Author: Barbara

Avid reader/reviewer of historical romance and historical mysteries.

One for the Rogue by Manda Collins

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)3 Comments

One for the Rogue (Studies in Scandal, #4)One for the Rogue by Manda Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Studies in Scandal #4
Publication Date: 6/26/18

I have been on pins and needles waiting for this book ever since Cam and Gemma met in the last book. WOW! What fireworks between them – it was an epic battle – he was rude, abrupt and condescending and she was highly insulted and stubborn. Oil and water – they just don’t mix. But you knew that they would and it was so much fun to see them blend together so seamlessly. No, it wasn’t easy, but they did it.

The book is a fun read with fun characters and, I hope, the epilogue left a tiny crack for further books in the series or perhaps a new series with Special Appearances by the characters from this series. I’d love to see Lady Serena get her HEA. Did we maybe see a set-up for that? Perhaps, but we’ll have to wait and see what Ms. Collins decides to do.

In case you don’t know the premise behind the series, I’ll give you the short version. In her will, Lady Celeste Beauchamp chose four young ladies for their intellectual capabilities to spend a year in residence at her house, Beauchamp House. It boasted one of the most impressive libraries in England, a much-envied fossil collection, painting studio, etc. Each young lady was given complete freedom and the tools to continue her education in her chosen field. Each young lady was also bequeathed a letter and a task/puzzle from Lady Celeste. At the end of the year, any young lady who was still unmarried and still living in the house would inherit the entire estate. If all of them married or if all of them remained unmarried, then they would all share the inheritance equally. The first three books saw Ivy (classics scholar), Daphne (mathematician), and Sophia (painter) solve their puzzles and find their HEA. This book deals with Gemma Hastings, a geologist, and sister to Sophia.

What an exciting beginning – Gemma is a bit of an insomniac and she’s gotten up in the wee hours of the morning and crept from her bedchamber to go on a midnight ramble about the house. Outside, she sees what appears to be a lantern bobbing along in the night. Heedless of the consequences, she dashes out to confront whoever is on their private property. As she observes, she sees that it is her brother-in-law – Lord Cameron Lisle. Cam’s brother is married to Gemma’s sister Sophia, but Gemma doesn’t like him even a little bit and is indignant that he’s roaming around on their property. After she calls out to him, and he shushes her, she realizes that there is someone else with another lantern further ahead of Cam. Cam is exasperated that Gemma has alerted the man he was following and who has now disappeared. What was Sir Everard Healy doing on that beach? Now, neither Cam nor Gemma would learn any time soon.

A couple of days later, Sir Everard is found dead at the base of the cliffs below Beauchamp House. He was murdered while trying to steal a geological find of Gemma’s. Gemma didn’t murder him, Cam didn’t murder him – so, who did and are they still skulking around? Gemma’s artifact is missing, so whoever murdered Sir Everard stole the artifact. Cam and Gemma must work together to find the artifact and also solve the murder. Of course, as they work together, they are attracted to each other and that grows – until they are discovered in a compromising position and have to become betrothed.

Somehow, between compromising positions, ‘temporary’ betrothals, unchaperoned road trips, pretending to be married and spending the night together at an inn as man and wife, they manage to solve the murder and find the artifact.

It was a lovely, interesting, well-written read and I’m sorry to see the series end. However, it did have a lovely epilogue with future plans for Beauchamp house and Lady Serena. So, that is what gives me hope that we might get to visit with all of these lovely ladies in a future series or additional books in this series.

I have seen several two and three-star reviews for this book and they all talk about the same issues. I actually agree with much of what they say, but I just thought the book, as a whole, was good enough that it offset those issues for me. The first thing is that there weren’t enough fireworks between Gemma and Cam given the argument from the previous book and Gemma’s continued dislike of Cam. I would have liked to see a few more epic battles before they came to a meeting in the middle. The second was the lack of character development for Gemma and Cam. I thought Cam grew and changed a lot – he actually did most of the changing and adapting to Gemma’s ways rather than the other way around. However, Gemma did grow and she had to learn that she could have love and her choice of vocation IF she chose the right man.

This was a delightful read and I didn’t want to put it down once I’d read the first page. Well, actually, I didn’t put it down — I read it straight through and enjoyed every minute of it.

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

Murder at the Mansion by Sheila Connolly

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Mystery2 Comments

Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mysteries, #1)Murder at the Mansion by Sheila Connolly

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Victorian Village Mysteries #1
Publication Date: 6/26/18

Great beginning for a new series. I read Connolly’s County Cork series (set in Ireland) and thoroughly every one of those, so when a new book for a new series popped up, I wanted to read it as well. This one is set in the financially troubled town of Asheford, Maryland. This small town is headed in the same direction as many other small towns today. All of the younger folks are moving to the cities because of the jobs and amenities offered by big cities. Asheford is struggling because the tax base is shrinking and jobs are leaving.

Katherine (Katie/Kate) Hamilton manages a small, very upscale, boutique hotel, the Oriole, in Baltimore. Although it only takes about an hour to get to her hometown of Asheford, she hasn’t been back there in years. She left after high school and has never looked back – especially after her parents moved to Florida. So, Kate was really surprised when her very best friend, Lisbeth, from high school, called and asked to see her.

Lisbeth explains to Kate that Asheford is in serious financial straits and that the town council would appreciate it if Kate would come to Asheford and give any recommendations she might have for using the grand old Victorian mansion that the town now owns. They would love to make it a centerpiece of the town but don’t know if it is feasible or how they could make it work. Kate agrees to take a look. When she sees the old mansion she is enthralled – then, as she looks around the town an idea begins to form. When she learns that her high school nemesis, Cordelia (Cordy), is living in town, Kate is a bit disconcerted, but she’s really ready to deal with her and put those past run-ins to rest. But, then, Cordy is found, by Kate, murdered on the stops of the lovely old Victorian – Barton Mansion.

We are introduced to Joshua (Josh) Wainwright, who is a divorced history professor at nearby Johns Hopkins University. Josh is on sabbatical from the university and is acting as caretaker for the Barton Mansion in return for free rooms while he does some historical research. We are also introduced to Lisbeth who was Kate’s best friend in high school. Lisbeth is now happily married to a successful man and is a stay-at-home mom to two children. I am assuming that these two characters will be fleshed out a little more as the series goes on and that we’ll learn more about them.

Josh and Kate work hard to solve the mysteries – yes, there are two mysteries. Are they related or are they totally separate with two separate perpetrators? As Josh and Kate work to solve the murder, they draw closer and closer. Will they end up in a relationship in future books in the series? I can surely see it because they both seem to have an insatiable curiosity, respect, and reverence for historical research. So, I think the two of them will work together to uncover all of the missing information on Henry Barton, his plant, his house and his wife as well as the rest of the history of the town and how it all relates to the civil war.

Another character we are introduced to is Kate’s high school boyfriend – and Cordy’s ex-husband, Ryan. I assume we’ll see him in future books because he still owns the building that housed Cordy’s B&B. I liked him okay and was glad to see that he apologized to Kate for what happened in high school.

I haven’t said much about Kate because I’m not sure how I feel about her. At this point, I don’t love her. She seems very condescending much of the time – like she is better than those around her. I hope that changes. For instance – here are a few of Kate’s thoughts/quotes:

  • “Was I too smart for the men I met? Too successful?”
  • “. . her crises and mine were so very different. She worried about misplaced baseball gloves, while at the hotel I had to track down international shipments of high-priority documents and make sure they reached the right people.” [This was thought about her best friend]
  • “She really has nowhere else to be. Sad, isn’t it?”

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to the next one in the series. It will be fun to see what direction the series and the romance moves in. It will also be fun to see what shops they end up bringing into the Victorian Village because some of the ones that Kate mentioned just wouldn’t work – given the population of the town and the fact that the town will depend on tourists. Kate has already moved most of those out, but it will still be interesting to see where they go with that AND what all of the research turns up.

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/flippinpages…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbBookReview

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”