Elizabeth Chadwick’s THE SUMMER QUEEN – First in a Series about the Magnificent Eleanor of Aquitaine

Set in the 12^th century, this is the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who at 13 lost her father and was forced to marry the young Prince Louis of France. A week after the marriage she becomes a queen. Louis is a disappointment to the intelligent young queen, preferring his devotion to the church to her or much else. In addition, she has a mother-in-law no one would want. Her sister  Petronella is self-willed and Eleanor must deal with her as well.

 

Eleanor gives birth to a daughter (to Louis’ disappointment) and then he forces her to go on Crusade with him because he does not trust her with France while he is away. With their marriage in trouble ,Eleanor falls in love with an old flame and, missing Aquitaine, seeks an annulment from her marriage.

 

This is another well-written historical novel by Chadwick based on much research into some truly interesting characters, Eleanor being the primary one. I enjoyed it. It’s the first in her Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy. Henry of Anjou only shows up toward the end and one must read book 2 for their marriage.

 

The Summer Queen

The Winter Crown

The Autumn Throne

 

Sharon Key Penman’s A KING’S RANSOM – The Rest of Lionheart’s Story…

 

This is a well-researched, well-told story of King Richard I after he went on crusade. Returning to France with the best of his faithful men, he moves to take back what the French king took from him while he was gone. Taken captive by the Holy Roman Emperor in violation of the papal decree protecting all crusaders, Richard spends fifteen months chained in a dungeon and imprisoned in Germany while his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine moves heaven and earth to raise the exorbitant ransom. And what a woman!

 

I love how Penman adds fiction to the real story to bring it alive for the reader. The characters will draw you into their lives. Richard emerges, as in Lionheart, as a hero with no equal. For the five years remaining to him, he faces betrayals, intrigues, wars, and illness. His marriage never seemed to be what he or his wife might have wanted and she produced no children. But you will see why the courage, compassion, and intelligence of Richard became the stuff of legend.

 

Highly recommended but start with Lionheart.

 

Victoria Holt’s THE INDIA FAN – Sweeping Victorian Tale of Adventure and Love in France and India

This is the story of Drusilla Delaney, daughter of a rector living in England in the mid 19^th century. Near Drusilla’s home was the elaborate Framling estate, or as she thought of it, “the big house”. The Framlings were an old wealthy family tied to the East India Company and they were significant in Drusilla’s life.

 

We meet Drusilla as a young girl when she is taken to the big house to be the playmate of the spoiled but beautiful Lavinia Framling. Drusilla had previously encountered Lavinia’s brother Fabian, who kidnapped her when she was only two because he wanted to “play at being a father” and needed a child. Ever there after, Drusilla was fascinated not only by the big house and its secrets but also by Fabian. And because of that she would tolerate Lavinia.

 

In the big house lives Aunt Lucille who once lived and loved in India and who possesses a fan made of peacock feathers. Drusilla wonders at the tears shed by Aunt Lucille whenever she reads her old letters from her lost love. And Drusilla wonders about the fan, until one day Aunt Lucille tells her it is cursed and brings tragedy to one who has possessed it, which thanks to one of Fabian’s games, Drusilla has done.

 

Because of her early relationship with Lavinia, Drusilla is swept off to France and later to India where she experiences the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a perilous time for Drusilla and those she has come to care about. It seems she cannot escape the evil magic of the peacock fan nor the Framlings, for good or for bad. There are three men in Drusilla’s life and whether she will end up with any of them is kept in doubt for much of the story. There are no love scenes in this well-told tale but there is much emotion.

 

While I don’t generally prefer stories told in first person, there are exceptions, and Victoria Holt’s wonderful stories are among them. Superbly written, it tells a tale of mystery and intrigue, of a young girl’s strengths and insecurities, and her distant father who is more interested in Greek mythology than her. Interestingly, Holt rarely describes what anyone is wearing (the only clothing of her father we know of are his spectacles). She describes faces, most often expressions, that reflect the person’s character—and she does that very well. Drusilla is very perceptive, sensing others’ thinking long before those thoughts are reflected in their actions. So, while we are not in anyone else’s head, we have an idea of their thoughts.

 

The saga covers many years and is based on meticulous research. It is very well done, the only exception perhaps being that the romance between Drusilla and Fabian that was a bit understated until the very end. I recommend it!

Joanna Bourne’s THE FORBIDDEN ROSE – Superb Prequel to the Spymaster Series set in France!

For those who haven't yet read The Spymaster's Lady or My Lord and Spymaster, this book comes first in time—a kind of “prequel”—though it was written later. It’s the story of how Doyle and Maggie met.

 

Set in 1794 in France, it's a tale of English spies and French undercover work transporting royalists out of France during the time of the French Revolution and Robespierre.

 

Marguerite is a wonderful young woman who, though raised as an aristocrat, has adapted to the times and is now doing important work that has her wearing many faces. British agent Doyle is after her father who he believes has provided names of English to be murdered by those in control of France. When Doyle realizes he has taken the man's daughter, he keeps her, hoping she'll lead him to her father.

 

Doyle has never allowed himself to get involved with a woman in the field. Ah, but Marguerite de Fleurignac aka Maggie is no ordinary woman! He gets aroused just looking at her and he admires her intelligence and fierce determination.

 

In this story, Bourne gives us another strong heroine and another drool-worthy hero. The Doyle who is in the background in the other books in the Spymaster series is now on center stage. The dialog is very witty and at times very humorous. Bourne has mastered the art of suspense and her language is very colorful and fits well the era.

 

Meticulously researched, as always, Bourne delivers up a detailed, well-told tale. I recommend reading all in the series. Just read this one first!

 

The Spymaster Series in the order I recommend reading them:

 

The Forbidden Rose (France 1794)

The Spymaster’s Lady (France and England 1802)

Rogue Spy (England, 1802)

My Lord And Spymaster (London 1811)

The Black Hawk (Paris, beginning in 1794, flashbacks to 1797 and 1802, and London 1818)

 

 

Dorothy Dunnett’s CAPRICE AND RONDO – Nicholas On His Own, Cast Down but not Forlorn. I love this hero!

This one began rather sadly for me. I have become rather fond of Nicholas (our intelligent and cunning hero) and want to see him happy. Here he is in snow-covered Danzig, Poland in the winter of 1474 in a self-imposed exile, sharing quarters with the ruthless pirate Benecke. But Nicholas will not stay with him for long.

Nicholas’ actions in the last book (To Lie with Lions), set in Scotland, France and Cyprus, cost him friends and family--not to mention much of his wealth. But he won the game with his estranged wife, Gelis, who thought she could outsmart him (not a chance). She was, for the most part, clueless as to all he was doing. In my opinion, she deserved what she got. She partnered with his enemies who tried to, and nearly did, kill him. She invited all he did. How can she criticize him? Yet her deserting him (that’s what I call it) has cost him his young son, Jodi, who he loves.

After some persuasion and the need to build back wealth for the accountant Julius and his beautiful wife, Anna, Nicholas decides to assist the Muslim Prince Uzum Hasan in his fight against the Turks. And that’s just the beginning. Anna is hiding secrets that involve Nicholas’ past.

 

This is another complex, well-told, action-packed story from a master of historical fiction, one of my very favorite authors. I highly recommend it. One more to go and I can hardly wait.

 

 

The House of Niccolo Series:

 

Niccolò Rising

Spring of the Ram

Race of Scorpions

Scales of Gold

The Unicorn Hunt

To Lie with Lions

Caprice and Rondo

Gemini

 

Loretta Chase’s CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT – A Captivating Story Set in Paris

I bought all the romances in this loosely woven series before I read one of them. They include The Lion’s Daughter, set primarily in Albania, Captives of the Night, Lord of Scoundrels, and The Last Hellion. The last two are as related as the first two.

 

Captives is set in Paris and London. It’s the story of Leila Beaumont, a brilliant artist, who through a series of events, is forced by circumstances to marry a degenerate, who actually loves her but is incapable, as a result of his own bad choices, of being a good husband. She decides to shut him out of her bedroom but she remains celibate and faithful.

Meanwhile, her husband basically lives his separate debauched lifestyle. Now in her mid 20s, Leila comes to the attention of the handsome and sophisticated comte d’Esmond (who is the attractive villain Ismal from The Lion’s Daughter but with a new identity). They first meet in Paris and later, in London, where Leila and he are thrown together to solve a murder.

 

The sexual tension is well done and runs high throughout. Both are interesting and attractive people and have much to bring to a relationship. There are secrets lingering from The Lion's Daughter so you'll want to read that before this one. (The secrets are interesting and worth discovering.)

Penelope Williamson’s HEARTS BEGUILED – Superb Pre French Revolution Romance!

 

September is Georgian and Regency month so that’s late 18^th century and early 19^th century. This story takes place in the 1780s so it’s a Georgian but the setting is Paris, France and its environs, at the dawn of the French Revolution. It’s the story of Gabrielle, who is poor, but endowed with noble blood and beauty all men admire. At the tender age of 16, she loses her young husband and her mother on the same day.

 

Pregnant and alone, she runs from her husband's father the duc de Nevers who would take her child and banish her to a cloister—or should she refuse, he will send her to prison. She escapes from him and his lackey, a creepy lawyer named Louvois, and manages to barely scrape out a living until she is rescued from life in the slums of Paris by a kind pawnshop owner who becomes a father of sorts to her.

 

Through her work for the pawnbroker, she meets the dashing and mysterious Maximilian de Saint-Just, a brilliant scientist and bastard son of the comte de Saint-Just. Max has turned his apartment into a science lab and is blowing things up as he seeks to discover a fuel for his hot air balloon. In addition to all that, Max has devoted his life to casting dirt on his father's name and is involved in spying for the cabal, an underground network of smugglers out for their own profit.

 

Max’s growing love for Gabrielle makes him want to be a different man.

 

They will face many challenges and both hide secrets that will tear at their love—all the while the country is plunging into revolution and Max is uncovering new scientific discoveries.

 

It's a compelling story, and an early Steampunk if you will, that will sweep you away to 18^th century France—an important time in history. Oh, yeah…it’s also a classic keeper!

Alice Borchardt’s DEVOTED –A Worthy Medieval Romance Set in 10th Century France

At the time when Vikings were a threat to all in France, Owen, the young Bishop of Chantalon, rises as a hero of the people. At his side is the brave Elin who he freed from the Vikings’ clutches. This is a fascinating historical that features authentic elements as well as genuine faith, mysticism, mystery and magic. The descriptions are vivid, the characters well developed and the story compelling.

Elin becomes Owen's lady and would defend him and his city though it will cost her much. Their budding love comes to a sudden end when Owen is captured, leaving the defense of the city to Elin and Godwin, a warrior who stands by her side.

 

Owen represents the growing Christianity even as the brutal Northmen rape and pillage, led by the villain Hakon. The Forest People who worship pagan gods are disappearing but they come to Owen’s aid when Elin summons them, for she was raised among them, a princess of her people.

I enjoyed this story as it has great depth and I wanted to know what happened to all the characters who come to Elin and Owen’s aid. The author has captured the different factions in France at the time and the emerging future while bringing us a winning love story.

 

The sequel is Beguiled.

Joanna Bourne’s THE FORBIDDEN ROSE – Superb Prequel to the Spymaster Series set in France...a Classic!

 For those who haven't yet read The Spymaster's Lady or My Lord and Spymaster, this book comes first in time—a kind of “prequel”—though it was written later. It’s the story of how Doyle and Maggie met.

 

Set in 1794 in France, it's a tale of English spies and French undercover work transporting royalists out of France during the time of the French Revolution and Robespierre.

 

Marguerite is a wonderful young woman who, though raised as an aristocrat, has adapted to the times and is now doing important work that has her wearing many faces. British agent Doyle is after her father who he believes has provided names of English to be murdered by those in control of France. When Doyle realizes he has taken the man's daughter, he keeps her, hoping she'll lead him to her father.

 

Doyle has never allowed himself to get involved with a woman in the field. Ah, but Marguerite de Fleurignac aka Maggie is no ordinary woman! He gets aroused just looking at her and he admires her intelligence and fierce determination.

 

In this story, Bourne gives us another strong heroine and another drool-worthy hero. The Doyle who is in the background in the other books in the Spymaster series is now on center stage. The dialog is very witty and at times very humorous. Bourne has mastered the art of suspense and her language is very colorful and fits well the era.

 

Meticulously researched, as always, Bourne delivers up a detailed, well-told tale. I recommend reading all in the series. Just read this one first!

 

The Spymaster Series in the order I recommend reading them:

 

The Forbidden Rose (France 1794)

The Spymaster’s Lady (France and England 1802)

Rogue Spy (England, 1802)

My Lord And Spymaster (London 1811)

The Black Hawk (Paris, beginning in 1794, flashbacks to 1797 and 1802, and London 1818)

Victoria Holt’s THE DEMON LOVER – Gripping Story of a Tumultuous Love, a Victorian Bodice-Ripper set in England and France

Just so you know, this is not your ordinary Victoria Holt gothic murder mystery. Set mostly in France in the late Victorian period, this tells the story of Kate Collison, of the famous (fictional) Collison family of brilliant painters of miniatures, each artist signing the portraits “KC.” In each generation, the next son takes up the art to astound patrons in England and in Europe. Unfortunately, Kate’s mother, the daughter of a duke, gave Kate’s father, Kendal Collison, only a daughter. But Kate was determined to become better than any son of the family who had gone before her.

When her father develops cataracts and his ability to paint the fine strokes diminishes, she becomes his eyes. Signing the portraits “KC,” as all in her family have, no one would know a woman had painted them. A new commission arrives from a baron in Normandy who wants miniatures of himself and his fiancée, a princess. So, Kate and her father travel to France, intending to do the miniatures together. At the baron’s castle, before he arrives, Kate begins to fall in love with the baron’s cousin Bertrand de Mortemer. And then she meets the Baron, Rollo de Centeville, who by his own description is “arrogant, overbearing, impatient and self-willed.” In addition to that, he was clever, soon figuring out that the miniature he comes to admire is being painted by Kate, not her father. He also intends to have his way with Kate, no matter the cost to her.

An ingenious, intricately woven plot that had me turning pages, it tells the story of a selfish man who, like his Viking forbears, thought nothing of raping a woman to get what he wanted. And so he drugs and rapes Kate and then holds her prisoner for the purpose of reminding Bertrand that he, the baron, is in control. I must say that I had a bit of trouble understanding how Kate, having gone home to England, could return to France after what happened to her, or how she could keep from those who loved her that she’d been brutally raped by the man they admired. Nor could I understand how the Baron’s mistress, Nicole, would, after being cast aside by the Baron, try to convince Kate she should be more understanding of him. But such are the twists and turns in this story.

I loved Kate’s spirit, her determination and her strength. And I thought the way Holt showed how the artist gleaned the nuances of the subject’s personality while the painting was masterful.

As in all bodice rippers, there is a certain satisfaction is seeing the Baron have his comeuppance, though even then, one can certainly agree with the hatred Kate feels for the man who ruined, as well as benefited, her life. Unlike some of her stories, Holt brings the heroine’s feelings about the “hero” (sometimes the baron seemed more the villain) to the fore early on, and that was good.

Holt does a brilliant job of showing us what the people of Paris lived through in the 1870 siege of the city by the Prussians when the people were starved into submission.

Like her other novels, it is told in the first person. A well-written bodice ripper, it does contain rape; and while there are no details or vivid descriptions, the fact of it is no less horrible.

There’s a surprise ending awaiting you. The story is a keeper. I recommend it.

Veronica Jason’s SO WILD A HEART – Love in the Midst of the French Revolution

August is Exotic Locales month and I’m starting with a classic from 1981 set in France (mostly) in 1788 and the years following on the dawn of the French Revolution. It’s also a bodice ripper of sorts—and very good.

Angelique Dubois was too blonde and too aristocratic to be the daughter of her peasant father and everyone in their small village knew it, including Angelique whose mother told her she was the daughter of a gentleman. But her mother did not tell her she was the granddaughter of the Duc de Rhoulac.

When she was 18 and working in the fields with her half brother, Englishman Sir Richard Lansing, visiting the duke, rode hard through the fields chasing a stag and shoved Angelique’s brother to the ground. A short while later, Angelique’s brother was dead. Seeking revenge, her father attacks one of the duke’s relatives and ends up being hanged for his crime. Her mother was so dazed with grief she was never again herself.

Forced to seek employment, Angelique runs to Paris and there encounters the man she detests. She wants justice but does something very stupid and ends up raped by Lansing, though under circumstances that might exonerate him somewhat.

Angelique goes through many adventures, not all of them pleasant, but all is not lost for she is still a duke’s granddaughter. But she will make another stupid decision that sees her forced to marry Lansing and move to England.

Meanwhile, she has the memory of a kind man, Jacques Latour, who was all that Angelique admired—courageous, idealistic and unselfish. Though she did not share his passion, she willingly she gave herself to this gallant revolutionary. But that was before Lansing…

Jason has obviously done her historical homework. The story is rich in details of the time and you do get a sense for what the people of France, ordinary people as well as the nobility, lived through. I recommend it, particularly if you are interested in the period.

Alice Borchardt’s DEVOTED – A Worthy Medieval Romance Set in 10th Century France

At the time when Vikings were a threat to all in France, Owen, the young Bishop of Chantalon, rises as a hero of the people. At his side is the brave Elin who he freed from the Vikings’ clutches. This is a fascinating historical that features authentic elements as well as genuine faith, mysticism, mystery and magic. The descriptions are vivid, the characters well developed and the story compelling.

Elin becomes Owen's lady and would defend him and his city though it will cost her much. Their budding love comes to a sudden end when Owen is captured, leaving the defense of the city to Elin and Godwin, a warrior who stands by her side.

Owen represents the growing Christianity even as the brutal Northmen rape and pillage, led by the villain Hakon. The Forest People who worship pagan gods are disappearing but they come to Owen’s aid when Elin summons them, for she was raised among them, a princess of her people.

I enjoyed this story as it has great depth and I wanted to know what happened to all the characters who come to Elin and Owen’s aid. The author has captured the different factions in France at the time and the emerging future while bringing us a winning love story.

The sequel is Beguiled.

Loretta Chase’s CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT – A Captivating Story

I bought all the romances in this loosely woven series before I read one of them. They include The Lion’s Daughter, set primarily in Albania, Captives of the Night, Lord of Scoundrels, and The Last Hellion. The last two are not so related as the first two. I found the writing to be inconsistent in these books and the stories vary considerably, some more interesting than others. But I did like this story very much.

Set in Paris and London, Captives is the story of Leila Beaumont, a brilliant artist, who, through a series of events, is forced by circumstances to marry a degenerate, who actually loves her but is incapable by his own bad choices of being a good husband. She decides to shut him out of her bedroom when she is only 20 but she remains celibate and faithful.

Meanwhile, her husband basically lives his separate debauched lifestyle. Now in her mid 20s, Leila comes to the attention of the handsome and sophisticated comte d’Esmond (who is the attractive villain Ismal from The Lion’s Daughter but with a new identity). They first meet in Paris and later, in London, where Leila and he are thrown together to solve a murder. The sexual tension is well done and runs high throughout. Both are interesting and attractive people and have much to bring to a relationship. There are secrets lingering from The Lion's Daughter so you'll want to read that one before this one. (The secrets are interesting and worth discovering.)

I recommend this book.

Veronica Jason’s SO WILD A HEART – Love in the Midst of the French Revolution

This is a classic from 1981 set in 1788 and the years following in France (mostly) on the dawn of the Revolution. It’s also a bodice ripper of sorts. Angelique Dubois was too blonde and too aristocratic to be the daughter of her peasant father and everyone in their small village knew it, including Angelique whose mother told her she was the daughter of a gentleman. But her mother did not tell her she was the granddaughter of the Duc de Rhoulac.

When she was 18 and working in the fields with her half brother, Englishman Sir Richard Lansing, visiting the duke, rode hard through the fields chasing a stag and shoved Angelique’s brother to the ground. A short while later, Angelique’s brother was dead. Seeking revenge, her father attacks one of the duke’s relatives and ends up being hanged for his crime. Her mother was so dazed with grief she was never again herself.

Forced to seek employment, Angelique runs to Paris and there encounters the man she detests. She wants justice but does something very stupid and ends up raped by Lansing, though under circumstances that might exonerate him somewhat.

Angelique goes through many adventures, not all of them pleasant, but all is not lost for she is still a duke’s granddaughter. But she will make another stupid decision that sees her forced to marry Lansing and move to England.

Meanwhile, she has the memory of a kind man, Jacques Latour, who was all that Angelique admired—courageous, idealistic and unselfish. Though she did not share his passion, she willingly she gave herself to this gallant revolutionary. But that was before Lansing…

Jason has obviously done her historical homework. The story is rich in details of the time and you do get a sense for what the people of France, ordinary people as well as the nobility, lived through. I recommend it, particularly if you are interested in the period.

Victoria Holt’s THE SILK VENDETTA – A Brilliant Story of the Tangled Web of a Family Devoted to Silk

Set in Victorian England and France, this is the story of Lenore Cleremont, a French girl raised by her grand mere in England where she serves “The Silk House” as a gifted silk designer and dressmaker. Lenore is educated with the family’s children but knows she is not one of them. The family has two daughters and two sons. One of the sons, Philip, is kind; the other, Charles, is not. One of the daughters becomes Lenore’s dear friend; the other her jealous adversary.

When she is 15, Lenore’s grand mere tells her she is illegitimate and that her mother, a beauty who fell in love with the master’s son, died in childbirth. As Lenore comes into womanhood, she loses at love twice as she is caught up in a tangled quest for vengeance. And then an arrogant French count reveals a secret from her past.

I have to say I do love Victoria Holt’s stories and this is no exception. You will be drawn in to Lenore’s life, wanting her to find happiness, but despairing when she does not. Murder, treachery and betrayal populate this book but, in the end, all the threads come together. Lenore finds a man she can truly love and the mystery is finally solved.

If you love Victoria Holt, this is one not to be missed! It's a keeper!

Lillian Marek’s LORD EDWARD’S MYSTERIOUS TREASURE – Romance and Treasure Hunt in Victorian France

Set in Brittany in 1871, this is the story of Lord Edward Tremaine, an Englishman summoned to the Chateau Morvan on the coast of Brittany by his friend Antoine (“Tony”) who claims there’s a treasure to find.

Ned travels to France where he discovers a strange collection of people. The old vicomte, who appears to be dying, insists Tony and his two cousins search for the treasure. One young cousin, Delphine, beautiful and captures Ned’s attention but, as time goes on, he notices there is something wrong with her. The other cousin, Marguerite, an accomplished pianist, appears stern and withdrawn. In truth, she worries about Delphine and providing for little family. Ned’s friend, Tony is worried about funding his steel factory and only seeks the treasure for what it can give him.

The story is well written but moves along rather slowly with a fair amount of repetition in motives and introspection. The romance between Ned and Marguerite develops only after he precipitously asks her to marry him. Marguerite is happy to share Ned’s bed but resists marriage because she is a commoner and he’s an aristocrat. (Ned and his family think nothing of it.) All that seemed a bit strange for the Victorian era.

The story picks up when a few secrets are revealed, Ned has an idea of how to find the treasure and his parents show up to find out what’s behind their son’s letters. All the threads come together for a satisfying end.

Kat Martin’s GYPSY LORD – Great Classic Gypsy Love Story set in France

Set in 1805, beginning in England, this is the story of Catherine Barrington, Countess of Arondale who, because of her cousin’s avarice, is abducted and sold to gypsies in France. Catherine is a survivor and manages to keep her innocence in tact, but is unable to gain her freedom. When tall, handsome Dominic sees one of his Romany band beating a beautiful, flame-haired woman, he buys her for his own.

Dominic has no idea of Catherine’s real identity and she never tells him. Nor does he tell her that he is the educated and English-raised son of the Marquess of Gravenwold. He wants her as his lover (he has vowed never to marry) but “Catrina” (his name for her) denies Dominic and plots her escape.

This is a well-told classic with lots of twists and adventure as Dominic woos the woman he wants and she resists. Treachery abounds and there are some exciting scenes to add to the love story set in the time of Napoleon. Some great characters add depth, including Dominic’s gypsy mother. While most of the story takes place in France, it does end in England.

If you like the rich historical detail found in classic romances, this is a good choice. And who doesn’t love a handsome half-gypsy?

Lillian Marek’s LORD EDWARD’S MYSTERIOUS TREASURE – Romance and Treasure Hunt in Victorian France

Set in Brittany in 1871, this is the story of Lord Edward Tremaine, an Englishman summoned to the Chateau Morvan on the coast of Brittany by his friend Antoine (“Tony”) who claims there’s a treasure to find.

Ned travels to France where he discovers a strange collection of people. The old vicomte, who appears to be dying, insists Tony and his two cousins search for the treasure. One young cousin, Delphine, beautiful and captures Ned’s attention but, as time goes on, he notices there is something wrong with her. The other cousin, Marguerite, an accomplished pianist, appears stern and withdrawn. In truth, she worries about Delphine and providing for little family. Ned’s friend, Tony is worried about funding his steel factory and only seeks the treasure for what it can give him.

The story is well written but moves along rather slowly with a fair amount of repetition in motives and introspection. The romance between Ned and Marguerite develops only after he precipitously asks her to marry him. Marguerite is happy to share Ned’s bed but resists marriage because she is a commoner and he’s an aristocrat. (Ned and his family think nothing of it.) All that seemed a bit strange for the Victorian era.

The story picks up when a few secrets are revealed, Ned has an idea of how to find the treasure and his parents show up to find out what’s behind their son’s letters. All the threads come together for a satisfying end.

Iris Johansen’s STORM WINDS - Masterful Sequel to Wind Dancer... a Keeper!

Johansen weaves a complex tale with many threads and many interesting characters. She does it so well you will be captivated. And one thing I really respect is that from novel to novel, her heroes and heroines are different with unique personalities and attributes.

Set in late 18th century France, it begins a few years before the dawn of the French Revolution as Jean Marc Andreas, heir to the Andreas shipping and banking business based in Marseilles, meets Juliette de Clement, a courageous but lonely 14-year-old girl whose mother is a courtesan at the court of Marie Antoinette. Juliette takes care of Jean Marc, who is 10 years her senior, when he is injured. Their time together at the inn is not forgotten by either of them.

When Jean Marc has the chance to send his ward, Catherine Vasaro, to an abbey for an aristocrat's education, he asks the queen to send Juliette with her. Juliette thinks it is so she can watch over the sensitive and fragile Catherine, but Jean Marc has other plans in mind. At the abbey, the girls come to be great friends and Juliette pursues her love of painting.

Years later, as France's Reign of Terror begins, the revolutionaries attack the abbey, massacring and raping nuns and students. The two young women escape with their lives as one of the revolutionary leaders, Francois Etchelet, comes to their rescue and delivers them to Jean Marc's Paris home. Juliette, wanted for murder, asks for Jean Marc's protection in exchange for which she will use her connections with the queen, who is now imprisoned in the Temple, to recover his family's once-prized possession, the golden statue of Pegasus—the Wind Dancer—last owned by the royal family and now missing.

As Jean Marc and Juliette search for the Wind Dancer, they face treachery, danger and a city in the grip of the Revolution.

This is a well-told tale of a tumultuous time in the history of France. I loved Jean Marc, Francois, Juliette and Catherine. Great characters all. Amazing details and careful attention to history make this a very worthy historical romance. Highly recommended.

The Wind Dancer Trilogy

Wind Dancer

Storm Winds

Reap The Wind

Review: Rozsa Gaston’ SENSE OF TOUCH – Sweet Story of Love in 15th Century France

Set in France, beginning in 1497, this is the story of Nicole St. Sylvain and Philippe de Bois. Fifteen-year-old Nicole serves Anne of Brittany, Queen of France as one of her ladies. There she meets Philippe, a young horse trainer, breaking in one of the queen's stallions. The attraction between the two is immediate, but Nicole and Philippe have only a brief time to love before duty and honor separate them.

The daughter of a wealthy merchant, Nicole awaits an arranged marriage to a man of a noble family. She loves the queen and will do her duty even though she has given her heart to Philippe. She has a gift with healing herbs and a touch that heals, both horses and people. After the loss of many of her babes, the queen finally gives birth to a healthy girl. When the child falls ill, she asks Nicole to help. The queen has promised to grant one favor to any who can save her child.

The history is woven into the story and you are swept into the 15^th and early 16^th century and to the court of Queen Anne and all she endures trying to bring a child into the world. It’s as much Anne’s story as it is Nicole’s. Anne is an independent young woman who makes her own way in a rigid world. Philippe manages to rise in a society that affords little opportunity to do so.

For fans of historical romance that love the history, this will be a great choice. There are some repetitions that slow the pace a bit, and the ending comes quickly, but still, it’s a wonderful story, beautifully told.