addition of the blizzard on top of labor increases the tension and also puts the heroine in a tough position. Even though she knows self-defense, she can’t put her baby in danger. A pregnant woman adds a whole new layer to problems in a story such as this.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#romance #thriller #psycho #ChrysFey

Tell It Like It Is

Tell It Like It Is by Stanalei Fletcher 2017 Book 5 in series

Rosalee Kane, 77, is a world-famous author who keeps receiving threatening letters. Justine Shelby is assigned as bodyguard to the feisty woman. She pretends to be her assistant and help her finish her autobiography, which is the reason she’s being threatened.

Rosalee’s nephew Nelson Kane is an FBI agent but on leave because he killed a man in a recent case while looking for escaped prisoner Grady Cooke. He meets Shelby at a Christmas party at Rosalee’s house, and they team up to keep her safe.

Fletcher creates plenty of tension between the two characters as they physically and emotionally battle. They have to move around as new threats are made against Rosalee, and the danger ramps up in the second half of the book.

Shelby lived in foster care before the military and a career with Northstar Security Firm, but the Kane family gives her a yearning for a family of her own. Nelson has been divorced for two years and is rethinking his playboy lifestyle. With Rosalee playing matchmaker, the heat turns up but is PG rated.

Fletcher has practiced martial arts for 20 years and uses that information in this book to make Shelby believable. Write what you know. You can research many topics but add your own expertise to a character or book and share that knowledge. It makes the story more authentic and teaches the reader something.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#mystery #thriller #romance #StanaleiFletcher

Cowboy Country Christmas

Cowboy Country Christmas by Gail MacMillan 2017 romance

This is book 3 in a series and has Emma Prescott MacKenzie playing matchmaker for her twin sister, Etta Prescott, by arranging a holiday in Calgary, Canada to see her favorite country western singer, Travis Masters, at the rodeo. His married sister, Shelby, lives in the same hometown as Etta, who is a romance writer.

Etta and Travis meet at the rodeo and fall for each other, but he is planning to go on tour in Europe, and he sees her at the airport with two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and jumps to the wrong conclusion about her. Emma’s husband is working undercover for the RCMP, and Etta can’t tell Travis why they’re escorting them. This leads to a lot of problems between them.

The story takes the couple who are sweet and kind through a series of hardships like deceptive women in his life and problems with his band members. They end up being neighbors and have to deal with her lost dog and horses.

The plot is simple, and the characters are either good or bad. It’s a holiday story at the end with plenty of good feelings all around.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#romance #cowboy #GailMacMillan