Mesmerized by Candace Camp

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Mad Morelands #1
Publication Date: December 26th, 2017 by Harlequin Books (first published October 1st, 2003)

PHENOMENAL read!!! I have a feeling I am going to run out of superlatives before I am through reading this entire series. I read the sixth book in the series first – because I received a review copy. I was so in awe of the writing, the story and the Moreland family in that book that I just had to go back and read all of the first books. Boy am I glad I did. I can’t think of a better introduction to a series than this book! I also now have the rest of the books in my reading queue so I can get them read before the next one comes out.

Stephen St. Leger is the second son of an Earl. He never expects and certainly didn’t want to inherit the title – but he has and now he’ll have to do his best by it. He had lived in America – Colorado – for the last ten years and had made a fortune in silver mining, now he had to sell out and head back to England – something he didn’t think he’d ever do. He didn’t leave on the best of terms with his older brother and it was all over a calculating, cold, self-centered woman. Stephen met her and fell in love (at least he thought it was love) and then when he proudly introduced her to his family, she promptly went after his brother because he had the wealth and title. Stephen and Roderick had harsh, hurtful words and Stephen left for America.

Upon his return to England, he spends several months at their country estate – Blackhope – in order to familiarize himself with the running of the estate and its tenants. At the end of the season, he heads to London to pick up his mother, sister, and his brother’s widow and return them home. What he finds when he arrives is chaos. His mother has been seeing a ‘medium’ and she is totally convinced that this woman can speak to the dead – specifically to Stephen’s dead brother. She invites this woman, her daughter and their ‘sponsor’ to come back to Blackhope with them. Before that happens, Stephen decides to attend a séance just to see how they work. While there, he grabs onto a woman who he is sure is an accomplice to the charlatan medium. His whole body jolts when his hand wraps around her wrist. They are thrown out of the séance and she is absolutely and completely furious with him – but gives him her card anyway.

Olivia Moreland is the daughter of a duke. Theirs is a very large, loving, and unconventional family. That unconventionality is what has earned them the epithet of ‘The Mad Morelands’. Olivia is incensed when one of the first things out of the mouth of the stranger who dared to grab her during the séance is a referral to her family as The Mad Morelands. She sets him in his place quite thoroughly, but she hands him one of her business cards. You see – she is an investigator whose mission is to expose all of those fake mediums who have invaded London in the last few years. They both leave and she never expects to see or hear from him again. Just imagine her shock when he turns up at her office the next day and asks to hire her.

She travels to Blackhope the following week and the strange events begin immediately. She has a vision upon arrival (all of the Morelands seem to have some special ability) and she is shocked. Nothing like that has ever happened to her before. The strange occurrences just continue and they keep you riveted – turning the pages as fast as you can read them. Is the villain a real live person or a ghost? Or – is it both?

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! It is an exciting page-turner – I couldn’t put it down once I started reading – and yes, that meant an all-nighter. I loved being introduced to the Moreland family and particularly liked Olivia’s Great-Uncle Bertrand as well as Stephen’s sister Belinda. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the Moreland clan in their own books!

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.”

His Wicked Charm by Candace Camp

Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Mad Morelands #6
Publication Date: 3/27/18

This book is absolutely perfect! It begins with a wedding and ends with a wedding and sandwiched between is a kidnapping, a mystery, an unexpected villain, mysticism, jealousy, unwelcome suitors, paranormal powers, and a lovely romance. I cannot believe that I have missed the first five books in the series and I certainly intend to remedy that! I had no trouble reading and following the book without having read the others in the series.

Constantine (Con) Moreland is the son of a Duke and publicly portrays himself exactly as he is. He’s fun-loving, nice (very nice), appealing, humorous, irreverent, impulsive and feels that the rules, at best, are just guidelines. He’s also handsome as sin, never gets lost, and just doesn’t know what to make of Lilah Holcutt. With Con – what you see is what you get.

Lilah Holcutt is the exact opposite of Con. She follows the rules, abhors scandal, is ever the prim and proper miss, likes her feet planted firmly on the ground, – and maybe she’s a bit judgmental. She is NOT flamboyant, she doesn’t crave excitement and adventure and she isn’t driven by wild uncontrollable passion. She doesn’t like Con because he is a rule breaker and – well – he teases her and that makes her think that he doesn’t like her.

We begin our story with the wedding of Alex, Con’s twin brother, and Sabrina, Lilah’s best (and only) friend. Not long after the wedding festivities are over and the happy couple has left for their honeymoon trip, Lilah’s life is back to its normal, prim, proper and boring ways. Her very, very, very staid aunt and uncle are back to finding her a proper, appropriate husband. On a particularly boring day, Lilah remembers that she promised to loan Olivia (Con’s sister) a book and decides to take it over to her. When she arrives, she learns that Olivia is out with her mother and sisters and Lilah decides she’ll just leave the book – but – Con intercepts her. As they are speaking, they learn that Con’s mother and sisters have been kidnapped. Con dashes out to the location and Lilah insists on accompanying him. Chaos, pure chaos is the scene that greets them when they arrive at the location. The Duchess and her daughters and daughters-in-law have been kidnapped and there are no clues.

After some consultation with the family, Con and Lilah take off in pursuit of the kidnappers. Con has always had the unique ability – he doesn’t get lost – and always seems to know which direction he should go. That is certainly useful when trailing the kidnappers. Strangely, that ability seems to be stronger, more acute when Lilah is near him. Luckily, they find the duchess and the ladies with her and just as Con and Lilah are rescuing them – they rescue themselves.

That begins a story filled with more twists and turns than a knotted rope. Who was the real target of the kidnapping? Was it really the duchess? Was it Kyria? Was it Sabrina? Did the kidnappers miss their real target? Who was the villain? Was it Sir Jasper? Was it the Dearborn’s (again)? Was it somebody totally new? What key is the villain looking for? What does it open? Where could it be? Oh! What an exciting adventure. You’ll love the search and the discovery and you’ll absolutely love Con and Lilah finding their HEA. I adored Lilah’s growth as she discovers who she really is and what she values in life.

I highly recommend this book and I can assure you I’ll be catching up with the rest of the series very, very soon!

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.”