Finished 1-29-10, rating 4.5/5, romance, pub. 2002

Book 3 in the Deadly series (Book 1 review) (Book 2 review)

Things are heating up for Francesca and the married, but informally separated police commissioner, Rick Bragg.  They are barely fighting their attraction to each other, there is a murderer on the loose and, of course, Francesca is vital to the investigation.  Two women have been brutally slain and Joel’s mother, Maggie, is in grave danger.  Francesca’s mother agrees to let Maggie and her four children move into the mansion, but only if Francesca agrees to be set up by her mother.  Calder, Rick’s cad of a brother, is the intended target of this matchmaking and Rick doesn’t like it.  Francesca’s sister is having her own man troubles after confronting her husband over an affair with a neighbor. 

There is romance, mystery and a wonderful sense of New York City in 1902.  The mystery was solid and it wasn’t until all was revealed that it made complete sense, which is a good thing!  And while I like Rick, he does have a wife and in 1902 he is really bringing scandal on Francesca by continuing to encourage her.  They are perfectly suited, but he is not available.  That is the interest in this series for me because it is so true to life.  Sometimes there is just no perfect choice and the journey to making a decision reveals so much about your character.

There is so much to like about this series, but I will say the same thing I said last week about the heavy-handed way men sometimes act toward the women, if it bothers you, read something else.  And you really do want to read this series in order.

This book came from my personal library.

Finished 12-9-09, rating 3.5/5, historical romance, pub. 1992

“You are the one with no morals, you are the one who would stop at nothing to get what you want.”

Anger flared.  “Wrong.  I warned you not to return here, and you did so at your own risk.  If you did not  come back for what I can give you, then why did you return?”

She gasped, crimson color suffusing her cheeks.  “How arrogant you are!  I came back to tell you what I think of you now that I know  the truth!”

Chapter 4

Nicole Bragg is a free-spirited lady living in relative seclusion in Victorian England after she had the audacity of crying off of her wedding.  On her wedding day.  The scandal has ruined her reputation, but not her independence.  When a rival practically dares her attend a party for the Duke of Clayborough, she arrives and immediately catches the eye of the Duke.  The Duke is looking for a mistress, Nicole a husband.  Nicole always seems to make the situation worse and the Duke is charmed by it.

I love historical romances when they are done well.  I like romance and sexual tension and don’t need sex described to me in detail every other chapter and I can  always count on Brenda Joyce to provide a comfort read for me.  The first half of this one was great and I loved getting lost in it, but he second half not so much.  Nicole never seemed to stop making stupid choices and the Duke turned very stuffy, ruining a great romance for me.  This is still an above average historical romance, but it did have the potential to be so much better.

This was from my personal library.

Finished 12-2-09, rating 3.5/5, romance, pub. 2009

It was only 7:30 am, but if today was going to be anything like yesterday, she knew that her Saturday was not going to be good.  If finding only ninety-eight cents when she needed almost three dollars in order to get a half-gallon of milk was any indication, she knew that this was going to be a great start to another shitty day.

Chapter 4

Terry is having a tough time.  Her ex-husband has knocked up his new wife for the third time while completely ignoring their two sons and bills are past due, basics like electricity and telephone are in danger of being shut off.  Terry is desperate to provide for her kids without resorting to taking her ex to court for money, and decides that starting a day care at her house would pay the bills.

Wade is an undercover  FBI agent  moving back to Chicago to work as a teacher while investigating a drug problem at the school.  He must also confront his abusive father while still maintaining a relationship with his saintly mother.  And then he keeps running into Terry in the most unfortunate situations and he starts to appreciate this brash and sexy mom.

Terry is a main character that I in turn was exasperated with and in love with.  She seems to always do the wrong thing, but she is a loving mother.  She does things that make me understand why she found herself in a bad situation, like smashing her phones when she doesn’t even have enough money for a carton of milk and I just wanted to shake her (and tell her to quit using the word ass in so many creative ways)I like a character who isn’t perfect and Terry is definitely that.  Wade is pretty much a saint and I figure that he’ll tame her a bit.  Eventually.

The story and writing kept me reading and I finished it in a day.  It isn’t so much a romance as a family drama with two people who need to find each other.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I did not really like the cover, but that certainly didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.  Skelton wrote two other books with characters from this story and I would certainly read them.

I received this book from the author.