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The Reluctant Brides #1
A Heart for the Taking
Although his wife died years ago, Chance Walker still blames his cousin Jonathan for her untimely death. So when Jonathan returns from England with the widowed Lady Fancy Merrivale, Chance decides to strike back at his cousin by wooing the beautiful Lady. But revenge is bittersweet for Chance as he and Fancy find themselves hopelessly in love--and in desperate danger.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Shirlee Busbee
45 books278 followersShirlee Elaine was born 9 August 1941 in San Jose, California, USA. She was the first daughter of a career naval officer, later she had two sisters and three brothers, they raised traveling the world. She went to the institute in Kentri, Morocco, after which she returned to California and she went to Burbank Bussines College of Santa Rosa, where she received a certificate in 1962.
Shirlee married with Howard Busbee in June 22, 1963. Now, they live in hills of California, where they raise for pleasure Standard Schnauzers, Standardbred horses, and other many animals.
She has worked as a receptionist for the Marin County Title and Abstract Co., as plant supervisor for Fairfield Title Co., and as secretary and drafting technician for the County Parks Department of Fairfield, California, where she met her life-long friend and mentor Rosemary Rogers. Published since 1977, Shirlee Busbee is the proud author of over 18 novels, including seven New York Times bestsellers. With over nine million copies of her books in print, she is the recipient of numerous awards for excellence in writing, including the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award and Affaire de Coeur's Silver and Bronze Pen Awards.
You may write to Shirlee Busbee care of C/O Warner Books, Inc., Time and Life Building, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
Shirlee married with Howard Busbee in June 22, 1963. Now, they live in hills of California, where they raise for pleasure Standard Schnauzers, Standardbred horses, and other many animals.
She has worked as a receptionist for the Marin County Title and Abstract Co., as plant supervisor for Fairfield Title Co., and as secretary and drafting technician for the County Parks Department of Fairfield, California, where she met her life-long friend and mentor Rosemary Rogers. Published since 1977, Shirlee Busbee is the proud author of over 18 novels, including seven New York Times bestsellers. With over nine million copies of her books in print, she is the recipient of numerous awards for excellence in writing, including the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award and Affaire de Coeur's Silver and Bronze Pen Awards.
You may write to Shirlee Busbee care of C/O Warner Books, Inc., Time and Life Building, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 25, 2016
This whole story can be summed up with:
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
December 9, 2013
3.5 stars
This is a fairly straight-forward romance set in the Virginia Colony in the 1770s. There really aren't many surprises along the way since the prologue pretty much tells the reader who all the baddies are. That said, it was fun watching the sparring between Chance and Lady Merrivale (Fancy).
“S-s-so soon?”
’Tis just merely letting us know that the beast is not completely dead. He will live to service you another day, m’lady.”
Shirlee Busbee is new to me (I have a couple of her older titles languishing somewhere on the bookshelves, but the font size in those has been rather intimidating and I've been putting them off, but then I noticed the library had a few kindle titles in their catalog. I was under the impression that her books were more of the WTF anything goes old skool romances, but perhaps she changed her style later on?
Kudos to the author and her publisher for getting these digitalized, but while the formatting was spot on reading on my Kindle Fire, I did find a fair amount of run-on words that became a bit too distracting:
Agrand, governesscum-companion, laceedged, Awelcoming, Aflower, harvesttime and Astrong.
Still, a fun bit of fluff for a winter afternoon's reading, but due to the predictable storyline I can't quite give it a full four star rating. The sex scenes are fairly steamy, but extra points for leaving out any cringe worthy prose.
This is a fairly straight-forward romance set in the Virginia Colony in the 1770s. There really aren't many surprises along the way since the prologue pretty much tells the reader who all the baddies are. That said, it was fun watching the sparring between Chance and Lady Merrivale (Fancy).
“S-s-so soon?”
’Tis just merely letting us know that the beast is not completely dead. He will live to service you another day, m’lady.”
Shirlee Busbee is new to me (I have a couple of her older titles languishing somewhere on the bookshelves, but the font size in those has been rather intimidating and I've been putting them off, but then I noticed the library had a few kindle titles in their catalog. I was under the impression that her books were more of the WTF anything goes old skool romances, but perhaps she changed her style later on?
Kudos to the author and her publisher for getting these digitalized, but while the formatting was spot on reading on my Kindle Fire, I did find a fair amount of run-on words that became a bit too distracting:
Agrand, governesscum-companion, laceedged, Awelcoming, Aflower, harvesttime and Astrong.
Still, a fun bit of fluff for a winter afternoon's reading, but due to the predictable storyline I can't quite give it a full four star rating. The sex scenes are fairly steamy, but extra points for leaving out any cringe worthy prose.
August 20, 2026
Would give it a 3.5. The story was interesting but didnt love the dynamic between the two protagonists. Was a bit whiny, immature and annoying to read. It improved towards the very end.
October 18, 2010
A Heart for the Taking is a story of greed, passion, and revenge. It begins on a dark and stormy night (my words, not the author's -- I promise!) when a 38-year-old woman, despairing of ever having a child, finally gives birth...to a stillborn son. Weak, tired, and desperately sad, she is given some drugs to help her sleep and misses the birth of a live, healthy twin. The midwife, also her stepmother-in-law, doesn't miss it, though, and she doesn't want this baby to steal any of the inheritance she feels is due her own child. So she orders a servant to kill him. Obviously, the servant is going to have an attack of conscience and not do that.
Decades later, the step-mother's son, as evil as she is, travels to London and attempts to bring home a baronness as his bride -- under false pretenses. His "cousin," the boy who lived (sorry, couldn't resist), decides he wants the woman for himself, partly for revenge, partly for lust.
The book isn't perfect. The beginning is rather info dumpy. The fact that Chance's birth story and true parentage doesn't come out for 34 years (during the time this story takes place) is pretty contrived and difficult to swallow. Jonathan is a pretty one-dimensional villain who makes fairly typical blunders. And the romance is one of those quests for the three magic words.
But for all that, and when I willingly suspended some disbelief, it was a fun ride. Good, dramatic story. Maybe more 3.5 stars than 4, but I was feeling generous and I do plan to seek out more books by this author (this was my first).
Decades later, the step-mother's son, as evil as she is, travels to London and attempts to bring home a baronness as his bride -- under false pretenses. His "cousin," the boy who lived (sorry, couldn't resist), decides he wants the woman for himself, partly for revenge, partly for lust.
The book isn't perfect. The beginning is rather info dumpy. The fact that Chance's birth story and true parentage doesn't come out for 34 years (during the time this story takes place) is pretty contrived and difficult to swallow. Jonathan is a pretty one-dimensional villain who makes fairly typical blunders. And the romance is one of those quests for the three magic words.
But for all that, and when I willingly suspended some disbelief, it was a fun ride. Good, dramatic story. Maybe more 3.5 stars than 4, but I was feeling generous and I do plan to seek out more books by this author (this was my first).
January 27, 2014
A heart for the taking is a classic historic romance novel intermixed with greed and revenge. The plot was taken place on the 18th century in the Colony of Virginia. From the prologue you can identify the main character, Chance , and how all the events are turned around him, led him to be in a state of agony filled with revenge. Until he encountered Fancy, very fine English Baroness, in which a charming spark of passion fired between them, yet they are stubborn and constantly fought. This is a story of love from the first sight!! ( in my opinion doesn’t exist) .
The story was beautifully written in a very delicate way, with lots of turns and twists, kept me surprised many times, although it dragged on in the middle. There are lots of intimate scenes. I felt the events were rapidly ended a little bit in the final chapters!! I think Sharlee Busebee did a fine job by interwoven intense emotions of passion, love, grudge and revenge in a historic background…. Thumbs up!!.
It’s a long but delightful and enjoyable novel, will excite you many times. It’s a good read… !!
The story was beautifully written in a very delicate way, with lots of turns and twists, kept me surprised many times, although it dragged on in the middle. There are lots of intimate scenes. I felt the events were rapidly ended a little bit in the final chapters!! I think Sharlee Busebee did a fine job by interwoven intense emotions of passion, love, grudge and revenge in a historic background…. Thumbs up!!.
It’s a long but delightful and enjoyable novel, will excite you many times. It’s a good read… !!
March 18, 2017
An exciting, well written story, I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Heart for the Taking. There is mystery, intrigue and manipulation, all culminating in the exposure of an old plot to gain access to riches and status. Added to that, the romance is sizzling. Chance and Fancy are well suited to one another despite coming from such different backgrounds. Chance is used to getting his own way, but Fancy doesn't make it easy for him. He finds that he has to work at winning Fancy over. Ellen and Hugh are a secondary romance, but sweet as opposed to Chance and Fancy's tempestuous relationship. There is a dark thread running through the story with more than one villain and although they get their comeuppance one feels they really should have suffered more. This is a difficult book to put down, so the reader should be wary of starting it too near to bed time! I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily post this review. This is my honest review.
January 28, 2018
Love this book
I’ve have always loved Shirlee’s books starting with Lady Vixen was my first romance book and I’ve been hooked ever sense
I’ve have always loved Shirlee’s books starting with Lady Vixen was my first romance book and I’ve been hooked ever sense
June 26, 2020
True Shirlee
I was ecstatic to find more books by this great author.I followed her in the 70s and 80s.She was great then and she is great now.
I was ecstatic to find more books by this great author.I followed her in the 70s and 80s.She was great then and she is great now.
September 14, 2017
I thought this story was very entertaining. This is my first time reading a book by the author. It had romance and humor something I like in a story. I like that the heroine was not a weak female. I like the way she stood up for herself. I would have like to see more of how Chance and Jonathan's relationship developed as they grew up instead of the story really starting from adulthood. All we knew was that they hated each other. But overall a great love story
I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily post this review. This is my honest review
I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily post this review. This is my honest review
November 2, 2021
I have been reading Shirlee Busbee since her first and love all her books. I am now gradually adding them to my kindle. This one was great. This was about Chance and Fancy with all the usual machinations by some not so nice family members but ended up with a happily ever after. Well written and a great story
July 11, 2023
A historical romance set in colonial Virginia in the early 1740s, with the main characters being Baroness Merrivale (Fancy) and Chance Walker. I can not explain the story in my own words. You'd have to read it to understand what happened on the way to a wonderful ending. A good romantic read.
April 17, 2021
annoyingly ridiculous . 3 stars just cause - Busbee
December 31, 2022
A classic romance novel with a good heart warming love story.
March 7, 2017
I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily post this review. This is my honest review:
I wasn't as drawn in with this story as I have been with others but it was still a pretty good read.
I wasn't as drawn in with this story as I have been with others but it was still a pretty good read.
February 3, 2017
A wonderful love story
I am do glad this series of books are in digital form. The older books seem to have a deeper storyline. Fancy and her sister Ellen, travel to the Virginia colony to give Ellen's budding romance with Jonathan a chance to bloom. However Jonathan likes to play games and let's everyone believe that Fancy is the one. Chance sees Fancy and determines that she will be his. He thinks he is getting back at Jonathan but really wants her all to himself. Love abounds in this book and it is a joy to read.
I am do glad this series of books are in digital form. The older books seem to have a deeper storyline. Fancy and her sister Ellen, travel to the Virginia colony to give Ellen's budding romance with Jonathan a chance to bloom. However Jonathan likes to play games and let's everyone believe that Fancy is the one. Chance sees Fancy and determines that she will be his. He thinks he is getting back at Jonathan but really wants her all to himself. Love abounds in this book and it is a joy to read.
October 29, 2016
Shirlee Busbee is one of those romance novel authors I keep rereading the books of (the other one being Stephanie Laurens), even though I know what happens and they're all a bit similar with the rogueish smirks and the arrogant men and the swooning ladies and such. I don't care, they make me nostalgic about when I was a kid reading these and I love them! Chance and Fancy are one of my favourites, all frustration and circumstances and falling in love despite themselves.
I won't say it's my favourite book or it's the best writing out there, but I reread these mostly for the enjoyment and nostalgia. It's fun. :)
I won't say it's my favourite book or it's the best writing out there, but I reread these mostly for the enjoyment and nostalgia. It's fun. :)
May 20, 2020
SYNOPSIS:
Although his wife died years ago, Chance Walker still blames his cousin Jonathan for her untimely death. So when Jonathan returns from England with the widowed Lady Fancy Merrivale, Chance decides to strike back at his cousin by wooing the beautiful Lady. But revenge is bittersweet for Chance as he and Fancy find themselves hopelessly in love--and in desperate danger.
Although his wife died years ago, Chance Walker still blames his cousin Jonathan for her untimely death. So when Jonathan returns from England with the widowed Lady Fancy Merrivale, Chance decides to strike back at his cousin by wooing the beautiful Lady. But revenge is bittersweet for Chance as he and Fancy find themselves hopelessly in love--and in desperate danger.
December 9, 2013
A fun romance, but a bit tame story wise. I thought Busbee wrote more old skool stuff. Review later.
December 31, 2015
The story kept me interested with its twists and turns and its happy ending. The characters are believable.
April 5, 2017
A wonderfully exciting tale filled with greed based treachery that leads to more than one attempt on the life of an unforgettably sexy alpha hero! The first prolonged encounter between Chance Walker and widowed Lady Fancy Merrivale practically made the page sizzle. I became completely fascinated by the ins and outs, ups and downs of their unconventional love affair and the effect it had on their loved ones and enemies alike. The only reason this book is not a 5 star rating for me is the repetitive passages having to do with the reasons Chance and Fancy refused to acknowledge the depth of their feelings for each other, which I felt made the novel longer than necessary. However, I definitely recommend this exceptional historical romance by one of my favorite authors to all lovers of great storytelling. I received this book for free from eBook Discovery and this is my honest review, given voluntarily.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews