This was a joint effort by three authors - Connie Brockway, Julia Quinn and Eloisa James. Since I like all three authors, I was prepared to like it - and I did. It is a piece of Regencey fluff, with the story of three couples brought together by one man's search for the mother of his "heir and spare".
Hugh Dunne, Earl of something-or-other, has had a close call with death and decides it's time to settle down and get married. His married sister puts together a list of eligible ladies, inviting him and the ladies and some others to a house party so that he can choose, woo and propose, and get on with his love of horses.
Of course, with Julia Quinn involved, you know it will be funny, so there are several comic turns as two of the ladies get snatched up by Hugh's best friends. Each of the three men find love not in unexpected places, but right under their very noses - two of them with women they have known all their lives.
It made for an entertaining read, although it was hard to keep track of who was whom when I was just reading a few pages every night before falling asleep! Still, I'm giving it 4 stars for fun.
Showing posts with label Connie Brockway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Connie Brockway. Show all posts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, March 20, 2009
So Enchanting by Connie Brockway *****
This was truly So Enchanting! It's a book with a magical premise, and it's even magical to read. I'm not sure why I hadn't heard much about Brockway before, but I've liked the ones I've read and this one is a real keeper too.
Grey has spent his adult life devoted to debunking all sorts of paranormal shyster activity - people who prey on those hoping to make contact with the dead especially - because his father lost the family fortune to people like this. During his raid on a seance by Alphonse Brown, Grey is entranced by Brown's wife, Francesca - but pushes aside his feelings.
Fanny, formerly Francesca Brown, soon thereafter widowed, gets a chance at a new life. She has some power over animals - when she is upset, the nearby animals react, and as a child, animals attacked and crippled her brother, so she became a sort of pariah in her family and her neighborhood. When a neighbor comes to her after her husband's death and asks her to be his daughter's companion, she agrees only if she can use a new name and identity, and no one but the 2 of them will know.
Then she spends the next 6 years in the Scottish Highlands as Fanny Walcott, with Amelie as her ward. Now that Amelie is 18, though, she's tired of being cooped up in a small town away from all the excitement of town, and yearns to be free and travel. Unfortunately, she has 3 more years to go before she comes into her inheritance and freedom.
Her guardian, a Lord Collier, receives a letter warning that Amelie's life may be in danger, so he sends his brother in law and son to check out the situation. Coincidentally enough, Grey is the brother in law - and his son is Hayden, a young man of 21. Amelie and Hayden immediately take to one another, and in the space of one day are declaring their undying love, and spending long moments mooning about.
The spark is also still there for Grey and Fanny - but there's no declarations of love or mooning - their sparks are more the flint v steel type. Brockway's style is so humorous and witty - while the young lovers are chastely holding hands and murmuring endearments on the terrace, Grey and Fanny are first fighting like cats and dogs, then the next minute they are passionately kissing and ripping at each other's clothing in the next room. Meanwhile, Fanny's spell over the animals has them all howling and hollering and tweeting and boinking like mad in the garden, on the paths and pretty much everywhere they look - it's laugh out loud funny!
She continues to contrast the 2 couples - one chapter starts with Hayden declaring it's the most wonderful day, and describing his day with his love Amelie. The next chapter is Grey declaring it's the most dreadful day - the same day, only from Grey's POV. When the plot to harm Amelie becomes more real - a large pot is pushed off a balcony and barely misses Amelie - Grey and Hayden try to figure out who is behind the plot. Meanwhile, Grey cannot let himself be enchanted by Fanny - he does remember who and what she is - and tries to figure out how she is scamming Amelie and her guardian.
I enjoyed every minute of this story! It fits as my second book for the novel set in Scotland category of the Spring 2009 Challenge, and I think I'll tag it Besotted Hero - Grey was slightly besotted, but Hayden was truly smittenly besotted!!
Grey has spent his adult life devoted to debunking all sorts of paranormal shyster activity - people who prey on those hoping to make contact with the dead especially - because his father lost the family fortune to people like this. During his raid on a seance by Alphonse Brown, Grey is entranced by Brown's wife, Francesca - but pushes aside his feelings.
Fanny, formerly Francesca Brown, soon thereafter widowed, gets a chance at a new life. She has some power over animals - when she is upset, the nearby animals react, and as a child, animals attacked and crippled her brother, so she became a sort of pariah in her family and her neighborhood. When a neighbor comes to her after her husband's death and asks her to be his daughter's companion, she agrees only if she can use a new name and identity, and no one but the 2 of them will know.
Then she spends the next 6 years in the Scottish Highlands as Fanny Walcott, with Amelie as her ward. Now that Amelie is 18, though, she's tired of being cooped up in a small town away from all the excitement of town, and yearns to be free and travel. Unfortunately, she has 3 more years to go before she comes into her inheritance and freedom.
Her guardian, a Lord Collier, receives a letter warning that Amelie's life may be in danger, so he sends his brother in law and son to check out the situation. Coincidentally enough, Grey is the brother in law - and his son is Hayden, a young man of 21. Amelie and Hayden immediately take to one another, and in the space of one day are declaring their undying love, and spending long moments mooning about.
The spark is also still there for Grey and Fanny - but there's no declarations of love or mooning - their sparks are more the flint v steel type. Brockway's style is so humorous and witty - while the young lovers are chastely holding hands and murmuring endearments on the terrace, Grey and Fanny are first fighting like cats and dogs, then the next minute they are passionately kissing and ripping at each other's clothing in the next room. Meanwhile, Fanny's spell over the animals has them all howling and hollering and tweeting and boinking like mad in the garden, on the paths and pretty much everywhere they look - it's laugh out loud funny!
She continues to contrast the 2 couples - one chapter starts with Hayden declaring it's the most wonderful day, and describing his day with his love Amelie. The next chapter is Grey declaring it's the most dreadful day - the same day, only from Grey's POV. When the plot to harm Amelie becomes more real - a large pot is pushed off a balcony and barely misses Amelie - Grey and Hayden try to figure out who is behind the plot. Meanwhile, Grey cannot let himself be enchanted by Fanny - he does remember who and what she is - and tries to figure out how she is scamming Amelie and her guardian.
I enjoyed every minute of this story! It fits as my second book for the novel set in Scotland category of the Spring 2009 Challenge, and I think I'll tag it Besotted Hero - Grey was slightly besotted, but Hayden was truly smittenly besotted!!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
All Through The Night by Connie Brockway ****
This was a wonderful story and seemed a little different in the telling, in the writing, than the other Brockways I've read. It's also an AAR Top 100 of 2007 - and I can see why.
It's a Regency, starring Anne Wilder, a widow who was not born into but married into the ton, and undercover spy, Colonel Jack Seward. Anne is also working undercover - for herself - as a cat burglar (something I always thought sounded like the perfect career when I was a child and James Bond books and movies were popular!!). She leaps from roof to roof, stealing from the people who would pledge but never pay the charity she runs. Ostensibly she does it to exact retribution as much as to get the needed funds for the soldiers' home she founded and supports.
Jack was an orphan, plucked as a 7-year-old from an orphanage by Jamison, who trained him to be a ruthless undercover operative and is also his boss. Jack's latest job is to find the thief who stole an object that contained a letter, possibly from the mad king, that is apparently very politically sensitive. He learns early on that his thief is a woman - an alluring woman after whom he lusts. From the clues, he decides the woman is either a member of the ton, or a servant of a member of the ton, and so he gains access to parties and balls in order to find her. Although Anne is sure she's been found out, instead Jack falls for her and follows her for different reasons. His brain cannot process that the wanton woman he met in the night, who got away from him, could be Anne, so he continues under the notion that, after years of not feeling love at all, he is now in love with 2 women: the thief, who would be his equal, and Anne, who is too far above his station and whom he does not deserve.
Frankly, I got a little confused by all the different people involved in both the undercover work and the suspects and their friends and family - maybe because I was reading in less-than-ideal situations, while working and while the TV was on. It was near the end I started to at least recognize who was whom, even though I was still struggling with things like ages and relationships. The government fellows were Jamison, Seward's alleged father (but probably not); Knowles; Strand; Vedders... I think Jamison and Knowles were older, but wasn't sure of the relationship between the two. Vedders and Strand and oh, Frost - I sorta got the idea they were maybe contemporaries in age of Seward (mid-thirties?) but above his station even though they were all working for Jamison, or maybe for Knowles...? These things mattered because some of them were parents of adults, and some of them were associating with younger women, like Anne's young cousin who was making her debut that season, and I was constantly confused about which was which.
But the story was interesting, and Brockway's prose was more interesting in this story than in the others I've read as well - and her characters were dark, brooding, and in pain. All around, I enjoyed the read and gave it 4 stars. I went on over to AAR to read the review (some of the reviewers have a true gift of expression) and once again the reviewer managed to better describe the book - starting really from something revealed at the end (Jack's childhood).
It's a Regency, starring Anne Wilder, a widow who was not born into but married into the ton, and undercover spy, Colonel Jack Seward. Anne is also working undercover - for herself - as a cat burglar (something I always thought sounded like the perfect career when I was a child and James Bond books and movies were popular!!). She leaps from roof to roof, stealing from the people who would pledge but never pay the charity she runs. Ostensibly she does it to exact retribution as much as to get the needed funds for the soldiers' home she founded and supports.
Jack was an orphan, plucked as a 7-year-old from an orphanage by Jamison, who trained him to be a ruthless undercover operative and is also his boss. Jack's latest job is to find the thief who stole an object that contained a letter, possibly from the mad king, that is apparently very politically sensitive. He learns early on that his thief is a woman - an alluring woman after whom he lusts. From the clues, he decides the woman is either a member of the ton, or a servant of a member of the ton, and so he gains access to parties and balls in order to find her. Although Anne is sure she's been found out, instead Jack falls for her and follows her for different reasons. His brain cannot process that the wanton woman he met in the night, who got away from him, could be Anne, so he continues under the notion that, after years of not feeling love at all, he is now in love with 2 women: the thief, who would be his equal, and Anne, who is too far above his station and whom he does not deserve.
Frankly, I got a little confused by all the different people involved in both the undercover work and the suspects and their friends and family - maybe because I was reading in less-than-ideal situations, while working and while the TV was on. It was near the end I started to at least recognize who was whom, even though I was still struggling with things like ages and relationships. The government fellows were Jamison, Seward's alleged father (but probably not); Knowles; Strand; Vedders... I think Jamison and Knowles were older, but wasn't sure of the relationship between the two. Vedders and Strand and oh, Frost - I sorta got the idea they were maybe contemporaries in age of Seward (mid-thirties?) but above his station even though they were all working for Jamison, or maybe for Knowles...? These things mattered because some of them were parents of adults, and some of them were associating with younger women, like Anne's young cousin who was making her debut that season, and I was constantly confused about which was which.
But the story was interesting, and Brockway's prose was more interesting in this story than in the others I've read as well - and her characters were dark, brooding, and in pain. All around, I enjoyed the read and gave it 4 stars. I went on over to AAR to read the review (some of the reviewers have a true gift of expression) and once again the reviewer managed to better describe the book - starting really from something revealed at the end (Jack's childhood).
Saturday, January 3, 2009
My Dearest Enemy by Connie Brockway *****
I enjoyed this book all the way through, but it was the ending that turned it into a 5-star read for me.
It was fun to watch 2 intelligent protagonists spar with words as they corresponded for 4.5 years - she trying to keep up with him to send his "allowance" so that she could keep the inheritance, he trying to stay one step ahead while he waited her out. When he finally shows up, a few months early of the 5 year deadline, the 2 then have to "fight" it out - who will inherit the property? It's funny that in the description it says "the woman whose love brings him home" because he does indeed fall in love with her letters, even though he has no intention of letting her get the better of him.
It's an unusual theme for a historical - Lily is a staunch feminist who is out to prove that, not including things which require physical strength, women can do anything men can - including successfully run a homestead and even make a profit. Avery is just waiting to inherit the home he was promised as a child and is just waiting for Lily to fail so that he can.
But it was the romantic ending that got me - Avery risked it all in a gamble to win over the woman who swore she would never marry anyone.
It was fun to watch 2 intelligent protagonists spar with words as they corresponded for 4.5 years - she trying to keep up with him to send his "allowance" so that she could keep the inheritance, he trying to stay one step ahead while he waited her out. When he finally shows up, a few months early of the 5 year deadline, the 2 then have to "fight" it out - who will inherit the property? It's funny that in the description it says "the woman whose love brings him home" because he does indeed fall in love with her letters, even though he has no intention of letting her get the better of him.
It's an unusual theme for a historical - Lily is a staunch feminist who is out to prove that, not including things which require physical strength, women can do anything men can - including successfully run a homestead and even make a profit. Avery is just waiting to inherit the home he was promised as a child and is just waiting for Lily to fail so that he can.
But it was the romantic ending that got me - Avery risked it all in a gamble to win over the woman who swore she would never marry anyone.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
As You Desire by Connie Brockway *****
Wow! I can't believe that I've been reading romance for more than a year and can still find authors I'd not even heard of who are writing incredibly wonderful books that no one seems to be talking about!!
Wait, of course, this is an AAR Top 100 of 2007, so someone has talked about it and read it. I just don't see this name (Connie Brockway) mentioned frequently on the forums. Why is that? Well, she's still writing, so I don't know how I have missed out on her books before.
OK: plot first. Desdemona Carlisle is a prodigy - an Englishwoman who, as a child, learned to read a dozen languages. Not speak, just read. Her parents - uhm, archeologists? well, whatever they were, they dragged her all over Europe, displaying her talents and simultaneously depriving her of a real childhood, with friends and school and such. She used romance novels to fill in her lonely life, and in her head has a constant inner monologue that translates her experiences into Romance-speak. That is one of the funniest parts of the entire book!
Her parents died when she was 15, and her only living relative is her grandfather, an Egyptologist living in Cairo, so she has lived there with him for 5 years. She does translating and other odd jobs to help support them, as grandfather is not a good businessman and they live on the edge of genteel poverty.
Harry Braxton has made a life for himself in Egypt, trading antiquities both above and below board, as it were. He has a rather sordid past - he was thrown out of Oxford for cheating, and left England "under a cloud". He suffers from dyslexia, known in Victorian times as "word blindness" - he cannot read. He discovers he can read hieroglyphics, and he has a wonderful memory and ability to mimic what he hears, so he picks up Arabic and other local dialects very easily.
Desdemona, or Dizzy as Harry calls her, has been in love with Harry forever - and, to be honest, Harry harbors the same for her but cannot bring himself to act on it. For one thing, there is the age issue: when she finally declared herself to him, she was only 17. For another, there is the shame of being unable to read - some even call it retardation. So he rebuffs her, and keeps her at arms' length, even though he does have to keep rescuing her - over and over - from the many scrapes she finds herself involved in.
Harry's hand is forced when his cousin arrives from England and tries to woo Dizzy for himself. And Dizzy is put into a more serious situation, requiring one more rescue by her knight-errant.
Ok, it's more complicated than that. There's another woman in Harry's life - well, she wants to be in his life anyway. And there are several feuding elements - grandfather feuding with other explorers; Harry feuding with an unscrupulous site foreman; Harry and his cousin feuding over their ancestral lands and Dizzy's hand. And of course, the English, Turks, Arabs and native Egyptians feuding over who is in control, of the government and also of the discovery and transportation of antiquities.
Yes, it's complicated, and it's fun, and there's intrigue and kidnapping and sandstorms and relics - there's really only one evil villain, and a number of rather misguided folks whose actions take on more than they intended, and the wonderful love story of Harry and Dizzy.
5 stars and a keeper to boot!
Wait, of course, this is an AAR Top 100 of 2007, so someone has talked about it and read it. I just don't see this name (Connie Brockway) mentioned frequently on the forums. Why is that? Well, she's still writing, so I don't know how I have missed out on her books before.
OK: plot first. Desdemona Carlisle is a prodigy - an Englishwoman who, as a child, learned to read a dozen languages. Not speak, just read. Her parents - uhm, archeologists? well, whatever they were, they dragged her all over Europe, displaying her talents and simultaneously depriving her of a real childhood, with friends and school and such. She used romance novels to fill in her lonely life, and in her head has a constant inner monologue that translates her experiences into Romance-speak. That is one of the funniest parts of the entire book!
Her parents died when she was 15, and her only living relative is her grandfather, an Egyptologist living in Cairo, so she has lived there with him for 5 years. She does translating and other odd jobs to help support them, as grandfather is not a good businessman and they live on the edge of genteel poverty.
Harry Braxton has made a life for himself in Egypt, trading antiquities both above and below board, as it were. He has a rather sordid past - he was thrown out of Oxford for cheating, and left England "under a cloud". He suffers from dyslexia, known in Victorian times as "word blindness" - he cannot read. He discovers he can read hieroglyphics, and he has a wonderful memory and ability to mimic what he hears, so he picks up Arabic and other local dialects very easily.
Desdemona, or Dizzy as Harry calls her, has been in love with Harry forever - and, to be honest, Harry harbors the same for her but cannot bring himself to act on it. For one thing, there is the age issue: when she finally declared herself to him, she was only 17. For another, there is the shame of being unable to read - some even call it retardation. So he rebuffs her, and keeps her at arms' length, even though he does have to keep rescuing her - over and over - from the many scrapes she finds herself involved in.
Harry's hand is forced when his cousin arrives from England and tries to woo Dizzy for himself. And Dizzy is put into a more serious situation, requiring one more rescue by her knight-errant.
Ok, it's more complicated than that. There's another woman in Harry's life - well, she wants to be in his life anyway. And there are several feuding elements - grandfather feuding with other explorers; Harry feuding with an unscrupulous site foreman; Harry and his cousin feuding over their ancestral lands and Dizzy's hand. And of course, the English, Turks, Arabs and native Egyptians feuding over who is in control, of the government and also of the discovery and transportation of antiquities.
Yes, it's complicated, and it's fun, and there's intrigue and kidnapping and sandstorms and relics - there's really only one evil villain, and a number of rather misguided folks whose actions take on more than they intended, and the wonderful love story of Harry and Dizzy.
5 stars and a keeper to boot!
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