Belle Ami

Good story with minimal involvement of Mrs. Dove-Lyons and the Lyon's Den. The story opens after the funeral of the late Duke of Buckingham, as the Duke's daughters and his second wife, Sarah, console each other. Sarah's backstory is sad, having been orphaned and left destitute by her father's bad choices. However, his friend, the Duke, took her in and eventually married her. It was a marriage of convenience initially, but Sarah and the Duke grew to love and respect each other. Hen ensured that, upon his death, Sarah would be financially secure. He also stipulated that she remain at the estate to continue managing it and to instruct the new duke.

Phillip was a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, where he served as a cavalry officer and did other special assignments. After being injured, including losing an eye, he was discharged from the army. Without the military, Phillip is at a loss about what to do with the rest of his life. With little to his name and no apparent prospects, Phillip spends some of his time at the Lyon's Den gambling. He's stunned one evening when he comes home and finds his uncle's solicitor waiting for him, informing him that he is the new Duke of Buckingham. His father had caused a rift with his uncle, and Phillip had no idea he was the heir. He is grateful to learn that his uncle's widow will help him settle into his new role.

I loved the first meeting between Sarah and Phillip. He expects an older, motherly woman and, instead, gets a young, vibrant, and beautiful one. She stirs up sparks of attraction that he works hard to subdue. Likewise, Sarah thinks about the good-looking new duke far more than she is comfortable with. Each does their best to ignore the attraction over the next several months as they develop a deep friendship working together on estate matters. Then cards arrive, inviting them and Sarah's unmarried stepdaughter, Lizzie, to Mrs. Dove-Lyons's birthday ball.

The sparks of attraction flare up during the ball. Sarah, aware that society would not approve of a relationship between her and Phillip, decides to seek a new husband and a future for herself. She insists that Phillip seek a bride and secure his future and the ducal line. Phillip isn't interested in some vapid debutante and doesn't care about society's opinion. His unhappiness at Sarah's plan is evident as he watches Sarah dance with other men.

Things become more complicated when she discovers a letter from her father to the late duke. The contents stir Sarah's insecurities and add impetus to her need to escape her feelings for Phillip. I was irritated by Sarah's reaction and how she used it as a further barrier between her and Phillip. I liked Phillip's determination to break through her objections. A disaster at the estate brings them together to deal with it, but a near tragedy almost parts them forever. I felt Phillip's fear for Sarah. I loved his emotional declaration and wanted to shake Sarah for her stubbornness. Thank goodness for his persistence. I loved seeing her finally let go of her fears and believe in the possibility of a future together. The ending was terrific, and the epilogue was sweet.

There was a brief foray into a secondary romance between Sarah's stepdaughter, Lizzie, and Phillip's friend, Lucien. Their whole story is told in the anthology Night of Lyons, in the tale Unmasked by the Lyon.

#netgalley… (mehr)

The Girl Who Knew da Vinci follows art historian, Angela Renatus, on a quest to understand the puzzling visions she has been experiencing. Alex Caine is an art detective hired by Max Jaeger, a wealthy German gentleman who is eager to discover whether letters written by his Uncle Gerhard Jaeger during World War II are based on fact or fantasy. Soon the two are not only paired up to find out the truth, they also become romantically involved.

This book is touted as a mystery suspense thriller. There is an element of mystery to the story, and the must-have bad guys do lend a bit of suspense, but the book would better be described as a historical romance. I give the book 3.5/5🌟 See my complete review at https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=75407… (mehr)

Oh where do I start on my thoughts on The One (The Only One #1) by Belle Ami, the book is being classified as a romantic suspense; I found it neither suspenseful nor romantic. I have almost two pages of notes I took while reading this book, I’ll just share a few of them in no order of importance.

• The biggest one is what does Chapter one have to do with the rest of the book? Was it meant to show Miles as a kind and caring guy? Or maybe it was to show that Miles likes rough sex and liked to voice his sexual thoughts as well?

• What is the plot of the book? The main mystery seems to be the circumstances surrounding the death of Adilea’s parents... was it truly a car accident or was it murder?

• The author goes into much detail on the equestrian events in the book.

• I found the book to be choppy, fluid and smooth in some parts and then disjointed in other parts. The transitions between sections didn't always make sense either.

• Not sure what the actual time span of this book is – best guess is approximately 3 years give or take a few months ( 9 months for baibies, maybe 3 months for Miles & Adilea’s meet & whirlwind romance, babies 1st birthday, reference to no sex for at least a year after the divorce)

• I found the author was almost clinical in some of the sex scenes and then in other scenes took on the hip and flowery author speak for body parts.

• There was at least one if not more than one sex scene where Adilea said no, or stop to Miles…His reply was you will not deny me what’s mine, and magically the sex scene would be justified by Adilea in her mind as being ok and hot

• There is little character development

• I found very little reason to like the characters. Miles is pushy, dominate, spoiled, uncaring, and unfeeling. Adilea is naïve, too trusting, and goes with the flow, she has no backbone until maybe the last 2% of the book. Karolin is two faced, spoiled, and is not above hurting people to get her way. David is nice, religious, hard working, supportive, and in love.

• There is no chemistry between Miles and Adilea, I never felt the love or romance between them, it is referenced by both Miles and Adelia. Miles only tells Adelia he loves her once in the entire book, and that because she asks him to say it. Even when they get married he never expresses his love for her.

• Adilea become pregnant while on birth control pills, I found this to be questionable – thought that it could have been part of the plot to get her pregnant, that maybe the pills had been tamper with, but Miles says it happened because they just hump like rabbits – so any link to the plan Miles & Karolin have was a lost opportunity, this could have added to the intrigue of the story.

• The sex is not romantic – it lust fueled, male dominated for the most part, rough, and shows little consideration for Adilea. At least one romantic sex scene might have helped to increase the connection, and chemistry between our H/h.

• I think that many people equate the lavish gifts, the trendy get aways, the big homes, and sex as a display of love.

• We learn some of the back story for Miles & Karolin as children, but nothing helps to explain the strange relationship they have, especially from Karolin’s point of view.

• Solarian, a business that Miles has help fund, and that Adilea’s father was going to speak out about has a big part in the “overall” death of the parents, but it’s not integrated into the stoyline well. It doesn’t add to the mystery or the intrigue.

• David, the officer who has helped Adilea throughout the book becomes the third leg of the romance, and here I felt a much better connection and chemistry, even though they have had less page time together

• We have drama, corporate espionage, blackmail (which includes ecstasy& LSD to facilitate a rape), a sister with a plan (what the actual goal of the plan is who knows?), lots of equestrian activity, marital issues, and a potential lover on the sidelines.

I think that if all of this was put together in a better fashion, one could create a truly romantic suspense novel. The main idea being add some suspense, and make the romance between the H/h believable and emotional. I really think there’s just too much going on and it’s not tied together well. I almost feel like the author was trying to keep the reader awake with all the jumping around, non linear timelines, tidbits of intrigue, and erotically written sex scenes.

I received this copy of the book from NetGalley as a free read. Its Published by CreateSpace, and was brought to market between Feb 14-21, 2014
All in all a 2 star read for me
… (mehr)