New Review: Tamara Leigh’s BLACKHEART – Medieval Romance at its best!

Tamara Leigh has written a classic--a real "keeper" in medieval romances and I'm ranking it up there with the best.

The story is of Gabriel de Vere, the oldest son of a Norman lord who rejected him as his heir to a barony in England because on her deathbed his mother confessed to having had other lovers. Since Gabriel and his younger brother Blase have her dark looks, the father wonders if they are really his. He chooses as his heir the fairer third son. Gabriel leaves, vowing to make it on his own. He succeeds, becoming a powerful knight fighting in the Crusades and gaining the favor of King Richard who gives him a castle and estate in Normandy.

Gabriel’s close friend, Bernart Kinthorpe, blames him unfairly for a wound that robbed him of his manhood in the Crusades. When Bernart returns home, he marries Gabriel’s betrothed Julianna without telling her they can have no real marriage. Since Bernart cannot consummate his marriage to Julianna, he decides to gain a son with another man's seed. Out of revenge, he picks Gabriel, so that he can take from him what he feels Gabriel robbed him of--the capacity to sire an heir. So, he lures Gabriel to his castle in England with a high stakes tournament and then, using threats against her much loved sister, forces Julianna to go to Gabriel's bed in the dark of night disguised as a castle wench. Julianna complies, though she is against the whole idea. (She is a faithful, albeit virgin, wife.)

Believing Bernart's lies about Gabriel, Julianna initially has no feelings for Gabriel other than disdain, but soon discovers him to be a man of courage and honor. In their moments of passion over the week he's at her husband's castle she gives her heart to Gabriel. When Gabriel discovers the ruse, he vows to claim any child that results and have his revenge on both Julianna and Bernart who he sees as co-conspirators.

The author captures well the 12th century, balancing the language of the time with a need to be understandable to modern readers. Hence we know clearly what is going on but we know we are back in the time of Richard the Lion Heart. Great attention is given to castle life, preparation for battle, food, dress, customs and the history of the time so that you feel you are living it. But since this is a romance, the love story is central and this is a good one that kept me reading late into the night (always a good sign).

The characters are well defined and you care about them, the love scenes realistic, and the tale very well told. You won't regret reading this one!

New Review: Jennifer Blake’s NOTORIOUS ANGEL – Unusual and Exciting Bodice Ripper Set in Nicaragua

I struggled with my review of this one only because for much of the story the “hero” appeared the villain and the heroine weak, not my favorite combination, but the second half of the tale (which I think the best) is different. I would give the first half 4 stars and the second half 5 stars—and there is a great ending that will bring tears to your eyes.

Set in Nicaragua in Central America during the years 1855-1857, this is the story of Eleanora Colette Villars from an aristocratic New Orleans family who, because of her brother’s folly, loses her home and ends up following her brother to Nicaragua where he has joined the mercenaries serving William Walker, an American who is trying to take over the country.

Colonel Grant Farrell, head of Walker’s private military, using her brother as hostage, forces Eleanora, an innocent, to pose as his mistress. Then he rapes her and holds her prisoner in his home, without even clothes to wear. When she has the chance to escape, she does not take it (this more than once). She even begins to make excuses for the colonel (he’s a half-breed Apache with a poor childhood). It reminded me of the Stockholm syndrome, where hostages feel sympathy toward their captors.

Once her brother is released and she is free, Eleanora doesn’t tell her brother she was raped and, when her brother wounds the colonel in a duel, she returns to Colonel Farrell’s house to tend his wound. While tending the colonel, Eleanora introduces herself as his mistress, apparently resigned to the role. (He has such a low view of women he will not offer her marriage).

Impressed with Eleanora’s medical knowledge, the local doctor invites her to tend the wounded American mercenaries. She takes on the task and, for her valiant efforts, is dubbed “the colonel’s angel.” But she has rivals, the mistress of William Walker, and the former mistress of Colonel Farrell, both of whom seek Eleanora’s demise.

In an intricately woven plot, Eleanora rises to every challenge as she is rescued from peril only to face further hardships. The scenes as they tramp from Granada to the coast through the jungles and rivers are very well done, and very realistic. The characters are richly developed, too. (Her savior, Luis, was one of my favorite characters and one could not help but feel his pain for his love for Eleanora.) 

The writing is excellent. Blake really makes you feel like you’re in the hot, dusty streets of Nicaragua in a tumultuous time. I could suggest you might want a map, too, so I’ve included one.

Blake has obviously done much research for the book and it is seamlessly woven into the story. (There is also a worthy Author’s Note at the end that gives you more.) It is all told from the heroine’s perspective as were Blake’s other early novels (NOTORIOUS ANGEL was first published in 1977—see the original cover below).

This one will capture you, I promise.

A few notes: The eBook cover has the heroine with blonde hair; it is actually red. And this is part of Blake’s Love and Adventure series, part 2 (SURRENDER IN MOONLIGHT, NOTORIOUS ANGEL and GOLDEN FANCY).

Original Cover

New Review: Kaki Warner’s BEHIND HIS BLUE EYES – 1st in the Heroes of Heartbreak Creek trilogy will capture your heart

Continuing on from the Runaway Brides trilogy, it’s 1871 and we’re back in Heartbreak Creek, Colorado Territory as some new residents arrive: Ethan Hardesty, an architect who blames himself for three deaths in San Francisco, and Audra Pearsall, a wannabe author from Baltimore who is caring for her aging father with dementia. Meanwhile, someone is sabotaging the sluice up at the mine and men have been murdered, casting the whole town in danger.

Warner writes superbly (as always) in this Western historical with a bit of a twist: the hero wants marriage and the heroine wants a trial relationship with sleeping privileges. I loved getting to see the old gang again, especially the Scottish earl, Angus Wallace, but you can still enjoy the book if this is your first as Warner explains all the characters. Ethan has a great sense of humor and his teasing of Audra is a hoot. (I loved the analogy of trying to fit “dancing pumps on a cat.”) There are moments that will have you chuckling and moments that will terrorize you as a dark menace sweeps into this sleepy town with the coming of the railroad.

A must read for fans of Heartbreak Creek and another good one from Warner!

The next one is Something in his Smile, Rafe's story.

New Review: Victoria Holt’s THE DEMON LOVER – Gripping Story of a Tumultuous Love, a Bodice-Ripper set in England and France in the late 1800s

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 had taken 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.” And he was clever, soon figuring out that the miniature he comes to admire is being painted by Kate and not her father. He also will 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 thought to admire. 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. Ah, well, 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 painting was masterful.

There is a certain satisfaction in 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 brought 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.

New Review: Cordia Byers’ CALLISTA – Suspenseful Bodice Ripper set in 19th Century Georgia

Set in the mid 1800s aboard a ship and then in Georgia, this tells the story of Callista Drummond and the English aristocrat, now sea captain, Corbin Wolfram Gainsbough (the latter name only showing up briefly).

When her aunt betroths her to the old and cruel Lord Condor to save their fortunes, being the half Scot, half gypsy that she is, Callista Drummond decides to find her way back home in Scotland and to her father’s Keep, Tantallon. Disguising herself as a lad, she gets lucky and is befriended by the first mate of the ship Peregrine captained by the stern Corbin Wolfram. She hires on as a cabin boy, but forgot to ask where they were sailing. Instead of Scotland, the ship is headed to Savannah, Georgia.

You might as well know up front this is a bodice ripper and Corbin Wolfram is basically a bastard for most of the book, forcing a seduction (since she was an innocent, some would call it rape), then dumping her on his first mate, then beating her, then forcing her to be his whore “for six months.” (No mention is made of what happens should she become pregnant). So, right there I’m thinking, to redeem himself, this guy is going to have to grovel big time.

Of course, she could have left him at any time but she “gave him her word” and it takes her a while to figure out one should not make promises to such a man. When she finally does leave him, she heads to the Georgia gold fields led by a vision she had of her father digging in red earth in America.

Byers tells the tale well, as she always does, and kept me turning pages late into the night. So, for all the negative things I said about the hero, it is a page turner. Callista is, in most ways, a courageous and clever girl. You want her to succeed (and you want Corbin to drop into the sea, no matter he had a difficult childhood or his mother wasn’t perfect or a certain Lord Condor destroyed his family—yes, there is that coincidence). If you don’t like it when the hero sleeps with other women, you’ll like it even less when the heroine sleeps with another man. Just know this is a bit different.

The storms at sea are vividly portrayed and there are some wonderful secondary characters. All in all, if you like bodice rippers, this is a good one.

New Review: Victoria Holt’s THE CAPTIVE – Absorbing Late Victorian Tale Set in England, on an island and in Constantinople

Originally published in 1989, the year after THE INDIA FAN, this is the story of Rosetta Cranleigh, named after the Rosetta Stone by her parents who were Egyptologists and “lived in a remote atmosphere of scholarship, apart from the mundane ménage of a household.” Thus, Rosetta lived among the family’s servants (a wonderful group of characters!) was content to because she felt safe and loved. Holt is at her best when describing the heroine’s life in the early stages.

As Rosetta grows up, her parents begin to notice her when her active mind takes an interest in the antiquities of Egypt. So they invite her to their dinner parties where she meets Lucas Lorimer, a delightful younger son of a wealthy family who is traveling with her parents to Cape Town to give a talk about an old stone he found. Rosetta’s parents decide to take her with them when the three leave on the voyage. On the trip, Rosetta meets another man, Simon Perrivale, who is fleeing a false charge of murdering his half brother. Of course, there is a shipwreck and Rosetta, Lucas and Simon are thrust upon the shores of a small island, where thanks to Simon’s efforts they survive.

Captured by pirates, Rosetta ends up in the harem of a Pasha in Constantinople where her blonde hair and blue eyes set her apart. But she is determined to avoid the Pasha’s bed and find her friends Simon and Lucas and return to London. She worries her parents, ever oblivious of what is going on around them, may have drowned in the shipwreck.

Told from the first person, we see the unfolding drama from Rosetta’s perspective, and her growing affection for Simon and her passionate resolve to find the real killer of Simon’s half brother. (I should add this story is without love scenes and has virtually no sexual tension.)

Holt has a way of capturing your interest by the smallest of details in ordinary life. It’s the way she tells it, like each little thread is significant in some way or other. And so there is suspense in small things. Her dialog is brisk and the pace moves along. In this case, Rosetta becomes the detective solving a crime that occurred in the past but which has implications for the future as Lucas becomes her ally. And Holt does a great job of withholding the ending till the last moment.

New Review: Victoria Holt’s THE INDIA FAN –Sweeping Victorian Tale of Adventure and Love in England, France and India

The new cover

Originally published in 1988, this is the story of Drusilla Delaney, daughter of a rector living in England in the mid 19th 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 to be 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.

Original cover

While I don’t generally prefer stories told in first person, there are exceptions, and this is one of 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.

This is a saga covering many years based on meticulous research. It is very well done, the only exception perhaps being that the romance between Drusilla and Fabian was a bit understated until the very end.

Best Historical Romances Set in Exotic Locales!

OK, so it’s August and you’re home and you’re bored. Maybe the kids are in summer camp or going back to school. You want an adventure, an around the world trip, or perhaps an ocean voyage--but without leaving your living room. And you want a good love story. But you’re tired of those set mostly in England, Scotland, Ireland and America? Well, I have just the list for you!

My mother taught me to read when I was four, and told me I could travel the world through books. She was right. And were she still alive, she would love this list I’ve created just for you daydreamers out there who long to travel…historical romances by some great authors set in exotic locales. Though some might begin (or end) in England or America, they will quickly take you to another time and another place!

All of these are rated 4, 4 and ½ or 5 stars by me:

Across a Moonlit Sea, The Iron Rose and The Following Sea, the Pirate Wolf trilogy by Marsha Canham (the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean and the Spanish Main)

Beyond Sunrise by Candice Proctor (the South Pacific, Polynesian islands)

Broken Wing by Judith James (France, North Africa and the Mediterranean)

Devil’s Embrace and Devil’s Daughter by Catherine Coulter (Italy and the Mediterranean)

Fields of the Sun by Nadine Crenshaw (Morocco, the Atlantic Ocean and Brazil)

Forever and a Lifetime by Jennifer Horsman (Switzerland)

Hearts Beguiled by Penelope Williamson (France)

Night in Eden by Candice Proctor (Australia)

Night Shadow by Laura Renken (the Caribbean and the Spanish Main)

No Gentle Love by Rebecca Brandewyne (Ireland, France, Africa, India and China)

September Moon by Candice Proctor (Australian outback)

Splendor by Brenda Joyce (Russia)

The Book of Seven Delights by Betina Krahn (Morocco)

The Book of True Desires by Betina Krahn (Cuba and Mexico)

The Captain of All Pleasures by Kresley Cole (Great Circle Race from England to Australia) and the sequel, The Price of Pleasure (Oceania and Cape Town, South Africa)

The Captive by Victoria Holt (the Middle East)

The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran (India)

The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne (France)

The Golden Barbarian by Iris Johansen (Balkans and Sedikhan, a mythical desert country)

The Hidden Heart by Laura Kinsale (South America, Tahiti and the Pacific)

The India Fan by Victoria Holt (India)

The Jacaranda Tree by Rebecca Brandewyne (Australia)

The Lily and the Falcon by Jannine Corte-Petska (Renaissance Italy)

The Lion's Daughter by Loretta Chase (Albania)

The Spanish Rose by Shirlee Busbee (Jamaica, the Caribbean)

The Storm and the Splendor by Jennifer Blake (Algiers)

The Wind and the Sea by Marsha Canham (North Africa, the High Seas)

The Wind Dancer by Iris Johansen (Italy) and the sequel, Storm Winds (France)

Till Dawn Tames the Night by Meagan McKinney (the high seas and the Caribbean)

Under Gypsy Skies by Kathryn Kramer (Spain)

Whispers of Heaven by Candice Proctor (Tasmania)

For more romances featuring love on the high seas (including pirates and privateers) and Vikings, see those specific “best” lists. The links are on the right side of my blog.

New Review: Kathryn Kramer’s UNDER GYPSY SKIES – A Tale of Star-Crossed Lovers in 15th Century Spain

Set in Spain in the late 15^th century, beginning in Castile in 1491, this is the story of Alicia, who was raised with the Gypsies believing she was one of them. Her Gypsy father, Rudolpho was also the tribe’s leader. He worried that he would eventually have to tell her she was not one of them but he kept postponing what he dreaded.

Walking in the woods, Alicia witnesses a crime and saves the “gorgio” (non Gypsy) victim. Rafael de Villansandro, the Spaniard whose life she saved, lives among them for a time as a prisoner. But seizing an opportunity, he flees, taking advantage of Alicia’s budding love for him. Then he abandons her to shame among her people.

Kramer’s complex story reflects great research of Spain’s history at the time, of the Spanish Inquisition, of Queen Isabella’s support for Christopher Columbus and the persecution that drove the Jews and Gypsies from Spain. Her descriptions are vivid and she writes well. The story is hampered a bit from the many typos that were not corrected in bringing this classic to eBooks but still it is a worthy read.

Original art by Sharon Spiak

This is a story of star-crossed lovers who meet in a chance encounter and are forever changed—and it’s a wonderful dive into the history of Spain. I recommend it.

I've included the original cover art by Sharon Spiak because I think it's a beautiful picture and it doesn't show up as well on the cover image I had.

New Review: Marsha Canham’s THE WIND AND THE SEA - Great Escape on the High Seas!

The new eBook cover

No one weaves a high seas romance better than Marsha Canham and this is a great one. Originally published in 1986, it is set in 1804 along the Barbary Coast. It’s is a story of great emotions--of courage, hatred, passion, jealousy, betrayal and revenge.

Courtney Farrow's parents' marriage had been a love match until the guillotine took her mother. Her father, Duncan Farrow, a handsome red haired Irishman, became a famous Barbary Coast pirate taking his revenge on French ships and raising the daughter his beloved wife gave him—raising her like a son. Courtney can fight as well as a boy even dressing the part and cutting her hair short.

Duncan Farrow became good at his game, amassing a huge fortune he secreted away in America for Courtney. But then he was betrayed, and an American warship came after his ships and his men. Among the spoils the American officer claimed was "Court," who at 19, still passed for a boy, even with her large green eyes and auburn hair.

Tall, sandy-haired American 1st Lieutenant Adrian Ballantine believes Court's father is a murderer and he believes Court is a lad so he takes her as his cabin boy. He is her enemy and the hatred is strong between them until he discovers she is a woman. Add passion to hatred and you get an explosive mix. Meanwhile, Court vows to find the traitor who betrayed her father and have her revenge.

1986 Cover

I loved the length of this tale, a good long romance, but even then, I didn't want it to end. So, it's another great romance for all who love adventure on the high seas and who want a change from the usual fare—and from an author who knows how to do it well!

Review of Laura Kinsale’s THE HIDDEN HEART: An Exotic Locale, a Brooding Ship’s Captain, an Adventurous Heroine and a Complex Plot—Wonderful!

Set in 1863 in South America, the Pacific and England. Tess Collier has traveled the world with her natural scientist father, the Earl of Morrow. As he is dying in a jungle, she promises him she will sail home to England and marry. Her father’s trustee arranges passage for her on the clipper ship owned by Gryphon Meridon (aka Captain Frost) and hires the man to protect her from inappropriate suitors once they reach England. Gryf has been wronged many times, losing his title, his parents and his wealth to an evil uncle. Though he is “half in love” with Tess, Gryf believes he can never have her as he has nothing to give. Though Tess falls in love with Gryf, a misunderstanding leads her to marry another—Gryf’s twisted cousin.

Kinsale delivers a wonderful story with a complicated plot that will have you shaking your head thinking these two will never get together. There’s a lot of shipboard time in this romance for you high seas lovers. Kinsale portrays life aboard Gryf’s ship so well you feel like you can smell the sea. Then there is the jungle, the animals—and Tahiti!

If you long for travel to distant places, but won’t be going any time soon, this romance is a great one to take you there. It’s a complex plot with the typical Kinsale twists and turns that will have you tearing out your hair.

I do have to mention a few improbable elements and plot devices in this story that frustrated me—like the conversation Tess and Gryf should have had (that any normal couple would have had) that could have explained everything, or when Gryf goes to the mansion to rescue Tess and fails to ask the servant if Tess is even there (a likely question), or the strange failure of Gryf to explain what happened when he is accused of murder, or his refusal to see her when we know he loves her. Of course, all those unlikely things kept the story and suspense going, but they did strike me as contrived.

If you don’t mind those elements, I can recommend this as a very good read.

New Review: Candice Proctor’s SEPTEMBER MOON – A Masterful Tale from the Australian Outback

Set in 1864 in Australia, this is a story of love in a foreign land, of discovering the world that opens to your heart when you embrace the things you fear the most.

When her employer to whom she served as a companion dies, Englishwoman Amanda Davenport is suddenly stranded in Port Adelaide, Australia with no funds. Desperate and running out of money, she accepts a position as governess to Patrick O’Reilly’s three children in the isolated wilderness of the Flinders Ranges in the Outback (see picture below). Her only thought was to work for a year to secure passage home to England.

What happens when you love the man but hate the land he loves? And when he’s not even free to call you his own? That is the dilemma faced by Amanda. And the land she hates is harsh: “It was the endless, aching vistas of a land empty of all pretense, where everything was raw and vast and awe-inspiringly magnificent. A land as wild and wide open and untamable as a man’s soul.”

Proctor has once again served up a sweeping saga, a compelling tale of conflicting emotions, as the hero and heroine are forced to deal with the ghosts of their past and the failings of others.

Her descriptions of wild Outback Australia are so vivid you will feel like you’re there. She includes exciting scenes of a horse race that will have you on the edge of your seat and a massive dust storm that will make you taste the sand. The secondary characters are wonderful, especially the O’Reilly’s children.

As lovers of historical romance, we are used to reading about a man leaving a woman, but in this story it’s the O’Reilly men who fall in love with Englishwomen only to have them leave because they hate Australia. And when a woman comes along who might be different, whose love might compel her to stay, well…

Let me just say, you will not be disappointed with this one.

New Review: Candice Proctor's BEYOND SUNRISE - Victorian Adventure and Love in Polynesia from a Master of Historical Romance!

Set in 1868 in the South Pacific, this tells the story of India McKnight, a tall Scottish spinster and travel writer who arrives in the Polynesian islands determined to find passage to the island of Takaku for her research. But the only person who will take her to the cannibal-infested island is Jack Ryder, an Australian being pursued by the British Navy, ostensibly for causing the death of most of a ship's crew 10 years before. In the course of his reluctantly helping India reach her goal, he holds her captive in the jungle to save himself from the pursuing British Navy.

Two people from very different walks of life, thrust together in intimate circumstances can get to know each other very well. Such is the substance of this story: a woman who carved out an independent life trying to avoid society’s expectations for her, and a man who, in some ways, had thrown his life away, must find a way to communicate as they are pursued by cannibals and the British Navy, including a man Jack once called his friend.

As always, Proctor slowly and wonderfully builds the layers of her characters and the challenges they faced in the past and the ones confronting them now. Often stripped of their clothes due to cold, heat or misadventures, they are also stripped of the veneer that both wear, until they see that what lies between them is too unique to ignore, or to cast away. The setting is exotic and beautiful and there is adventure on the sea as well.

Another great from Candice Proctor…I recommend it!

New Review: Karen Robards’ THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN – Poignant Love Story from Early Puritan America

I am a huge fan of Robards’ historical romances and was happy to snap up this one set in 17th century America in Connecticut Colony.

It tells the story of Caroline Wetherby who in 1684 sailed to the colonies when her gambling father, who she loved, died and left her near destitute. In Connecticut Colony she hoped to find a new life with her half sister who was married to Ephraim (“Matt”) Mathieson, a Puritan colonist. Upon her arrival, she learns her sister is dead and the men in Matt’s family act very strange each time her sister’s name is mentioned. Matt himself seems cold and distant until an accident lays him up with a broken leg and the attraction that has been building between them emerges full force.

Robards brings early America to life and shows us a glimpse of the Puritan society when all things were not so rosy. Matt is rather independent as head of the Mathieson clan and the local reverend regards him with suspicion, but Caroline the religious man hates. She is viewed by the Puritans as a witch. And, though there are witches around, Caroline is not one of them. She is a courageous woman who also has a tender heart. A good cook and a healer, she wins the heart of Matt’s brothers and his two young sons—but it takes a while.

A poignant tale with an exciting ending—I recommend it!