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Richard and Rose #5
Eyton
Scandal, murder and passion—an ordinary day for Richard and Rose.
Richard and Rose, Book 5
When Richard and Rose visit his family estate in Derbyshire to celebrate the christening of their firstborn, Rose comes face to face with some hard realities about the powerful Kerre family. The vast majority of them are far from delighted with Richard’s choice of wife. Plus, they think a man who shares his bed with his wife every night must have something wrong with him.
Rose is driven half mad by Richard’s overly careful love for her. Somewhere underneath that smooth, sophisticated surface lies the passionate, intense lover she longs for—and she takes steps to seduce that savage lover back into her bed.
Their joyous occasion is marred by the theft of a valuable necklace. Richard’s family looks to him to solve the crime—but something isn’t adding up. Evidence pointing to two trusted servants seems too convenient…and then they’re murdered.
From the tangle of jealousies, secrets and desperate lies, Richard and Rose once again dance on the edge of danger to achieve justice—without dragging the family name into public scandal.
Warning: Sharp-shootin’ Rose goes gunning for her man in this one. So steamy sex ahoy!
Richard and Rose, Book 5
When Richard and Rose visit his family estate in Derbyshire to celebrate the christening of their firstborn, Rose comes face to face with some hard realities about the powerful Kerre family. The vast majority of them are far from delighted with Richard’s choice of wife. Plus, they think a man who shares his bed with his wife every night must have something wrong with him.
Rose is driven half mad by Richard’s overly careful love for her. Somewhere underneath that smooth, sophisticated surface lies the passionate, intense lover she longs for—and she takes steps to seduce that savage lover back into her bed.
Their joyous occasion is marred by the theft of a valuable necklace. Richard’s family looks to him to solve the crime—but something isn’t adding up. Evidence pointing to two trusted servants seems too convenient…and then they’re murdered.
From the tangle of jealousies, secrets and desperate lies, Richard and Rose once again dance on the edge of danger to achieve justice—without dragging the family name into public scandal.
Warning: Sharp-shootin’ Rose goes gunning for her man in this one. So steamy sex ahoy!
274 pages, ebook
Published January 12, 2010
6 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
Lynne Connolly
130 books312 followersI was born in Leicester, England, and lived in our cobbler’s shop with my parents and sister. It was an old house and most definitely haunted, but I didn’t find out until I left that my great uncle had hung himself in the living room! But I think our ghost might have been older than that. It was built on the site of the old Roman cemetery, and the land had been constantly inhabited, being in the centre of town. Then, when the council bought the house from us to build a road, my grandfather retired and my father went and worked for the Post Office. My mother was a sample machinist; that is, she worked with designers on the prototypes (models or samples) of garments. So I was very well dressed! We bought a relatively modern house in the country, and my mother was blissfully happy. It’s all very well living in a large old house, but it’s a dreadful task to keep it clean and warm!
My mother's side of the family are Romany gypsies, although sadly we haven't any of the old trailers that are so astonishingly beautiful. I was taught to read the Tarot cards, and I usually use two packs; the Rider pack for simple readings and the Crowley Thoth pack for the complex stuff.
I've always had an interest in the paranormal and it's been a delight to be able to put some of this into my novels.
My mother's side of the family are Romany gypsies, although sadly we haven't any of the old trailers that are so astonishingly beautiful. I was taught to read the Tarot cards, and I usually use two packs; the Rider pack for simple readings and the Crowley Thoth pack for the complex stuff.
I've always had an interest in the paranormal and it's been a delight to be able to put some of this into my novels.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 16, 2010
"I'd discovered this to be one of Richard's secrets; everything he did was done superbly, adding to the whole effect of exquisite perfection. It was almost obsessive, but it was something he could drop at will, although some of it was so ingrained in him it had become instinct."
In this 5th book in Lynn Connolly's lovely Richard and Rose series, R&R have gone to his family's seat in Eyton to await the birth of their child. Rose delivers successfully and the family and a few close friends descend to celebrate the newest member of the Kerre family.
During the house party a valuable necklace is stolen and then a double murder occurs. As it appears the murder may not be the work of a stranger but a possibility that a family member is involved, Richard steps in to solve the mystery and to stave off a possible family scandal. Rose, of course, having a taste of working side by side with her husband in the areas of detection and crime, lends a hand.
On the personal front, Rose is dismayed when Richard refuses to re-engage in conjugal bliss. He is frightened with the possibility that he may get Rose pregnant again and refuses to allow his wife to wear herself out having children year after year. But this is unacceptable to Rose and she decides to take a few measures of her own.
Sigh. I love this series. I just do. I mentioned somewhere else that this was a bit of a different take on a series romance. Here the couple are in love (and have been almost since the first book) and are married. We get to see after the HEA and watch as the couple adjusts to married life and to each other.
This could get very stale very quickly. But Connolly does not allow that to happen. Instead she gives you a good story on multiple levels. On one level there is still the romantic and emotional tension between R&R. They are newlyweds, They love each other but they are still learning about each other and growing within their relationship.
On another level is the character exploration of each of these two people outside the romance. Rose is a complete fish out of water. She is a member of the lower gentry who has married very, very well to a man who is a perfect exquisite. Richard is a man with a scandalous past and an avocation very much outside the comfort zone of his aristocratic peers. Through the course of each book Connolly is unpeeling each of these two in well defined layers. Rose is slowly getting more comfortable in her skin amongst people who are very alien to her. She is sure of her husband, but she isn't always sure of herself. Richard is the true piece de resistance in this series. He is fast becoming one of my very favorite heroes. He is almost like a Georgian version of J.D. Robb's Roarke. He is all sophisticated veneer, beautiful waistcoats, and powdered wig on the surface, yet underneath he is not quite that civilized. As Lizzie, Rose's sister notes, "He has a will no one likes to cross."
And on a third level there is the plotting. Since R&R are together, the plot can't come from them getting together and Connolly can't make them angsty through several books. So she gives them adversaries to overcome and mysteries to solve. As mysteries go, this one was not very hard to figure out who the murderer was, but it does serve to set up some great moments of Richard kicking ass and taking names (in a very falwlessly graceful Richard manner, natch).
And finally there is the level where the writing just speaks to me. Connolly does just what I like. She gives me people who make sense! For instance, one of my pet peeves is when you have this Duke of Slut who is a master cocksman all over town for years and years and years who suddenly becomes a faithful, devoted husband because he's met this woman who can 'tame' him. Richard's past with women is scandalous. He wasn't merely a libertine. He was a cruel and uncaring person who was punishing himself more than anything. At one point Lizzie wonders if Rose is afraid that Richard will revert to his ways. But Richard lets his guard down only to Rose and she is sure of her man. She tells her sister:
He didn't give up all that philandering for me, you know. He just grew bored with it
That isn't to say all is sweetness and light with these two. They have their moments when they disagree and butt heads. In this book, Connolly does an excellent job of one again featuring the class divide between them. Richard is an aristocrat and for all that he walks to the beat of his own drum, he is still nobility born and bred. And for them, family, name, and honor must be upheld, scandal must be scotched. But Rose is closer to yeoman stock and when it appears to her that justice for two murdered servants might not be served, she is uneasy. For her it is about 'every mother's son' and the possibility that her Richard may be complicit in covering up murder in the name of family honor. But again, Connolly surprises me:
For the first time, I felt uneasily apprehensive waiting for my husband, and I fortified myself with a small glass of Brandy. I was determined not to fall out with him, but I needed to get these things sorted out in my mind, or they would eventually come between us. Perhaps this is how many couples managed, with private disagreements smoothed over in public, but i didn't want to become like that. I would do my best to prevent it.
And they work it out.
Lovely installment in an addictive series.
In this 5th book in Lynn Connolly's lovely Richard and Rose series, R&R have gone to his family's seat in Eyton to await the birth of their child. Rose delivers successfully and the family and a few close friends descend to celebrate the newest member of the Kerre family.
During the house party a valuable necklace is stolen and then a double murder occurs. As it appears the murder may not be the work of a stranger but a possibility that a family member is involved, Richard steps in to solve the mystery and to stave off a possible family scandal. Rose, of course, having a taste of working side by side with her husband in the areas of detection and crime, lends a hand.
On the personal front, Rose is dismayed when Richard refuses to re-engage in conjugal bliss. He is frightened with the possibility that he may get Rose pregnant again and refuses to allow his wife to wear herself out having children year after year. But this is unacceptable to Rose and she decides to take a few measures of her own.
Sigh. I love this series. I just do. I mentioned somewhere else that this was a bit of a different take on a series romance. Here the couple are in love (and have been almost since the first book) and are married. We get to see after the HEA and watch as the couple adjusts to married life and to each other.
This could get very stale very quickly. But Connolly does not allow that to happen. Instead she gives you a good story on multiple levels. On one level there is still the romantic and emotional tension between R&R. They are newlyweds, They love each other but they are still learning about each other and growing within their relationship.
On another level is the character exploration of each of these two people outside the romance. Rose is a complete fish out of water. She is a member of the lower gentry who has married very, very well to a man who is a perfect exquisite. Richard is a man with a scandalous past and an avocation very much outside the comfort zone of his aristocratic peers. Through the course of each book Connolly is unpeeling each of these two in well defined layers. Rose is slowly getting more comfortable in her skin amongst people who are very alien to her. She is sure of her husband, but she isn't always sure of herself. Richard is the true piece de resistance in this series. He is fast becoming one of my very favorite heroes. He is almost like a Georgian version of J.D. Robb's Roarke. He is all sophisticated veneer, beautiful waistcoats, and powdered wig on the surface, yet underneath he is not quite that civilized. As Lizzie, Rose's sister notes, "He has a will no one likes to cross."
And on a third level there is the plotting. Since R&R are together, the plot can't come from them getting together and Connolly can't make them angsty through several books. So she gives them adversaries to overcome and mysteries to solve. As mysteries go, this one was not very hard to figure out who the murderer was, but it does serve to set up some great moments of Richard kicking ass and taking names (in a very falwlessly graceful Richard manner, natch).
And finally there is the level where the writing just speaks to me. Connolly does just what I like. She gives me people who make sense! For instance, one of my pet peeves is when you have this Duke of Slut who is a master cocksman all over town for years and years and years who suddenly becomes a faithful, devoted husband because he's met this woman who can 'tame' him. Richard's past with women is scandalous. He wasn't merely a libertine. He was a cruel and uncaring person who was punishing himself more than anything. At one point Lizzie wonders if Rose is afraid that Richard will revert to his ways. But Richard lets his guard down only to Rose and she is sure of her man. She tells her sister:
He didn't give up all that philandering for me, you know. He just grew bored with it
That isn't to say all is sweetness and light with these two. They have their moments when they disagree and butt heads. In this book, Connolly does an excellent job of one again featuring the class divide between them. Richard is an aristocrat and for all that he walks to the beat of his own drum, he is still nobility born and bred. And for them, family, name, and honor must be upheld, scandal must be scotched. But Rose is closer to yeoman stock and when it appears to her that justice for two murdered servants might not be served, she is uneasy. For her it is about 'every mother's son' and the possibility that her Richard may be complicit in covering up murder in the name of family honor. But again, Connolly surprises me:
For the first time, I felt uneasily apprehensive waiting for my husband, and I fortified myself with a small glass of Brandy. I was determined not to fall out with him, but I needed to get these things sorted out in my mind, or they would eventually come between us. Perhaps this is how many couples managed, with private disagreements smoothed over in public, but i didn't want to become like that. I would do my best to prevent it.
And they work it out.
Lovely installment in an addictive series.
August 13, 2016
There's quite a bit I like about this series, including the first-person POV (unusual for a historical), Rose's voice, and the Georgian historical setting.
But there was this one scene in this book that really annoyed me, and I couldn't get over the heroine's stupidity. So a minor scene, but it really got on my nerves and ruined the story for me. And the plot itself was a bit meh as well.
But there was this one scene in this book that really annoyed me, and I couldn't get over the heroine's stupidity. So a minor scene, but it really got on my nerves and ruined the story for me. And the plot itself was a bit meh as well.
December 18, 2025
Reread.
May 17, 2011
Lucky me, I got to lose myself in another Richard and Rose book by Lynne Connolly. Book 5, Eyton, brings a new addition to the Strang family in the form of Helen, Richard and Rose’s little girl. The couple are brought closer together with her birth, but murder is afoot in the household when everyone gathers for a party to welcome Helen into the world.
First, jewels are stolen, among other trinkets and things, and when Richard and Rose start investigating—they’re soooo good at it too—the person who stole the largest, most expensive item decided to kill off anyone who knew of her/his identity. I say her/his, because I don’t want to spoil anything for future readers. Our delightful Strangs must figure out who the killer is without getting themselves harmed in the process. It’s a delicate business, trying to ward off gossip and contain a scandal, but despite the odds seeming against them, Richard and Rose pull it off.
Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed this instalment of the series, and although I hate the “menaces” who have appeared in previous books, a part of me was sad the horrible pigs weren’t present this time. I love to hate them, no matter how irritating, awful and plain nasty they are, but at the same time I was relieved for Rose and Richard that they got a little break from those hideous people. I hope the menaces return again at some point, because even though they’ve been told to behave themselves, they are so arrogant I can’t see them keeping to the shadows for long. Here’s hoping!
There were numerous lovely images in Eyton, that had me really seeing them as though I was there. I’ve found with Ms. Connolly’s writing that she has the ability to place me at the scene as though I am an observer, fancy dress, fan, hoop and all, and I literally get lost in the books. My fave scene out of the whole book was the one where Richard, Rose, Lizzie and her intended are in the summer house and someone arrives thinking they are alone to hide something. Before that person arrives, the tableau of these four sitting in peace and quiet on a hot day really is striking, and for that to be broken by the 5th person, I wanted to yell at them to go away. Mad, I know, but with everything that had been going on in the household, and Richard’s mother being present, I really felt Richard and Rose needed some time out away from the madness. This person spoiled that, yet at the same time it snapped me to attention, out of the dreamy state I’d got myself in to while imagining them resting in the sun. I wanted to know just what that person was up to and who it was.
Another brilliant tale. They are all so seamless that it’s like there is no break between books at all. It’s like you’ve read one humungous novel. Fabulous!
First, jewels are stolen, among other trinkets and things, and when Richard and Rose start investigating—they’re soooo good at it too—the person who stole the largest, most expensive item decided to kill off anyone who knew of her/his identity. I say her/his, because I don’t want to spoil anything for future readers. Our delightful Strangs must figure out who the killer is without getting themselves harmed in the process. It’s a delicate business, trying to ward off gossip and contain a scandal, but despite the odds seeming against them, Richard and Rose pull it off.
Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed this instalment of the series, and although I hate the “menaces” who have appeared in previous books, a part of me was sad the horrible pigs weren’t present this time. I love to hate them, no matter how irritating, awful and plain nasty they are, but at the same time I was relieved for Rose and Richard that they got a little break from those hideous people. I hope the menaces return again at some point, because even though they’ve been told to behave themselves, they are so arrogant I can’t see them keeping to the shadows for long. Here’s hoping!
There were numerous lovely images in Eyton, that had me really seeing them as though I was there. I’ve found with Ms. Connolly’s writing that she has the ability to place me at the scene as though I am an observer, fancy dress, fan, hoop and all, and I literally get lost in the books. My fave scene out of the whole book was the one where Richard, Rose, Lizzie and her intended are in the summer house and someone arrives thinking they are alone to hide something. Before that person arrives, the tableau of these four sitting in peace and quiet on a hot day really is striking, and for that to be broken by the 5th person, I wanted to yell at them to go away. Mad, I know, but with everything that had been going on in the household, and Richard’s mother being present, I really felt Richard and Rose needed some time out away from the madness. This person spoiled that, yet at the same time it snapped me to attention, out of the dreamy state I’d got myself in to while imagining them resting in the sun. I wanted to know just what that person was up to and who it was.
Another brilliant tale. They are all so seamless that it’s like there is no break between books at all. It’s like you’ve read one humungous novel. Fabulous!
February 8, 2010
More Richard & Rose - I'm not sure why I find these Georgian period historicals so charming. The first two were fairly conventional romances (albeit Conolly writes really hot but tasteful sex scenes) and then it is morphing into a continuing arc with what are essentially mysteries.
But for some reason they really work on a lot of levels for me, and I'll probably go back and do a reread from the beginning shortly. I hope her situation with the new publisher stays stable.
But for some reason they really work on a lot of levels for me, and I'll probably go back and do a reread from the beginning shortly. I hope her situation with the new publisher stays stable.
December 28, 2011
A good solid mystery with the usual wealth of historical detail and intriguing characters, but not my favourite of the series so far. Somehow it all felt just a little too insular compared to the wider implications of developments in previous novels. Lots of potential for situations and characters to come back later, though, and I'm looking forward to reading the next.
April 10, 2018
Excellent novel
This book is the fifth in this series... Its quite good...Here Richard"s And Rose"s relationship is going through another transition... Emphasis on Male heir sadly reminds me that what was the plight of women then.
This book is the fifth in this series... Its quite good...Here Richard"s And Rose"s relationship is going through another transition... Emphasis on Male heir sadly reminds me that what was the plight of women then.
March 16, 2024
Georgian parenthood. Missing jewels. Privilege. Punishment.
August 2, 2012
It was ok :)
June 30, 2019
2.5 stars
Read
July 26, 2015Family drama, Murder, Touch of Romance.
Richard & Rose bring their first born to his ancestral home. The story captured English country life excellently.
Enjoyed it.
Richard & Rose bring their first born to his ancestral home. The story captured English country life excellently.
Enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews