eyes.2c Reviews

Seduction on a Snowy Night by Mary Jo Putney; Madeline Hunter; Sabrina Jeffries Three stellar stories bringing that extra taste of Christmas happiness into being for those involved, despite the obstacles that always seem to cut across many of the delightful, and often stubborn protagonists' paths. And yes, snow is involved in all! A Christmas Abduction by Madeline Hunter When Baron Thornhill, noted rake, finds himself kidnapped and held in a cottage he's somewhere between annoyed and amused. His captor is a rather unorthodox young woman who managed this feat with a younger man and a couple of older retainers. The big question is why? Caroline Dunham has planned this matter carefully. The Baron will make up for his perfidy. So a Christmas journey, where Thornhill was contemplating being engaged to a rather demanding woman has become something quite different. A Perfect Match by Sabrina Jeffries The problem of writing as someone else comes home to haunt Cassandra Isles...

Scandalous (The Outcasts #3) by Minerva Spencer         I actually struggled with the character of Sarah Fisher first up. This outspoken missionary's daughter who had been captured by slavers along with the rest of her African village is a force to be reckoned with.  When Captain Martín Bouchard, ex slave turned privateer fires on the slaver ship freedom is at hand. At that moment some of the slave ship's crew mutiny against their captain. When the vicious mutineers are overthrown, thanks to a combination of Martín's forces and the slaves, Sarah has her own thoughts about what should happen to them as governed by her Christian responsibilities. I for one felt the mutinous crewman should walk the plank. After all this is the man who'd arranged such a cargo unbeknownst to his Captain. However, against Bouchard's better judgement the mutineer leaders were imprisoned, and the story became more complicated from that point forward. What all came to expect, tho...

London's Late Night Scandal (Midnight Secrets #3)   by Anabelle Bryant Lord Matthew Strathmore, Earl of Whittingham, is Chief Officer of the Society for the Intellectually Advanced. He has questions about a recently published article by the respected scientist, Earl Talbot. Despite a wounded leg he hies off to Oxfordshire when Lord Talbot grants him an interview. Matthew wants Talbot to come to London to take questions on his latest paper. Unfortunately the Lord's granddaughter, Lady Theodosia Leighton has her own very good reasons for stymieing such a meeting. Theodosia is a gifted reclusive woman, trained by her grandfather. She has written a scientific paper under the Talbot name. Things are certainly shaken up by Matthew's arrival. I liked Matthew and Theodosia as antagonists  who can't help the sparks that ignite between them. I felt the reasons for Theodosia's withdrawal from society had so much more going for it than was represented. In the end her c...

Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish  (The Duke's Daughters #1, The Wyndham's #4)   by Grace Burrowes           This is probably my fourth or so reading about Lady Sophie and Vim Charpentier and it still delights and gives me the warm fuzzies. I adore Sophie and Vim! Both of these people are endearing, loveable and different. Lady Sophie Windham has found herself in possession of a few stolen days in the family mansion, by herself! A pleasure she's determined to take advantage of. Vim Charpentier is passing through London enroute to discovering conditions on his estates. He's received urgent missives from both his Uncle and Aunt. But fate intervenes and Vim and Sophie find themselves trapped in London by the winter storm and circumstances. The inclusion of an unlooked for baby as the piece that holds these two together is enchanting. The 'rescue' scene and resultant journey with Sophie's brothers is humorously adorable, especially as these hulking br...

Murder at Kensington Palace (A Wrexford & Sloane Mystery #3) by Andrea Penrose       It didn't take long for me to be up to my eyebrows in this the third Wrexford and Sloane mystery. A particularly gruesome murder has Charlotte reaching back into her past and going to a place she'd resolutely put behind her. Wrexford as always is an immense support in such a very Wrexford way that I've come to love. Just to recap, usually the Earl of Wrexford and Charlotte Sloane and their small circle of unlikely and very likeable characters are drawn into the depths of the rookeries and dark places of London when pursuing a crime. This time however the pursuit will lead into the tonnish limelight. Wrexford comes across to those outside his circle as the epitome a man of Science and logic. Charlotte entertains a double life as the leading satirical caricaturist A.J. Quill. She harbours her own deeply held secrets, always struggling for anonymity and keeping to the shadows. T...

The Merry Viscount (Widow's Brew #2) by Sally MacKenzie  So what happens when it's nearing Christmas Eve, you've caught the last coach out of town and then, some drunken youthful peers take the reins? You get Trouble, with a capital T! For Miss Caroline Anderson it was Double Trouble. Caro is "the brewster at the Benevolent Home for the Maintenance and Support of Spinsters, Widows, and Abandoned Women and their Unfortunate Children in Little Puddledon.” Quite a mouthful ! The coach has floundered outside the country residence of Nicholas St. John, Viscount Oakland, or, as some called him, Lord Devil, a onetime childhood friend of Caro's. For Nick it's also double trouble. Firstly he's rebelliously planned a Christmas orgy to rid the house of the memory of his late Uncle Leon's censorious voice, thumbing "his nose at everyone...by celebrating the Roman Saturnalia in place of Christmas" and secondly, he's having considerable trouble ...

Once a Spy (Rogues Redeemed #3) by Mary Jo Putney.          When Lady Aurora "Rory" Lawrence was rescued from the harem of a corrupt and powerful Turkish official by Captain Gabriel Hawkins, Suzanne Duval, the widowed Comtesse de Chambron, another imprisoned harem slave escaped with her. ( Once a Scoundrel, Rogues Redeemed #3) ) As a sexual slave Suzanne suffered much at the hands of her master, Gürkan. This violation left Suzanne with a distrust of men and an obhoreance for intimate relations. Simon Duval, a half French, British intelligence officer, and Suzanne's cousin by marriage has found Suzanne working as a seamstress in a poorer part of London. After hearing some of her story he offers to teach her how to use a knife and some defensive moves to protect herself. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Suzanne defended herself from a drunken lout at a gathering of upper class French Emigres. Up until her marriage to Simon, Suzanne has been treated ...

A Lady Never Tells (Women of Daring #1) by Lynn Winchester          Oh my! Just into the first few pages and I was already heavily engaged. I'd spotted a whole family of interesting siblings who must have their own story coming. The Daring siblings! From an early age they have been steeped in various Chinese martial arts styles, amongst other skills, that could only be found in the Far East. Together their list of abilities are formidable. Their father, Devon Daring, the Earl of Gadstoke, has been the ambassador to the Orient for twenty-five years. The Darings are part of a secret organization of the Prince Regent's to combat would be enemies of the crown. Now it's 1817 and they have returned from Zhejiang, China to London and are tasked to carry out matters of Imperial espionage. Victoria Daring's mission for the Home Office, as part of Operation Imperial Twilight, is to search the home of Malcolm Egerdon, the Earl of Banebridge. That's when she's inter...

Into Thin Eire (John Pickett Mysteries #9) by Sheri Cobb South       How I love John Pickett mysteries. John receives a singular honor and his home front is put in jeopardy. Following John's journey is such a pleasure. (BTW, I must thank my Goodreads friend Barbara Rogers for initially drawing this series to my attention!) In this volume John travels to the West Country with his nemesis Harry Carson in response to a request for assistance from John and another Bow Street officer. Julia, John's beloved and charming wife, is abducted whilst he's away. The past has come back to haunt them both. John enlists the help of his brother-in-law Major James Pennington, late of His Majesty’s 7th cavalry. Together with Thomas his valet and Carson they follow what leads they can. A trail that will send them to Ireland and into a case from the past that still troubles John. I really enjoy the relationship between John and Julia, I enjoy John's doggedness and insecurities. I en...

The Lady and the Highwayman (Proper Romance)   by Sarah M. Eden        I enjoyed this story, although aspects seem familiar. Perhaps it's the woman writer with a male nom de plume that had caught me.  Elizabeth Black, respectable headmistress of a gentile girl's school is that and a literary writer by day and the Penny Dreadful writer Charles King by night. Fletcher Walker is the top Penny Dreadful writer by day and rescuer of downtrodden children and others, generally women, by night. His rescue operations, carried out with  assistance from the illusive Penny Dreadful Society, with their own secret calling card, a penny,  are funded in part by his successful writings. The main story of Fletcher's publications being overtaken by King's thus putting in danger the wherewithal for the rescue activities for mistreated women and children of the lowest strata of London life is an inspired basis for the novel. We follow the rescue of Daniel, a ch...

To Wed a Wild Scot (Besotted Scots #2) by Anna Bradley            What more can one ask for? Fireworks aplenty! A feisty  English lass (Lady Juliana Bernard) steals away the heart of a stubborn Scotsman (Logan, Laird of Clan Kinross), despite their battles, suspicions and inauspicious start. The story had me at the disheveled wee Sassenach lass, vomit on the bottom of her skirts (don't ask!) dogging the Scotsman through the wilds to Castle Kinross--and I never looked back. Juliana must find a husband to ensure her guardianship of her beloved niece Grace, and to prevent Grace from falling into the clutches of the alternative guardian, a cunning blackguard, Lord Cowden, whose measure Juliana has had since childhood. Of course there's intrigue, hurt, double dealings, the threat of land enclosures and the dastardly actions of the rich English landlords, and most importantly, humor! Bradley's research on the Scottish clearances and the resulting t...

Death in Focus (Elena Standish #1) by Anne Perry.           What would you do if you'd been having a grand old time on the Amalfi Coast and then discovered a body in a hotel laundry cupboard. It's 1931, Elena Standish Is working as a photographer at an economics conference. Her sister Margot, who marches to the beat of her own drum, came along for the ride. The opening scene captures this so vividly. At some point Elena decides to join the young man, Ian Newton, who was with her when the body made its presence felt, on a journey to Berlin. Only her companion, that oh so nice young man, is shot on the train. With his dying breath he informs Elena that he's trying to stop an assassination of a top member of the Nazi party in Berlin. His reasons seem lucid so Elena decides to Cary forward with Ian's task. What we find out as the story continues is that Elena has had a somewhat unfortunate encounter with another man when she was working with the Foreign Offic...

The Harp of Kings (Warrior Bards #1) by Juliet Marillier           A strong fantasy, although I must admit it took me a few pages to get used to the three voices. Those of sister and brother, Liobhan (Ciara), singer and whistle player, and harper Brocc (Donal), along with Dau (Neesam) a chieftain's third son. Three training to be warriors for a place within the exclusive warrior group of Swan Island. "Brocc and [Liobhan] prepared for months to win places in the training course, from which maybe two or three out of the twenty will be chosen to stay as permanent members of the Swan Island force. Nobody wants to be sent home." An unusual request takes them on a mission before their training is finished. A mission that will bring consternation, open up mysteries of hidden ways and lead the three into troubling yet concerted action. An important artifact has gone missing from the kingdom of Briefne, an "instrument known as the Harp of Kings. To the people of B...

The Spitfire (Wicked Wallflowers #5) by Christi Caldwell           A well tuned story about a young woman's strength and ability to reverse her role from that of victim to entrepreneur. Having rebuffed the advances of a wealthy patron Clara Winters, daughter of a famous London actress, had subsequently been refused employment as an actress or singer. Clara's only way forward was to become a whore then a Madame. Now she's part owner of a proposed music hall where maltreated women could regain there self respect. Her partner is Regina (Reggie) Killoran whom we met in The Governess. A chance witness to a stranger being beaten and stabbed in an alley in St. Giles has Clara tending the injured man, only to discover he's a peer, Henry March, the Earl of Waterson. Henry is a, "leading MP, determined to see a universal constable force throughout the whole of England." He has been researching some of the more dangerous parts of London. But for Clara, he'd h...

The Marquis She's Been Waiting For (The Marriage Game #9)   by Ella Quinn            What do you do when you've become the Marquis earlier than wished, your mother's scandalously run off with the land steward leaving your two sisters in your care, and you know nothing about managing households, lands, or young ladies? What Alexander, now Marquis  of  Exeter decides is that he needs a wife to help him through the mire of governing his marquisate.  An aunt he's asked for assistance fires off the following tersely worded sensible sentiment, 'My advice is to find a wife.' Meanwhile Lady Dorcus Calthorp, daughter of a Marquis and sister one of Alex's friends, crosses Alex's path and decides to help him by introducing him to eligible potential candidates. Dorie discounts herself as a candidate. She's decided to marry for love, like the rest of her family. (I must admit to finding the interactions of her parents, the Marquis and Marchio...

The Long Call (Two Rivers #1) by Ann Cleeves         A complex mystery set in North Devon in an area near the mouth of the estuary, where the Taw met the Torridge and flowed into the Atlantic. Detective Matthew Venn has taken up a position in the community of his childhood. An unforgiving upbringing governed by the strangling strictures of the ultra conservative religious community he was part of formed him. As the story unfolds Cleeves sets the scene with what seems like disjointed events that will all have relevance as situations unfold coalescing into a fascinating end. His father's funeral Matthew views from afar, a stabbing, a missing girl with disabilities from the center that Matthew's male partner is in charge of, confrontation with the church leader, a powerful backing of the center, the backer's daughter and her housemate a talented artist. Add to this a couple of interesting detectives assisting Matthew and all will  mesh to make a surprising w...

Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women)   by Evie Dunmore          Well what a satisfying read by debut writer Evie Dunmore. I cheered for Annabelle Archer, intelligently gifted vicar's daughter as she struggled to make her dreams come true. An education at Oxford. It's 1879 and that august institution has just opened its doors to women. I chafed at the burdens Annabelle was forced to endure as the daughter of a deceased vicar whose livelihood now depended upon her brother. Now she was not only poor, but a cheap downtrodden worker without any recourse, for that same opined brother? And Annabelle's involvement with the suffragettes!  (I love any stories that point out these amazing women. We stand on their shoulders with the right to vote and to hold property, and to not be property, because of their sacrifices, even unto death.) Annabelle has been charged with targeting Sebastian Devereux, the rather frightening Duke of Montgo...

How to Catch a Wicked Viscount (The Disreputable Debutantes #1) by Amy Rose Bennett           So we have a plethora of interesting characters and situations in this first of the series "The Disreputable Debutantes". Four young women who'd been sent down from an exclusive ladies school for behaviour that did not fit with the school's ethos. Of course Society gossiped about it and they did have to rusticate as it were for three years. Now these disgraced debutantes are determined to take matters into their own hands as they work their way back into the social arena. Not for them the pale aspects of Almanacks. They are making a list of Rakes and are determining to to find a husband in hitherto unlooked for areas. It helps that one of their number Lady Charlotte Hastings, has a brother, Nate Hastings, the Viscount Malverne, who's a throrough rake. His friends appear to be handily listed as well. Well they did all fight in Waterloo and they seem to share an ...

Never Have I Ever With a Duke (The Spitfire Society #1)   by Darcy Burke.    This first in Darcy Burke's new series, The Spitfire Society, just didn't grab me.  I quite liked Graham Kingsley, the new seventh Duke of Halstead, as the unacknowledged relative who became a Duke only to find everything mortgaged to the hilt.  There is a deeper story behind this, but it's like looking through a dusty pane of glass trying to pull it all together. The former Duke had not only gambled heavily but had made suspect investments that never came through. Graham has to marry an heiress to bring everything about. Arabella Stoke is in the same boat. Her father's gambling habits and less than stellar investments means she has to marry for money to save the family's fortunes. Of course they fall for each other. However this is expressed in chancy illicit liaisons in doubtful places, not in declarations of love and marriage. It seems Arabella Stoke has had her previous mome...