The Refuge

Joubert #2

by Jasmine Cresswell

Left penniless, with a young son to support, following the deaths of her father and cruel husband, Marisa Joubert finds employment at a Colorado ranch that houses unwed mothers, where she and Jimmy, a janitor at the ranch, join forces to investigate the disappearance of one of the young women. Original.

Genres: Romance, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary, Suspense, Fiction

408 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Born in England, Jasmine Cresswell now divides her time between her winter home in Sarasota, Florida and her summer home in Evergreen, Colorado. Jasmine has been writing since 1975 and has published over 50 novels, with 9 million copies of her books in print.
Jasmine served for two years as the editor of the Romance Writer's Report. She also served as president of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is a founder and former president of Novelists, Inc. She received the Colorado Authors' League Award for Best Paperback Novel of the Year and the Romance Writers of America Golden Rose Award. Her books also have received numerous Romantic Times certificates of excellence.

Experienced as a public speaker, Jasmine has conducted college seminars and addressed many writers' conferences. Interviews and profiles have appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and Jasmine considers herself a veteran of talk shows and news broadcasts.

Married to Malcolm Candlish, whom she met while she was working for the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Jasmine and her husband have lived all over the world. She has a Bachelor's Degree with a double major in history and philosophy from Melbourne University, a second degree in history from Macquarie University, as well as a Masters Degree in history and archival administration from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

Reviews

[Andriy Sukhodub · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is entertaining and helps kill time. Surprisingly the negative characters (Helen and Stuart) are more appealing and human that the 'positive' ones like Jimmy (obnoxious,sneaky,manipulative and single-minded) or Marisa (complex and moralising). These 2 'positive' characters eventually kill both Stuart and Helen and you wish it was the other way round. Although it appears that Stuart was completely innocent charity man those 'positive' two feel little remorse about their part in shortening his life and enjoy themselves in their self-righteousness.

[Casey H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story.
I often seem to enjoy the small paperback style books which I used to regularly borrow from the library.

This story keeps you guessing right to the end. The way everything played out worked perfectly in my opinion.

The characters were complex and written well.

The ending was just different enough to be counted as a plot twist.

I think this was the first book I read by this author.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Struggled to get thru it. Too Harlequin. Mystery was too easy to solve.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Refuge, Marisa Joubert finds herself a job working as a bookeeper for the Wainscott Ranch. What she doesn't expect to stumble onto is a female egg-selling ring. I found it took too long to uncover the mystery and unveil the deception by her partner Jimmy, The Janitor.

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

good

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sequel to The Inheritance, a woman goes to work for a home for unwed mothers. She finds some odd goings on and is pulled into an investigation of the selling of babies.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the greatest writer on the shelf. Maybe I'll try another book by this author, maybe not.

[Dixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good writer..good story...hard to put down.

[Velocity RaZz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit slow but overall alright, standard Cresswell fare.