Customer Reviews (2)

An Affair of Honour (Mills & Boon Historical Romance)
This historical romance is set in London in the 1920's.

Description from the book back cover:

Clare Windham had jilted her fiance without explanation and been ostracised for it.What malign stroke of fate had brought the past back to haunt her in the shape of Ralph Schuyler?It seemed her life was in danger, and Ralph was trying to save her - but who could tell with this secretive man, no matter how attractive he was to her?Ralph walked a fine line, and the more he learned of Clare's integrity, the more he knew that, when all the danger was past, she might never forgive him.

Mystery, Romance and Intrigue!
Paula Marshall does an excellent job of writing a gripping historical romance that's laced with mystery, murder and intrigue. In An Affair Of Honour, Ralph Shuyler meets Claire Windham at a party. Claire causes a lot of talk at the party, having jilted Boy Mallory five years ago, just days from their wedding.ement. Ralph takes an interest in her and being a member of the Secret Service, he's assigned to see what she is up to. When Ralph sees that Claire is being threatened he steps in and tells her that he must protect her by marrying her. And in true Harlequin/M&B style, their marriage of conveinence becomes one of love.However, Marshall also keeps you turning the pages in order to see just why Claire is being threatened and by who! This is clearly a book for everyone. Whether you love romance, mystery or just a good historical read, you're bound to be unable to put this down. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another outstanding historical romance from Marshall
Set in the 16th century, this is the story of Elizabeth, Lady Exford, married at 10, then separated from her husband until they reach adulthood.Can she fall in love with a stranger?And what is the role of Queen Elizabeth's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham?Will he promote or destroy Bess' marriage? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fictional account of Lord Granville and Lady Harriet Cavendish.
This book was totally engrossing. The author calls it a "Faction", a fictionalized biographical account of a courtship and marriage.
It concerns two members of the Devonshire House Set. Lady Harriet, is the daughter of the infamous 5th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. Lord Granville, is the former lover of Harriet's Aunt Henrietta, Lady Bessborough. He is the father of Lady Bessborough's two illegitimate children. Henrietta is also the mother of the notorious Lady Caroline Lamb.
Granville needs a respectable wife to continue his political career. His former mistress, Lady Bessborough, recommends her niece, Harriet.
Harriet'sbeloved mother, Lady Georgiana, has died. The Duke's long-term, live-in mistress, Lady Elizabeth Foster, intends to inveigle the Duke into marriage. Lady Elizabeth supports the suggested alliance, since it would remove Harriet as an obstacle to her plan. The Duke's legitimate children tolerate their father's mistress, but have no love for her.
Lady Harriet is a loving character, who has not had an easy life despite riches and privilege. Granville is an interesting blend of intelligence, loyalty and risk-taking. The selfish machinations of the various characters gives insight into upper class regency society.
The story of Granville's suit and Harriet's decision makes for a fascinating romance. You can't help but hope that it will all work out well for them. This may be the book for you, if you enjoy regency romances or historical fiction.
The Devonshire House Set habitues have inspired many biographies. This novel includes a brief bibliography of some of those biographies.
Recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
When Miss Hester Waring's father died, she was left destitute and near starvation.Her rescue came from an unlikely source - Mr Tom Dilhorne, an ex-convict and now the richest man in Sydney.He needed a lady for a wife, and Hester was undoubtedly a lady, even if her father had taught her to mistrust Tom. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Sidney, Hester and Tom's plan for the future.
A very entertaining romance set in early 18th Century Sidney, Australia.
Sidney is a former penal colony, socially divided into Exclusives and Emancipists.
Tom Dilhorne is an ambitious, wealthy Emancipist (ex-convict). He has a shrewd but kind heart. He wants entree into the select official society of the Exclusives (free British colonists). Tom has a plan.
Hester was the daughter of a minor Government Officer. Fred Waring, inconsiderately, drank and gambled 'til he achieved penury and death.
Hester is destitute and slowly starving to death. She is hired as a school teacher due to Tom's influence with the school board.
Eventually, Tom proposes a marriage of convenience to Hester. Hester, after some deliberation, accepts. There are additional adventures as Tom outwits his enemies, gains a position in the insular Sidney society and advances his cause with Hester.
What makes this romance delightful are the conversations between the protaganists. This is a very sweet love story.
All of the characters are three dimensional with understandable actions and motivations. There are no one-note heroes or villians.
The picture of life in a penal colony is eye-opening as the colonist attempt to create a duplicate of the English order of society.
Recommended.

what a wonderful story!
If you ever have a chance to read it, don't miss it.
Beautiful story.

This is a beautiful book
This book was, funny, touching and gloriously beautiful. Hester and Tom's repartee was gorgeously written. The characters pasts were well drawn and you really cared about them. I laughed out loud many times and cried a few times too.

Buy This Book!
This book is a real winner.Hester Waring, a neglected, starving & destitute gentlewoman, is given a chance to be the town schoolteacher in Sydney Australia, early 1800's.Her situation and her own personality (she retains her spirit) attracts Tom Dilhorne, ex-convict, who's worked to become the wealthiest man in Sydney.Hester agrees to marry Tom and the way the author writes about their marriage, is just so skillful.They grow to love and cherish each other through difficult times caused by outsiders...can't say more without giving too much of the plot, but this book is WORTH reading.The plot, the character development, the tender romance, it's all five-stars.Go to eharlequin.com for an inexpensive copy.If you are looking for a romance read that has MORE than just textbook romance situations and characters, this is the one to get!It's the kind of novel you can easily see as a movie -- if only someone would make a movie like this book, it would be great. ... Read more

Product Description
Two young women, up from Steepwood to London for the Season, immediately attract the attention of two highly eligible young men. Tall, dark and confident, Athene Filmer seizes the opportunity to act as companion to her small, blonde and decidedly timid friend when she is launched into the ton. Illegitimate, with no dowry, Athene sees this as her one chance to make a rich marriage. But troubles arise when both young women consider Adrian, Lord Kinloch, to be the ideal husband. It's more than obvious to Athene that his formidably brusque cousin, Nicholas Cameron, is disapproving of her - seeing her as an adventuress on the make - but since Nick has shown no signs of offering her marriage himself, she knows she should dismiss all thought of him! But Nick will not be ignored.. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fun, Absorbing, Page Turning and Well Written
This is the kind of historical romance I am continually looking for but seldom find. At no point did Ms. Marshall resort to manufactured tension or unrealistic scenarios. I was very pleased with the way she developed the character of Sir Neville. He is not depicted as the hero of heroes from the outset, but evolves as the story progresses. He learns more and more about himself and grows into the role of a true and solid hero. At no point is he depicted as actually weak or bumbling for his many virtues are always there under the surface. Rather it is more like a journey of discovery for him.

I especially liked the moral convictions of the main characters. This is truly a story of good arising triumphant over evil after having been tested in the fires of adversity. This was a very good read and, in my opinion, rates a firm five stars.

Very enjoyable read - unusual hero and heroine
Very much enjoyed this book - a strong 4-stars, but not a 5.An unusual hero; he's not perfect, or a rake, or a dandy, but a serious-minded almost staid boring man, as we first meet him, who becomes a couragous and gallant one when he's put in a position requiring it.A wonderful change in the usual kind of stereotype hero we get in most regencies.The heroine is equally unusual; independent, plucky, and courageous widow, who THANK GOD doesn't fall over faint at her first kiss.Their falling in love is slow and realistic and mature; spontaneous but reserved.I want more of this type of romance book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A really exciting writer of Regency books
I'm cheating really because I haven't read this one, but I couldn't get in to review the ones I loved so much.My Lady Love and An Improper Duenna -two of the best regency books I've read, and I've read a lot.I also writethem as Anne Herries.My Lady Love is about a wealthy countess who fallsin love with the mysterious Chad, a man her servants found wandering nakedon the moors, and steps down from her class to marry him.Since this isMills & Boon there are no prizes for guessing that Chad isn't what heseems, but it's a wonderful read.In an Improper Duenna, Chloe forgets herlowly station to reach for love, risking dismissal and goodness knows what- two ends of the scale but two ladies prepared to dare all for love. Exciting stuff!

Regency Romance
Heroine turns hero down, goes to France, gets married, husband dies in a duel, comes back very rich.Includes black hearted villian, dishonest servant, less than perfect heroine's mother. ... Read more

Product Description
Susanna Beverly's stepfather had cheated her out of her inheritance. Thus she was forced to become the companion of Miss Amelia Western, who was betrothed to Viscount Darlington.Ben's intentions were honorable. He did at least intend to marry Amelia. But his real aim was revenge upon Darlington's family. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Interesting but not exciting
The Wolfe's Mate is an old-style Regency.I found it interesting, but I had no trouble putting it down.The main characters' dialogue was intelligent and witty at times, yet the overall story was dry and failed to move me.

a compelling read
The title of this novel, "The Wolfe's Mate," will give you the mistaken impression that this book is all about Miss Susanna Beverly, the heroine of this Paula Marshall regency romance -- not so. This novel is as much about the mysterious hero, Ben Wolfe, as it is about Susanna, and possesses a few elements of the gothic as well as romance.

The novel starts with Susanna being jilted in front of the altar by her erstwhile fiance. Not long after that her stepfather informs her that far from being an heiress, she is in fact penniless and that she has being living on his sufferance. And so Susanna, never one to be a burden on her 'loving' family, looks about for employment, and ends up as a companion to Miss Amelia Western, a singularly unpleasant young debutante, and who has just become engaged to Viscount Darlington. And this is what brings Susanna into Ben Wolfe's sphere.

Wolfe has just returned from India a very rich man only to find that the unpleasant rumours about his parents are being kept alive by Viscount Darlington's father, Lord Babbacombe. Angered, he decides to take his revenge on Babbacombe by kidnapping Amelia and marrying her himself. Unfortunately, Wolfe's henchman kidnaps the wrong woman: he kidnaps Susanna! By the time Susanna is able to convince both men that they've made a mistake, it is too late. Several hours have passed, and Susanna fears that her already tarnished repuatation will not be able to withstand another scandal. Feeling guilty, Wolfe inveigles his good friend, Madame la Comtesse de Saulx, to help them. And so Susanna finds herself quiting her job with the Westerns and taking up a new post with Madame, where she also finds herself spending more and more time with the mysterious Wolfe. All kinds of rumours about his background and his ruthlessness abound, but Susanna finds that she is strangely attracted to him, and senses that this feeling of attraction is mutual. Wolfe cannot understand his attraction to Susanna, esp as he finds her too forthright and possessing far too a sharp tongue! And yet he finds himself constantly thinking of her and wanting to help her, so much so that he even looks into her affairs in order to investigate more fully her lose of her father's fortune. But will their blossoming relationship be able to survive Babbacombe's spite, the rumours about his parentage or the charge that his father probably killed his mother?

This is a really engrossing gothic-romance novel: where is Wolfe's mother? Was she murdered? And if so by whom? Lord Babbacombe charges that Ben is not really the legitimate heir to the Wolfe name and estate. Could this charge be true? Wolfe himself has very few memories of his early years prior to his mother's death. But this novel is also about the romance that blossoms between two independently mindedpeople that have known very little love or cherishing in their lives and who find love and solace in each other. "The Wolfe's Mate" is not only a great read, but would definitely also be a great reread at some point.

Traditional Regency set mainly in London
Paula Marshall explores some of the seamier parts of the London Social scene.A wicked stepfather and a jilt at the church, starts the tale, a kidnapping that goes wrong even Tozzy a Bermondsey bruiser employed by Jess Fitzroy for his specialised talents makes a cameo appearance.The world of clubs and fencing salons is explored.A Royal Duke has a whim just to help the tale along. Definitely enjoyable and even just possible.

From the back of the Harlequin paperback edition:

MISTAKEN IDENTITY Unbeknownst to Miss Susanna Beverly, her stepfather had cheated her out of her rightful inheritance. Thus she was forced to become the companion of Miss Amelia Western, who was betrothed to Viscount Darlington. Who would have guessed she'd he mistaken for Amelia and kidnapped by Mr. Ben Wolfe's henchmen!

Ben's intentions were honorable. He did at least intend to marry Amelia. But his real aim was revenge upon Darlington's family.

Kidnapping the wrong woman upset all his plans, but as Ben got to know the forthright Susanna, he couldn't really admit to being sorry.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A regular Harlequin in Regency clothing
For someone who likes Regency novels, Dear Lady Disdain was a definite disappointment.A Cit (with titled connections) heroine who is a bankeress (What a word!) and a hate-my-title Lord bicker at one another until they suddenly jump into bed.The whole story is impossible, and then BORING.Please don't bother.

Short on romance, long on enjoyment --
This is a wonderful and wonderfully complex story. The only problem with this book is that the publisher -- Harlequin -- chose to position it as a 'Regency Romance'. It most certainly is not that at all. Not even very close, in fact, which has probably hurt the book more than helped it. Another consideration is that this new paperback release is a reprint of a book first published in 1995. Standards have changed considerably in the years since then.

The story takes place over the course of a year, but the romance, in my opinion, is almost incidental to the plot. It is more the story of a young woman raised to be something that most women of the time were not allowed to be, and what happens to her and those all around her when she meets a man who has thrown over everything he was raised to be, in favor of becoming his own man, in another country.There is a love story in here, to be sure, but I honestly don't believe it's the major element of the plot which is what really determines if a book is a romance or fiction.

As improbable as it might seem to some readers, there are those couples who, within a short time of their initial meeting, cannot resist the force of their attraction to each other, and can easily consider the world well-lost for love, or lust, if you will. Many of these couples will, in time, convert that electricity into something lasting; many, however, burn out, reducing each other to cinders in the process.

At a time in history when women were considered an adornment to their husbands, Anastasia Blanchard was born to a bank owned outright by her father. As his only child, and one who early on showed all the necessary signs of being exactly the type of heir he wanted, except for her sex, of course, he simply ignored that part of her, and proceeded to teach her everything he knew about banking.

Matthew Falconer, on the other hand, was the third son to an Earl, and without a mother to watch out for him, quickly became the target of his older brother. Matt left England, taking a small inheritance left him by his mother, and established himself in America. It made him a better man than ever the English system could have done. Unfortunately, the second son died in an accident, leaving Matt as heir apparent, a position he despised with every ounce of his large frame. In spite of his feelings about the title and all that went with it, when the older brother also died, Matt took himself back to England, to investigate an inheritance from an elderly aunt, who had loved him only for himself.

During a blizzard, Stacy and her travelling companions are forced to seek shelter at the ramshackle, run-down Pontisford Hall--Matt's legacy. Sparks are struck on their first meeting, and never let up until the last page. I enjoyed every page of this book, for its picture of a woman's non-world in Regency England, as well as the way in which families encircle and protect their own--even those hardly worth protecting, even long after the death of a worthless heir. If you read it as fiction, you should enjoy it, too. It just isn't much of a romance, although there is certainly a terrific amount of sexual attraction between the two most admirable lovers.

Dear Lady Disdain
This was, I'll admit, not an easy book for me to rate. The "hero" of the piece, Matt Falconer, came across for almost half the book as an unmannerly and imperious lout. He is, of course, redeemed by the time the book is finished. The troubleis that while the book spans almost a year, the reader reads it over the space of two to three hours, so that it would take some pretty nifty writing to persuade a reader that a protagonist is redeemed or even deserves to be redeemed. In this case I was almost convinced, but I also wished that the heorine, Stacy Blanchard had given in to her feelings and clouted him on the head a couple of times just to underline the message that he deserves some kind of punishment.

Stacy Blanchard is an anomaly in regency England. She's intelligent, competent, and she owns and runs a bank. And while she is openly courted for her wealth, she is also regarded as an "unwomanly" young lady because she refuses to allow others (read men) to run the bank her father left her. Some irregularities with the bank branch in York causes Stacy to leave London and venture north in severe winter weather in order to investigate the matter. A carriage accident however causes Stacy and her party to seek shelter at Pontisford Hall. And that's where all the problems that Stacy will have to face in the year to come begins.

Matt Falconer has returned to England form Virginia, and he is in a foul mood. Actually he is in a foul mood for most of the book, which is one reason I didn't buy his ability to become suddenly sunny natured completely. He left England under a cloud and has hated his family, society, and England ever since. Stacy, with her managing ways in exactly the kind of woman he dislikes most, and so takes out his bad humour on her. However Stacy has not been running a bank for nothing -- she gives as good as she gets. Something Falconer is not used to! In spite of the anger that both Stacy and Falconer inspire in each other, there is also a thread of attraction and desire that each feels for the other; and one night, anger gives way to desire. The next moring Falconer regrets giving in to passion; Stacy sensing his withdrawal is hurt and tries to put the entire episode behind her by pretending that it never happened. As soon as the thaw sets in Stacy and her party leave Pontisford Hall but not before she lets Falconer know just how low she regards him. But what will she do when Falconer unable to forget her, follows her to York, especially when she discovers that she is carrying his child?

I liked Stacy Balnchard quite a bit. Paula Marshall did a very good job in depicting the frustration that Stacy feels with a society that does not allow an intelligent and capable young woman to do what she's good at. She also does a fairly good job at showing us why Stacy and Falconer are a good match. The trouble lies (for me anyway)in that Falconer is so aggravating in the first quarter of the book that you're left with mixed feelings when the happy resolution actually does takes place.

The prose style is actually very good and the cover art is very tastfully done. All in all the book is rather good too; I just have no time for bad tempered men no matter their provocation. ... Read more

Product Description

• Design professionals and homeowners share their secrets for building a great deck—everything from making the most of a difficult space to selecting building materials best suited to the natural environment.
• A collection of great-looking and functional decks and an endless source of ideas for homeowners.
• Packed with stunning photos of some of America’s most memorable decks.
• More than just a deck guide, this dream book for outdoor living is loaded with ideas for swimming pools, water gardens, gazebos, and a variety of other features that will accentuate any backyard.

Product Description
To help her brother out of a predicament, Catherine Wood had to accompany Tom Trenchard - pretending to be his wife - to Holland on a spying mission. And with roguish charm Tom made no bones about wanting Catherine in his bed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

His One Woman (Mills & Boon Historical Romance)
I enjoyed this title, part of The Dilhorne Dynasty series.Jack Dilhorne is the son of Tom and Hester (from the book Hester Waring's Marriage) and brother to Alan (from the book A Strange Likeness).This story opens in Washington D.C. in April 1861.Chapter two begins with Marietta attending one of Mr. Lincoln's balls at the White House ...

Description from the book back cover:

Civil War ... in a nation and a family.Jack Dilhorne was in Washington DC on business just as war was being declared between the North and South States.It was not the best of times to meet someone as intriguing as Marietta Hope.Having heard that she was a plain old maid, Jack was taken aback to find her bright, witty and good-looking, even if her style wasn't quite in vogue.But they had an enemy who could inflict much damage of their growing love ...

The Dilhorne Dynasty - a world of adventure, generations of lovers.




... Read more