Book review : A Deadly Affair by Carla Simpson

A Deadly Affair
Angus Brodie & Mikaela Forsythe book 1
by Carla Simpson
GENRE : #Victorian era cozy mystery

My rating: ★★★★☆
Actually 3,8 stars rounded up to 4.

Victorian mystery with a hint of romance and humor.
I liked it, but I wasn't crazy about it. Since it doesn't particularly stand out from numerous other "historical mystery-romance" series, whether set in the Victorian era, the Regency period, or the 1920s, I can't rate it higher than a 3.8, rounded up to 4.

________ PLOT IN SHORT________ London, 1889. Mikaela Forsythe's sister is missing, and her sister's maid has been found murdered. While the police prove inefficient (if not disinterested) in looking for clues, Mikaela promises herself to find her sister alive and bring the culprits to justice.

Directed by her aunt to hire private detective (and former police inspector) Angus Brodie, Mikaela refuses to be sidelined during the investigation. Intelligent, stubborn, cunning, and skilled in self-defense, she will give Brodie a hard time trying to keep her safe.

During the investigations in the darkest places, frequented by shady individuals, clues will emerge that lead to something much bigger: a possible conspiracy? And against whom? It will be up to this unlikely couple, and their faithful friends, to find out and act accordingly.

___________________ * * *_____________________

MY OPINION

--> I'm giving 4 full stars mainly for the characters (both main and secondary), the subtle romantic vein, and the pleasantly humorous style of the story.
However, the mystery itself is worth only 2.5 stars: it's neither compelling nor original, and the resolution is unsatisfying.

Maybe if I had read it a few years ago, before reading so many other similar series, I would have appreciated it more; I might have even found it great.

Having read it after already enjoying so many similar books, I couldn't feel as involved as I would have liked.
However, for those who love light mysteries, it is, as a whole, a pleasant read, useful for escaping daily worries and reviving your good mood, thanks to the witty dialogues and some kisses that will delight the most romantic readers.

______ MAIN CHARACTERS_____ They are adorable, even if they follow the usual clichés:

SHE is an extraordinary woman whose intelligence, curiosity, and desire for action are supported by wealth. This has allowed her to have an education, to travel far and wide, and to live adventures without caring about conventions – something that an intelligent and enterprising, but poor, woman could not have done. (Hmm... maybe I'm a little tired of "super-mega-brilliant-and-rich" heroines. It would be interesting and nice to read more often about quick-witted working-class women who can't resist the urge to investigate!).
Oh, I almost forgot: like all "brave and canny" female protagonists, she is obviously also stubborn. If the male character tells her "not to do" something, it's guaranteed that she will do it – something a bit unbearable for me, but obviously hilarious and effective in the dynamics of the stories.

HE, as always in this kind of reading, is the professional. In this book, he works independently as a detective, but he has the experience he acquired as a police inspector. As always, he has good instincts, he is capable and charming, he is introverted with a tormented past and, naturally, at the beginning, he doesn't give much credit to the "pushy woman."
But then, fascinated by her smartness and resourcefulness, he has to change his mind.
Irony, respect for women, right ideals, honesty, and courage complete the figure of the hero of the story, and I cannot deny that he fascinates me too.

So, in conclusion, the protagonists are amusing and even though their actions and reactions are predictable, their lively and ironic dialogues not only made me smile a lot while reading but also encouraged me to turn the pages to see how their bickering and mutual attraction progressed.

The "good" SIDE CHARACTERS are quite original, also nice, ironic and ready to do their best to help our two favorites.
The author manages to express the nature and mentality of each of them in a lively and fun way.

----> THE ONLY FLAW AMONG THE CHARACTERS: the villains, who usually have an equally important role in mysteries, here are portrayed in a few scenes, have few lines in the whole book and are completely ignored by the author.
I think this has taken away a lot of suspense and pathos from the story.
I hope that in the next books both the mystery and the villains will be more impressive.

___ A BLOOMING ROMANCE ___ Throughout the story, I had the impression that the author focused more on the relationship between the two characters and their interaction with their friends who work with them (including the cute dog) than on creating an intricate and compelling mystery.

Throughout the narrative, the bickering feels like a veiled courtship.
Despite coming from different backgrounds, the two characters are similar in some respects (cleverness, stubbornness, sense of justice, pride and desire to assert their autonomy)and clearly feel an attraction to each other.

To confirm this, book #1 in the series gives us a beautiful first kiss, something that usually happens in the subsequent volumes of a mystery-romance series.
"Clean" kiss, but unexpected and pleasant to read, which, together with another final surprise, invites readers to follow the development of the relationship in the next books.

_____ THE MYSTERY_____ As I said previously, this is, in my opinion, the weakest part of the book.
I didn't find it well-thought-out; I didn't encounter any major twists, and even the explanation of the mystery left much to be desired.
----> Perhaps this gap could have been filled with an interesting historical element (as in the fantastic "Lady Emily" series by Tasha Alexander), but unfortunately, apart from knowing that we are in the Victorian era and that Jack the Ripper was active, there are no historical connections. The fact that the monarchs are mentioned and their offspring make a brief appearance is not enough to make the whole thing historically relevant.

Anyway, a nice, light read to spend your leisure time.
----> Clean language, no sex scenes and no gruesome descriptions make the book suitable for all ages.

Thanks for reading my opinion, and please be lenient with my English; it's not my first language.

Join me on FACEBOOK: Tizi Cozy Corner, to be always updated on new posts

FOLLOW ME or ASK MY FRIENDSHIP ON GOODREADS

Book review : An Affair at Christmastide by Sandra Sookoo

An Affair at Christmastide
a Mary and Bright novel book #1
by Sandra Sookoo
GENRE: #Christmas-cozy-mystery-romance #RegencyChristmas

My rating: ★★☆☆☆
Disappointing !

---> Recommended only for readers interested in steamy romance.
If you are a mystery reader don't waste your time with this.

I was so happy to start a new mystery-romance series and after having appreciated a short story by this author I was expecting to find a good mystery to be solved and a sweet and exciting romance and a nice Christmas atmosphere...
... But some romance writers should stick to romance novels and leave mysteries to those who are more competent at writing them.

__PLOT IN SHORT __ The widow Mary Tomlinson has been living as a recluse in her brother's house for some time to take care of him and her young niece, when one day she has to accompany the girl to a ball.
The ball takes place at the house of a count with whom she lost her virginity as a young woman, only to be abandoned when he was due to marry.

Inspector Gabriel Bright is the brother of the count who hosts the ball, he too is invited to the party as a companion for his twenty-year-old son.
The inspector is also a widower and like Mary has suffered a huge disappointment in the love field.

A mutual attraction instantly sparkles between the two companions and at the ball everything seems fun until an obnoxious butler is found dead.
____________*********____________

I think the story had great potential to be a good book, unfortunately it isn't well developed : 

1) CHRISTMAS ATMOSPHERE = non-existent. If one of the purposes of the book is to "be Christmassy" and the word Christmas is also in the title, then the fact that Christmas is only mentioned in words and there is no Christmas atmosphere, in my opinion it's a flaw !

MORE IMPORTANT : IF ONE WANTS TO WRITE A MYSTERY, ONE MUST ALSO KNOW HOW TO DO IT !!!

2) MYSTERY = not at all well thought and and too many things are so wrong :
--> The Main Male Character, despite being an inspector, takes charge of a murder case that occurred in his brother's house.
Worse: his son was seen by everyone with the weapon in his hands and he's the prime suspect.
How is it possible that this inspector can (on his own initiative, without any permission from Scotland Yard) take on the responsibility of investigating? CONFLICT OF INTEREST!! UNACCEPTABLE
---> Furthermore, he declares that he can only trust himself. I asked myself : WHO MUST ENSURE OTHERS THAT HE IS NOT CORRUPT?
---> Then he names the woman he kissed (another guest of the house which had a past with the owner of the house where happened the murder ) as his assistant in the investigation...

ALL GUESTS ARE SUSPECTS AND MORE SHE ALSO HAD A SOLID MOTIVE TO MURDER THE MAN.
Then the suspect's father, brother of the owner of the house where the murder took place, investigates the murder together with another potential culprit... CRAZY THINGS!! AGAIN UNACCEPTABLE


---> The author also points out that they take everything with gloves and a handkerchief...BUT THE STORY TAKES PLACE IN 1818, THERE WAS STILL NO OPTION TO VERIFY FINGERPRINTS !!
---> His son, found with the bloody knife in his hand, is only 20 years old, if he is not the killer then he found the body...he is presumed to be upset...YET HIS FATHER, THE INSPECTOR, SENDS HIM TO THE ROOM AND FOR OVER 2 DAYS AND IGNORE HIM (without questioning him and without going to see how he is), BUT THE SAME FATHER FINDS THE TIME TO QUESTION 2 OTHER GUESTS (and not his son) AND FLIRT( + ALMOST HAVING SEX ON THE DESK IN THE STUDY ) with a woman he just met.

Hot kisses and sex are entirely inappropriate in that dramatic moment... SHOULDN'T HE WORRY ABOUT HIS YOUNG SON?
Well in 2 days neither the hero nor the heroine of the novel cared about him. Disgusting.
Everything in this book is focused on the attraction between the two MC and their hunger for sex.

---> Another stupid thing:
When they finally question the boy together... suddenly the twenty year old boy (who has an excellent relationship of affection and friendship with his father, as the author shows us in some initial scenes) looks scared and intimidated by his father as if he were a stranger and was too strict and for every movement and response he ( the boy ) seeks comfort in the woman, a stranger he has just met, like if he were a 6 year old little boy as if he's known her forever... it's just ridiculous and it conflicts with everything that was written before. RIDICULOUS!!!

---> Then at a certain point the author has the Female Main Character, who is neither a doctor nor an investigation expert, check the dead man... and she examines the corpse like a professional, while the inspector (with 20 years of experience) stands there, staring at her in amazement like an open-mouthed idiot.

The author justifies everything by saying that the protagonist is a reader of crime novels... SO ONE BECOME AN EXPERT PATHOLOGISTS ONLY BECAUSE IS USED TO READ MYSTERY NOVELS ????? ...Come on, this isn't believable even in fiction

MORE : I remember you that they are in 1818, they had not mystery books so explicative as nowadays mystery books like CSI tv series ( and even nowadays I doubt one could know so much only by reading or watching tv ).

  :-(( Of course the book is full of other bullshit that made me very nervous and ruined the reading, but it would take me too long to list them all.

3) ROMANCE = The romantic part looks more like a contemporary romance than one set in the early 1800s.
Audacity in main characters behaviour and double-meaning dialogues that would have been funny in a contemporary brilliant comedy, in my opinion are not so plausible in the Regency era (it is 1818), at least not for a woman who spent 10 years as a spinster, acting as governess in the house of the brother.
---> It looks like the author was inspired by some modern films and adapted dialogues to a regency romance.

---> Furthermore :the book begins by showing the two protagonists respectively as lonely and partnerless people for the last 10 years, disappointed and deeply hurt by those they had loved in the past and almost on every page it is underlined that they will never openly trust someone else again.Suddenly they collide in the carriage house, without even seeing her face he feels the shape of a woman and instinctively kisses her, she feels the hard chest of a man and responds to the kiss by putting her arms around his neck.

Well... I admit that after 10 years of solitude they are hungry for stronger emotions and even sex, but two people who have been alone for ten years wouldn't be so uninhibited, they would be rather awkward, furthermore two people who fear suffering again don't throw themselves in each other's arms so immediately and with such an hot passion as these two.
I find this hardly believable!
 
The plot is full of inconsistencies and seems to be written specifically for readers who want nothing more than to read spicy love scenes and are not interested in everything else.

I WILL NOT READ OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES.

Thanks for reading my opinion and please forgive my bad English, since it's not my native language.

Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts

Book review : Confessions of a Dangerous Lord by Elisa Braden

Confessions of a Dangerous Lord
Rescued from Ruin series book #6
by Elisa Braden
GENRE : #Regency-mystery-romance

My rating: ★★★★☆
Real rating : 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

A regency mystery-romance, book #6 in a family saga, but perfectly readable as a standalone.

I rate the mystery part with 4 stars and while many readers who are passionate about regency romance would also be happy with the romantic part (lots of spicy kisses and hot sex scenes) I only rate it with 2.5 stars because it bored me to read continuously: "she loves him" ", "he loves her", "she needed his lips and tongue" etc... and how much they both were aroused by each other and to see them having sex everywhere.
My personal opinion: too much is unbearable !

__ THE PLOT IN SHORT __ Regency England.
Henry Thorpe, Earl of Dunston and Lady Maureen Huxley have been in love with each other for two years, but while she has openly declared herself, he remains ambiguous and plays the role of best friend, always joking and frivolous and not at all interested in marrying her.

Maureen is therefore on the hunt for a husband, but internally she continues to yearn for Henry.
Henry suffers because he cannot declare his love due to his secret life: he has been hunting his father's killer for 10 long years. A perverse and dangerous killer, who would surely harm Maureen just to get revenge on Henry.

However, love is too strong and at a certain point telling the truth becomes necessary.
Happiness is one step away but Maureen's whole world is turned upside down and everything is at stake: their love, their life and that of the people around them...

-------------****-------------

The book started out as a real mystery and I loved it straight away.
Action, murder, mystery, false identities, unstoppable good guys and elusive bad guys... Everything involved me so much that I was super excited.
Being a romance novel, I thought I would rate it 5 stars.
I love the suspense of mystery combined with the sweet emotions of romance.

The romantic past started in a fun and cute way, but then in my opinion it went on too long with Maureen's insistence... I can't stand it when women persistently run after men who don't want them (in reality he wanted her , but she doesn't know it and I don't like her way).

---> The first 50% of the book starts with action and mystery, but then the story focuses on romance.
Unlike other novels, here there is no part dedicated to conquest, because the two main characters are already mutually in love.
---> There are spicy kisses and hot scenes that last many pages, but the writer's style failed to excite me, on the contrary the continuous declaration of their love and their desire to have sex tired me.

At one point I was so tired of this saccharine, sex-hungry couple that I decided to abandon the book. I was already at 50%.

Two days later I decided to continue reading to the end:
----> luckily the second 50% of the book is mostly dedicated to the mystery, Henry's secrets, the new reality that Maureen finds herself facing and the action and discovery of new shocking truths.

---->You romantics and those eager for sex, don't worry, you will also have a good dose of sensual love-making in the second 50%.

In the book we met two interesting male characters who will be protagonists in the books following this one in the series.
Part of me would have liked to read them, but I find the author's style unbearable as far as the romantic part is concerned: everything is over-emphasized: Henry's jealousy, his desire to kill anyone who harms a hair of his wife's hair, Maureen's adoration for him, their mutual desire for sex even in the most unexpected and delicate moments when there are other important things at stake... and then certain Americanisms in the books set in the Regency era in England are unbearable.

I'm happy I managed to get to the end of the book, but I won't read the others in the series because it's not for me (I've been reading mysteries all my life, despising romances, only 2 years ago I started to appreciate reading them), but I recommend it warmly to all the passionate lovers of regency romances.

Thanks for reading my opinion and please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my language.

Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts

Book review : Ghostly Lover by Mary Lancaster

Ghostly Lover
Crime and Passion Book #4.5
by Mary Lancaster
GENRE : #historical-mystery-romance
#Halloween-read
My rating: ★★★☆☆


Real rating : 2.5 rounded up to 3.

A short story, included in the Passion & Crime series (of which I really liked books #1 and #2 and  I will soon also read #3 + the short Christmas story) written by the author exclusively for Halloween.

The protagonist couple is the common thread throughout the series, Griz and Dragan in fact met in book #1 and after falling in love and getting married they continue to be present as a couple of amateur detectives.

In this short story they will have to shed light on a suicide that they suspect to be a murder and put a ghost to rest.

--PLOT IN SHORT---
Late 1800s, England.
  Dragan finds himself a guest with an aristocratic friend, whose stately home is built right next to an old ruined castle (belonging to the friend's family), which is said to be haunted by a female ghost.

The reason why Dragan was invited is to shed light on the death of his friend's girlfriend, but the only suspects are the family and the servants.

Unable to unravel the mystery on his own, Dragan invites his wife Grizelda to join him and she also brings their recently born child with her.

To complicate matters, the presence of the ghost in love with Dragan.

---------*******----------
The premises for a good Halloween story are all there but for many reasons the story didn't engage me and I didn't like the Dragan and Griz couple as much as in past books.

Since it is a short story I will be concise and essential in my personal opinion on the story:

1) I usually like the Dragan and Griz couple both as a romantic couple and as characters considered individually: both do not like conventions, they are in love and used to sharing everything but without being nauseatingly saccharine or ridiculous.

Unfortunately in this story the writer has transformed Griz into a clingy, petulant, jealous wife and in my opinion also rude in her manners and in asking investigative questions.
I didn't like it at all.

2) The plot is weak and this is obviously also due to the fact that it is a short story and not a novel, so there is no time to delve into situations, characters and investigations.

But the problem isn't just this, there are many things that don't make sense at all:

- Dragan is called to investigate and then once on site, the whole family is hostile to him and everyone insists that it was a suicide or an accident (BUT THEN WHY DID YOU CALL HIM?????)

- There is no investigation except a couple of questions asked rudely by Griz.

- The ghost seems to be included in the story only to make a connection with the Halloween holiday but seems to have nothing to do with everything else in the plot.
The ghost is seen at the beginning of the story, then at the end and is sent away in the blink of an eye in a very simple, easy and ridiculous way for a story.

The motivation for the murder doesn't make much sense, the motive and the culprit are ridiculous.

It's all very hasty, full of contradictions and not at all engaging.
All the supporting characters are unlikable and don't even seem to be part of the story itself.
They are extras who are given dialogue without content and without meaning.

The only reason why I gave 2.5 rounded to 3 stars (which for me means passable but not among those I would reread or recommend) is that I like the Dragan and Griz couple in the novels and the novels in the series are well written and very satisfying underneath all points of view (mystery, romance, ending).
If I had read this story without first reading the other books, my actual rating would have been 2 stars.

I 100% recommend the novels in the series, but don't waste your time with this short story.

Thanks for reading my opinion and please forgive my English since it's not my language.

Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts

Book review : An Inquiry into Love and Death by Simone St. James

An Inquiry into Love and Death
by Simone St. James
GENRE : #gothic-mystery-romance
#Halloween-read

My rating: ★★★★★
5 FULL STARS WELL DESERVED!! :-D

An engaging and wonderful historical fiction ( especially in Halloween time ) from the first page to the last... and I loved it so much that I would re-start to read it again right now!

To me it has been a satisfying read from all points of view and while Goodreads allows me to give a full 5 stars rating, actually my rating is a 6 out of 5 stars!! :-D

I only give the 6th star to books that I thought about continuously even when I was at work and couldn't dedicate myself to reading and of which I reread all the salient points and the final chapter last night, because I just can't tear myself away from the characters and their story.

__ A GREAT MIX OF THEMES ALL WELL DEVELOPED __

This novel is a n amazing mix of mystery and suspense (ghost stories, strange phenomena in an isolated English village, a murder and investigation, old secrets and dark shadows of war, possible espionage) and a tender and sensual love story.

In my opinion, each of the themes mentioned above has been well developed without going to the detriment of the others.

Sometimes too many themes mean that the author is unable to develop any of them well enough, but this is not the case, I discovered an author I didn't know, Simone St. James and I think her narration is simply magnificent: her words created images and characters so real and vivid in my mind that I felt like I was watching a movie. I felt and still feel fully and pleasantly captivated by this novel.

But let's start with the _____ PLOT IN BRIEF:

1924 England.
Jillian Leigh, a brilliant Oxford student, receives the news of the death of her uncle whom she had not seen for many years. For work reasons, her parents refuse to go and recognize the body and leave the burdensome task to their daughter.

Just 22 years old and still inexperienced in life, Jillian finds herself having to drive alone to a remote village on the English coast, where her uncle was hunting for ghosts...because it is said that the village is haunted by many dark presences including the angry and restless soul of an old smuggler.

Initially skeptical about paranormal phenomena and her uncle's profession, Jillian suddenly finds herself immersed in the investigation of an alleged murder and in an aura of mystery and secrets, which hovers throughout the village.

The attractive and equally mysterious young inspector of Scotland Yard, former RAF pilot in the great war, Drew Merriken, will add further thrills to Jillian's heart and life.
While together they will try to unravel the tangle of intrigues, lies and murders and attempted murders present and past, they will also have to decide if it is even worth opening their hearts to each other.

_______**______**_______


__GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT ___

Generally speaking, as I said above, mystery and love are intertwined in several aspects, each of which was well developed and had a satisfying resolution.

Another important thing that I want to add is that all the dramatic elements (such as the death of some people and the war) and dark elements (such as the malevolent presences, the mysterious and frightening noises) are perfectly balanced by other pleasant elements (such as the attraction and exciting intimate scenes between Drew and Jillian; friendly conversations with some characters in the village and moments of student life) and comforting elements (such as the friendly presence of the cat and also the dog, which give relief to both the characters and the reader on occasions of anguish and fear and of course the happy ending for all the good ones).

I'm not the type of person who loves horror or even overly gloomy themes, so this balance between darkness and light allowed me to fully enjoy the suspense without being saddened or depressed by it (as happens to me with books that only contain drama and which I avoid like the plague) and remaining with the desire to reread the book in the future.


____ THE 2 MAIN CHARACTERS ______

I loved the two main characters and while I hoped with all my heart that true love would blossom between them, I didn't know how it would actually go.
Indeed we often approach novels already knowing that they contain a love story that will have a happy ending, but here, despite the title, I was only expecting a mystery to be solved, some ghost that would turn out to be just a setup (seriously, I was really convinced it was a set up ) and just a hint of romantic interest (as in the old golden-age mysteries).

The two characters reflect real people so much, with strengths, weaknesses and internal fears (and consequent behaviors), in fact, that managing the attraction wasn't exactly easy and at a certain point it took a turn that almost made me think the worst.


---> DREW : Drew is charming, but like many guys I've met in my real life, he avoids serious emotional connections and bonds, plus he lives in 1924, he was a pilot in the war and the traumatic experience had a huge impact on his attitude towards life and people.
However, he is not one to give up on women or sex... he takes what he can while giving the minimum... all to the detriment of Jillian who is young, sensitive and easily hurt.

Like Jillian, I also felt attracted to Drew while reading, but not being Jillian, but the reader, I also occasionally thought: what an asshole he is!
Off course he also knows how to be very sweet and eventually how to correct his foolishness.

--> JILLIAN : Jillian was amazing.
So young, yet she didn't back down from any challenge: she faced unpleasant situations such as recognizing her uncle's body, in an unknown place, completely alone and without any emotional support, she spent days in a house where she spent traumatic experiences, she followed the emotions of her heart despite being afraid of them and managed to close a wrong situation with courage, when she would have liked to do the opposite.
She managed to be generous even when she suffered wrongs and extended a hand and a good word to everyone around her.

She faced a life upheaval with great intelligence and firmness, without feeling sorry for herself and without seeking pity from those around her.
An intelligent heroine, modern without being exalted or presumptuous, sensitive towards others and with the desire to find solutions where they are needed and offer forgiveness instead of definitively closing doors as people dear to her have done in the past.

I loved her sensitivity and affection for cats and dogs, I really liked this aspect included by the author, because I love all animals.

----> If you too are among those who, watching a film, are often exclaiming: "Oh God, what will happen to the cat/dog/horse/piglet etc..."?
Don't worry, in this novel the author has well underlined the happy ending for pets too.

___ SIDE CHARACTERS __
Although the supporting characters have minor roles, I found them all well drawn and essential to give the idea of the type of daily life you breathe in a small village where everyone knows everyone since early childhood and is aware of joys and misfortunes of others, where a stranger is noticed a mile away and where distrust towards strangers is the rule.

The writer was good at the deception that some of them perpetuate. For some, the friendly facade is just a mask under which the murderer or murderers hide.

I liked that the author, after solving the mystery, told a personalized ending for each of them.

___ SETTING and MYSTERY ___

The setting is perfect for Halloween, plus the mystery that unites the paranormal with the real human wickedness of the living takes place in autumn, in the month of October and the culminating event regarding the supernatural takes place on a stormy night on October 31st.

Dark places, mysterious sounds and noises, unexpected and shocking events are described so well that every sensation and emotion that arises goes straight to the reader's heart.
The same happens for the positive emotions given to us by Drew's touch and kisses for Jillian.

The mystery initially seems to only concern ghosts or the "supposedly suspicious" death of Jillian's uncle, but there is much more behind it.
The mystery is multi-layered and as the story unfolds, it deepens, confusing the shadows of the past with those of the present, both regarding the personal stories of the characters and something larger that could impact the entire nation.

The twists and heart-pounding terror alternate pleasantly with moments of sweetness and if the culprit is suspected at a certain point, it is actually difficult to understand if he/she/they is/are really guilty.
The ambiguity of some characters persists to the end and the culmination of the culprit's madness results in a truly breathtaking chapter.

:-) WHO DO I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO?

--> To those who love golden-age detective stories, because this one, despite being written in modern times, is similar in style and much better in certain points (more emotional impact, less slow pace, more romance).

--> To those who love clean romances (but who know how to excite the reader) made more intriguing by the aura of mystery.

--> To those who love suspense and tension, but who hate horror books and bloody scenes and prefer a type of clean and polite language (therefore also recommended for readers of cozy mystery).

--> ... Ultimately I'm so enthusiastic about it that I recommend it to everyone!

___**___**____

I will definitely try to read other novels by this author (Simone St. James)

Thanks for reading my opinion (too long perhaps, but I would continue to talk about this book for hours and hours... :-D ) and sorry for my English, it is not my native language.

Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts

Book review : Once Upon A Wallflower by Wendy Lyn Watson

Once Upon A Wallflower
by Wendy Lyn Watson
GENRE : #regency-gothic-romance

My rating: ★★★★★
5 FULL STARS !! :-D

I LOVED IT FROM THE VERY FIRST PAGE TO THE LAST ONE !!!!!!!!!!
5 full stars well deserved!!

If you like love stories set in the Regency era with an undercurrent of suspense and mystery, then this book is a suitable read for you.

__ THE PLOT __ London.
Mirabelle Fitzhenry was betrothed, by her uncle, her guardian, to Nicholas, Viscount Ashfield, not a lover of society, considered by all to be strange, dark and believed responsible for the death of 3 young women.

So why did "Mira"'s uncle (as she is called by everyone) do this? Simply to honor a gambling debt and by making Nicholas' father, the famous libertine Lord Blackwell, believe that the bride was his beautiful daughter, also named Mirabelle Fitzhenry, but called "Belle" by everyone.

Mira is not too worried because she thinks that as soon as the viscount and her father realize that it is the wrong Mirabelle, they will back off and not accept the marriage. In fact, Mira has never had a season, she is not fashionable, she is not devoid of curves as the current fashion requires and she has red hair.

Nicholas Ashfield is not interested in getting married to a blond goose with ribbons (this is the Mirabelle he believes he should marry) and thinks that she will back down because she is scared of his height, grandeur and above all of the chatter that considers him a killer.

Actually, when Nicholas and Mira meet for the first time, they immediately like each other not only physically, but also because they spend a little time together, complicity is created and both decide to wait to let the other escape.
But there are unsolved murders that complicate the situation and Mira decides to find out who the real culprit is.

For his part, Nicholas is attracted to Mira, a spontaneous courtship ensues with sweet and passionate kisses, he wishes to marry her, but remains ambiguous regarding the murders and the possibility of investigating... He is truly innocent as Mira's instincts initially tell her ? Should she follow her heart or logic?

As things become more complicated and dangerous, the truth becomes confused with the killer's cunning machinations and the passionate love that is being born between Nicholas and Mira risks being destroyed before it can blossom openly in the sunlight.
______________

The story is well written, the part is narrated in the third person and the dialogues change in a pleasant way and the reading is always smooth.
I never encountered a dull moment, and while I longed to find out more about the mystery I enjoyed the moments of sensual romance with which Nicholas slowly won Mira's heart.

___ ROMANCE & MYSTERY ___ Both elements are well developed by the author and I felt engaged by the story from start to end.
The sexual tension and the longing that Nicholas and Mira feel for one another is palpable, just as the suspense and hypotheses about who the real culprit could be will make you turn the pages faster and faster.

THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS are both, even if for different reasons, outcasts from aristocratic society, but this is not the only thing they have in common, they find in each other sensitivity of soul, spontaneity and a tenderness that until then had been missed to them.
They also like each other physically and the chemistry is perfect, despite the odds to the contrary, they are made for each other.

CARESSES, KISSES AND LOVEMAKING:
Barely touched kisses, passionate kisses, languid caresses, intense looks, whispered words and a long making-love scene (but clean and without anything vulgar) are expertly distributed throughout the course of the story and in my opinion this makes reading more enjoyable for those who want to read a love story.

INVESTIGATION _ Basically the story is a romance and Mira is not an investigator, so her questions and research are not those of an amateur detective that we usually find in "whodunits", but there are still many clues, phrases, attitudes and sudden discoveries that they will divert your hypotheses.
When you'll understand who the culprit is, you will probably be 70% of the way through the book (even if my suspicions had already begun before), however the author is good at making you doubt your hypotheses so much so that at a certain point, perhaps for a short while, for a very brief moment, you will wonder if Nicholas is really innocent (he is the protagonist and therefore we readers already know that he is innocent, but how often do unexpected twists happen in films???)
But don't panic, happy ending guaranteed.

I already miss this couple that I liked so much, it's really a shame that the author hasn't written other historical-suspense-romances, I like her style !

Thank you for reading my opinion and sorry for any English error in my text, it is not my native language.

Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts

Book review : Letters to a Lover by Mary Lancaster

Letters to a Lover
Crime and Passion Book #2
by Mary Lancaster
GENRE : #historical-mystery-romance

My rating: ★★★★★

5 FULL STARS WELL DESERVED!! :-D

A wonderful light read!!!,
I loved it from the very first page to the last one.

Amazing read for those looking for a light read with a well-balanced mix of: well-constructed and intelligently developed mystery, romance with the right amount of kisses and clean, but exciting and well-distributed lovemaking scenes throughout the story.

___ SETTING ____  Victorian setting in the mid-19th century.
Even though the story is devoid of historical details, the author fully conveys the atmosphere of the time, through events of social and private life and through the characters and their way of thinking and acting, without being too frivolous as in some saccharine romances, nor too dark like in some mystery series.


____ PLOT ___ 1852, Victorian London.
Eric and Azalea, Viscount and Viscountess of Trench have been married for 8 years, theirs was a great love full of passion, but the marriage faltered three years ago, following her postpartum depression and an unbridled recovery of social life to react to such depression.
One day, after being caught by Eric spilling tea on the head of an insistent suitor, Azalia receives a blackmail letter: either she pays a large sum of money or her letter to a lover will be published.
Azalia still loves Eric deeply and does not remember writing letters or having lovers, however she suffers from memory lapses and cannot trust herself, so she decides to get help from her sister Grizelda and her Hungarian husband Dragan, who had already investigated in the past in a murder case.
Eric also still loves his wife very much, but he can't help but suspect that she has a lover and when he decides to follow her, he discovers the whole blackmail mess.
The blackmailer is much more dangerous than he seems at first and while all four of them try to capture him, adventure, mystery, courtship and loving passion are ineluctably intertwined.

____ _______ ______

__ READABLE AS A STANDALONE , but it's surely more enjoyable if you first read #book 1 in the “ Crime and Passion” series, since the co-protagonists of this book are the protagonists of that first book and you will also have the opportunity to have an introduction to Azalea and her family.


__ THE MAIN CHARACTERS ___ they are Azalia and Eric and I liked them very much.

Superficially observed (as in the first book and in the first chapter of this story) they may seem haughty and superficial nobles, but as we discover their thoughts and get to know their deepest feelings, the more we realize how good people they actually are, but unfortunately caged in a world of rules and behaviors dictated by aristocratic society.

We discover an Azalia who is much more unsure of herself beyond her own wealth and beauty and very much in need of the love and support that only a loving husband can give.
We see how she rediscovers, in the happiness of her sister's marriage, how beautiful and more satisfying spontaneity is, letting oneself be guided by feelings and not by the rules imposed by society.
Azalia, daughter of a Duke, grew up in a somewhat spoiled way and never paid too much attention to considering the internal wounds of others, but thanks to her problems and the desire to win back her husband, we see her mature deeply and open her heart not only to Eric but also to other people around her.

We discover a generous Eric, not only with his wife, always being compliant, but also towards less fortunate people, a sweet Eric, but also passionate and hot, who fights to find, together with his wife, that complicity that two happy spouses should have.

The kisses that Azalia and Eric exchange are initially tender and then fiery, because after having almost lost each other they find themselves in the same conditions as two lovers at the beginning of a story, when love burns, but there are a thousand uncertainties and yet they are advantaged by the fact that they know each other well and when passion finds its outlet in making love, they know how to complete each other in a perfect way.

In addition to the romance and character aspect of each of them, I also appreciated the fact that the couple actively participates in the investigation.
In fact, even if Griz and Dragan are the couple who dedicate themselves to amateur investigation in this series, in the plot of this book the protagonist couple does not hesitate to act personally in the plans designed to circumvent and capture the criminal.
Kisses and sex scenes (I repeat: clean but equally sensual) alternate pleasantly with action scenes, with chases, punches and stabbings.


___ CO-PROTAGON CHARACTERS __ Griz and Dragan are the official investigators of the series, main characters in book #1 (Mysterious Lover).

Both introverted and different from the rest of the aristocracy (Griz because she is shy and loves books and culture rather than parties. Dragan because he comes from a country torn apart by revolution and war, in which he worked generously as a doctor) they are now married and they perpetuate their extravagance by not caring about the label and living their love spontaneously by pursuing their own passions and hobbies, respecting others but without the fear of other people's judgement.

A beautiful couple therefore, who gave us beautiful romantic moments in the first book (but only kisses) and wit in investigating and courage in throwing themselves into dangerous situations.
They are only in the background in this book, but always pleasant to follow.
I really liked the chemistry that was created with the Azalea-Eric couple.


__ SPECIAL CHARACTERS ___ family members, acquaintances, business partners and villains.
They only serve to create the atmosphere, but although they intervene in an occasional and brief manner, they intersect perfectly and pleasantly in the story, creating funny or tense scenes depending on the moment.


____ MYSTERY  ___ I didn't even try to speculate because I just had no idea who the villain could be.
When I finally had the intuition about that, it was towards the end, when the protagonists also reached that conclusion thanks to the answers they received following their questions.
The mystery apparently starts in a simple way: with a blackmail letter, but it thickens and becomes more and more intriguing as the story progresses.
There are small action scenes, other scenes of suspense and from blackmail there is a risk of moving on to crime.


__ ROMANCE __  Although the two characters have already been married for 8 years and have distanced themselves from each other for the last 3 years, we can perceive, from the beginning, the invisible thread of the deep feeling that binds them.
The story begins with an unpleasant event which turns out to be a good opportunity to interact together and find each other, first through polite courtship and then by revealing one's fears and insecurities with an open heart, to give way to warm, well-measured kisses and finally to passion which rekindles and brings new energy and happiness.

A clean romance with 3 or 4 scenes of hot kisses at least 2 of lovemaking scenes that are never vulgar, with clean descriptions but which equally evoke warmth and deep passion and therefore exciting for the reader and which do not seem too fake and saccharine as in some books, but they are entirely plausible in reality.
----> I appreciated the fact that kisses and lovemaking scenes are well distributed throughout the story.
I mean I don't like it too much when nothing happens for half the book, then finally there's a romantic scene and then nothing more until the last page.
----> In this story you will have to wait for about a couple of chapters but then you will have the suspense of romance on the razor's edge throughout all the time and all the satisfaction of seeing things transform for the better as every reader desires.

CONCLUDING:
---> The book is well focused on the mystery, as a mystery should be (where the romantic part is usually too tepid or non-existent) and yet it is also well focused on the love story between the two protagonists, as it should be a romantic book (in which there are no mysteries to solve or if there are they are barely outlined and usually predictable and unsatisfactory).

---> The characters are not trivial at all, but they could reflect exactly the same problems of today's couples and despite the differences in time they could reflect the same feelings of people today.

---> 3 IMPORTANT POINTS WELL DEVELOPED THEREFORE WITH AN ADEQUATE AND EQUALLY WELL DEVELOPED ENDING!!
This is what in my opinion makes the book perfect to read for those who love this genre.
According to my tastes the rating is 5 full stars well deserved.

It goes without saying that I will continue reading the other books in the series (actually 1 novel and a couple of short stories, one for Christmas and one for All Saints Day)

Thanks for reading my opinion and please forgive my English, since it's not my language.

READ ALSO "Crime & Passion" BOOK #1:
#1 Mysterious Lover review

Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts

Book review : The Paid Companion by Amanda Quick

The Paid Companion
by Amanda Quick
My rating: 4,8 rounded up to 5 stars.
I loved it!
(Here on the left the new paperback cover, below the old one)

A historical mystery-romance where both the mystery-investigative part and the romantic and sensual part are equally well developed and both have the same weight in the story.

___THE PLOT IN SHORT__ The story begins with Elenor's sudden change of fortune: the greedy and hateful step-father has lost everything due to a bad investment and while he died of a stroke, his stepdaughter finds herself thrown out of the house by creditors , with only her clothes in an old trunk of her actress grandmother.
The only chance of survival is to roll up your sleeves and find a job through an agency.

The rich Arthur, Earl of St. Merrin, fresh from a year of gossip about the escape of his girlfriend with another man, has decided to find a fake girlfriend, turning to an agency that employs desperate women looking for a job as a companion. In fact, at the moment he is not interested in falling in love, because his goal is to find his uncle's killer.

Elenor will prove to be much more than a banal cover for his investigations, with her intelligence, in fact, she will help St. Merrin in unraveling a tangled mess of secret identities and harmful obsessions.
_______________________

Like many romances, the "historical" setting is purely superficial.
In fact there is no historical part with historical references and events, the reader only knows, thanks to some elements, that we are probably in the Regency era, but after the defeat of Napoleon or in the Victorian era, before the advent of electricity..
I consider it a "point against" because I love historical references, however the narration was so compelling in the two themes it focused on (the love story and the solution to a mystery, as well as the capture of a killer), that I turned one page after another with great enthusiasm.

I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised, I didn't expect it.

__MYSTERY and LOVE STORY __ I use to read many historical mystery-romances, but they are usually focused more on investigations, while in the background a certain complicity and attraction develops in a "very light way" between the 2 main characters or, in the case of a romance, the development of a feeling of love and passion is in close-up, while a "weak" mystery manages to give a little suspense to the whole story.
This is not the case, indeed this author managed to enthuse the reader on both fronts: investigative and romantic.
It's truly well-crafted and suspenseful mystery and the love story offers just as many twists, with funny scenes alternating with sensual moments.


It's my first book by Amanda Quick and if you need a light but engaging read, I recommend it.

___ THE CHARACTERS ___ I liked both main characters, because the author managed to balance the emotional traits that characterized them well.
Perhaps a woman who always thinks of the good of others seems a little far-fetched, but this is the only thing that is a little over-emphasized.
Other characteristics such as stubbornness and decision, willpower and resilience, anger and playfulness in speeches, feelings of altruism and passion, intelligence and business sense, are never too intense or too forced either in Arthur or in Elenor and this is important because otherwise they might have been unpleasant.

Then there are Bennet and Margaret, two positive secondary characters who support our heroes and add lightness and joy to the story.

A swirl of other minor characters, whose attitudes serve to describe what life was like for both high society and poor workers in the 19th century.

The whole story is made more interesting also thanks to the fact that the killer is not the only "bad guy" in the story. In fact, even if in a more subtle way, over the course of events, a couple of really mean characters will contribute to complicating things.

Nothing of what happens is taken for granted and during the narration there are various small mysteries that are revealed.
This makes the reading lively and encourages the reader to go on to read the next chapter.

The language is fluent and is clean, but there are at least 3 sex scenes, described in detail, but not vulgar, nothing that an adult doesn't already know.

Happy ending guaranteed in all respects:
no villain goes unpunished and every good person gets his reward.

---> I put both the NEW PAPERBACK COVER and the OLD PAPERBACK COVER.
???? Which one do you like best???
In my opinion neither of the two does justice to the story... the first makes you imagine something boring, the second leads you to imagine something too frivolous.

ONE CURIOSITY OF MINE: How much weight do book covers have on your read choices?

I admit that the cover is the first thing that attracts me, I value it highly and it affects my enthusiasm in selecting a reading. If, by chance, I hadn't read the enthusiastic reviews of this mystery-romance, I would never have chosen it because the covers didn't entice me (for the two reasons I wrote above).

Thank for reading my review and please forgive my English, it's not my native language.

Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts

Book review : The Christmas Knot by Barbara Monajem

The Christmas Knot
A Slightly Gothic Regency Mystery Romance Novella by Barbara Monajem
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

WONDERFUL ! ___ I LOVE IT ! __I really really really really really really loved it !!
So 5 full stars plus a sixth GOLDEN STAR !!!

I can't say it was totally Christmassy ( but of course we have also Christmas atmosphere), but the story, although it might seem cliché, is beautiful and engaging from the first lines to the end.
I loved both the 2 main characters and the supporting characters, I loved the dialogues and the thoughts that the two protagonists expressed in their minds.
The ending of the book was fantastic, both from a romantic point of view and in terms of solving the mystery and eliminating the curse.

___ THE PLOT ___ We are in the Regency/early Victorian era.
Edwina White, desperate and destitute young and still beautiful widow, takes a position as governess in a remote village in the north of England—in what they say is a haunted house!
Of course she doesn't believe in ghosts, but there's a worse problem : her employer is the man who broke her heart 12 years earlier and whom she hoped to never see again.
Sir Richard Ballister, now father of 2 smart twins, a male and a female, inherited an estate with a ghost and a curse, and every governess he hires leaves within a week.
Finally, a woman desperate enough to stay arrives on his doorstep—but she’s the seductress who dropped him many years earlier for a richer man.

The last thing Richard and Edwina want is to work together, but they have no choice, because the ghost cast a curse, 2 centuries earlier, according to which every firstborn heir would die and so Richard's son too.
Will they overcome the bitterness of the past in time to unravel a centuries-old knot and end the Christmas curse?

__ ABOUT THE GHOST AND CURSE __ The story of the ghost and the curse was presented very well without seeming too absurd or stupid, because initially being reasonable people, the 2 main characters do not believe it, then the reader is left with doubts whether the phenomena that occur are just staged or there is also something true... great suspense and tension until the end!

___ CAPTIVATING CHARACTERS __ I liked the story of the book above all because the author managed to keep me in suspense not only for the mystery and the curse, but also for the personal story of the 2 protagonists and managed to make me fall in love with both of them, as individuals, but especially as a couple!

---> RICHARD: I like him, a little scornful and sneering towards her, due to the betrayal that he believes he has suffered in the past, however also capable of being kind, trying to bury the bad memories and being able to create beautiful moments, of renewed friendship for the love of his children. He is in fact a father full of love and focused on his responsibilities towards the two kids.
I also really liked the friendly relationship he has with the villagers who are simple people, but equally kind-hearted and benevolent towards him.
Furthermore, the fact that he is a handsome, tall, strong and virile man certainly doesn't hurt! :-D

----> EDWINA : she is also a beautiful, still young and with a sunny character, but not very submissive kind of woman, which adds that little spice that makes love skirmishes fun.
Edwina only has half a penny in her pocket and this forces her to accept a job when she would have liked to run away... but I love how despite her poverty and the feeling of humiliation she feels, she manages to pose as indifferent, with her chin tall and her nose in the air as he teases her with sarcastic jokes.

Edwina is convinced that she is the one who has been wronged and until they clarify the misunderstanding, the tension, made up of resentment and desire for the other, the small but constant evolution of their relationship and the discovery of their true feelings, is able to give chills and sweet emotions to the reader.

The children and other side characters are equally cute and captivating.

Descriptions make also easy to imagine the setting of the old manor and the beautiful garden which plays quite an important role in the book.
*_____________*
I have often found novellas unsatisfactory (especially with regards to mysteries) and I've often given only 2 stars to those by authors, whose novels I usually love. That's because being shorter than novels, they often fail to be well developed, sometimes they don't even have interesting themes and fail to involve me or excite me.

There are very few short stories that I include among "my favorites" and this is one of them!
It's the first time I've read this author and it's only been a year since I read the romance genre (I'm 52, but yes, I've only ever read mysteries, incredible but I used to find romances a little stupid and now I've find out that I love them, at least if there is a little bit of mystery too or they are comedy-romance), but I'll definitely try to read some others book by her.
I hope to find the same sweet feeling, the same sexual tension hidden between the lines and hot scenes, where little or almost nothing is described, but where emotions shine through between the lines.
As they say: less is more (----> it's a clean romance novella, but I warn you that there are a couple of words that you won't find in the cozy mysteries or in christian fiction... )

( As always : English is not my native tongue, I hope you can forgive any errors in the text, thank you :-) )

Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts

____ How do I imagine Edwina and Richard.

As I usually do, while reading a novel I try to visualize the characters using a cast of actors, current or old, that I adore.
The book's descriptions were a perfect fit for a couple I love: Stuart Martin and Kate Philips, on-screen stars of the Victorian mystery-romance series "Miss Scarlet and the Duke."

(I also use the same pair for the Lady Emily mysteries series)

Edwina	Richard
I couldn't resist to insert also a shirtless Stuart Martin ... TOO HOT !

Book review : The Mistletoe Countess by Pepper D.Basham

The Mistletoe Countess
Book 1 of 3: Freddie and Grace Mysteries
by Pepper Basham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked it so much, but it's a little bit difficult to tag this book:
it begins in the typical way of a #regency-romance, even if as you read it you realize that we are at the end of the nineteenth century, i. e. the Gilded Age (car, telephone and electric light not yet installed in all parts of the house), it continues as a #cozy-mystery, then it goes on like a daring #Dysney-adventure-film (or something like Indiana Jones movies, i.e. where funny jokes are inserted between scenes of action and real dramatic danger), to then end as a episode of #DowntonAbbey.
There are some aspects that didn't fully satisfy me because they were exaggerated in one way or another (I'll explain better later), but overall I liked it, it involved me and even if initially I couldn't get in tune with the characters as I read along, I became fond of them.
More I liked very much the literary references, there are many !

____ THE PLOT____
Grace, a girl whose great passion is fiction books, goes with her father and sister to meet the latter's future husband.
It is an arranged marriage as it occurred during the Gilded Age: an American heiress marries a penniless nobleman, one party brings a dowry and the other brings a coveted noble title.
As often happens in romances, the youngest sister, with an extravagant character and a manner contrary to all etiquette, accidentally meets Frederick, her future brother-in-law and is already making him laugh inwardly at her particular way of being.
An accidental kiss and they already like each other even if they don't immediately understand it, furthermore the sister, perfect only in appearance, hides secrets that will change the course of events.
The book slowly turns into a cozy mystery thanks to other secrets of him and his family, kept well hidden to avoid scandals... there is no real detective investigation, but the curiosity of a young girl with a fervent imagination , will lead to a reality that is darker than imaginable.
However, this is a book about a second chance and a bright new beginning, so a happy ending is guaranteed.

____ MY IMPRESSION__ Although this mix of genres may seem confusing, the author was able to transition from one genre to the other without trauma.
Usually elements of a mystery-romance are well mixed together, here I had the impression not exactly of having a mix, but of moving from one theme to another, without however having a clear separation between one and the other, but introducing the new aspects of the novel in a gentle and gradual way.
The romantic aspect remains throughout the book, but as situations evolve it is normal for different phases to go through and therefore the characters' approach to events also changes.

What the author failed to be truly coherent in, in my opinion, is the WAY OF BEING of the 2 MAIN CHARACTERS:

1) GRACE, the heroine of the novel is initially presented with speeches and gestures that make her seem like a fourteen year old.
She is naive, has no experience and lives in a world of her own, populated by characters from fiction that she reads with great voracity and passion.

It turns out that she is 19 years old, but despite the inexperience and bigotry of those times, she is not at all embarrassed after a very intense surprise kiss... she seems like an extremely casual woman even in situations that would be embarrassing for other more adults, so It's a bit of a contradiction.

After having shown this modern attitude, when she finds herself married, she doesn't have the slightest idea of what happens between a man and a woman when they sleep together... here the author once again uses exaggerated naivety, the girl sleeps for several nights together with her husband without consummating the marriage and without knowing that there is more to it than kisses!

However, in dangerous situations, without having any life experience, she is never intimidated, she acts and thinks like a detective thanks to the fiction she reads and carries out various rescues with action scenes worthy of Indiana Jones... So the readings taught her how to cope in extreme cases of danger, but they didn't tell her that sex exists in addition to kisses? Meh! Too many contradictions.
Yet despite this I liked the character, both for his good heart and for his resourcefulness in making decisions and reacting to events and people.

2) As for FREDERICK, I'll be more brief, he could have been a nice, fascinating character, but he has no backbone, too often the author makes him reticent in listening to the truth or wanting to discover it.
Too often the author makes him a stubborn person who prefers to hide his head in the sand like ostriches so as not to want to look closely at the real problem...he prefers to pretend that everything is normal and there are no anomalies, which are evident to Grace and others .
I like a heroine who is enterprising and who knows how to save herself... but sometimes it is necessary that even the hero of the moment acts without thinking twice and runs to the rescue of his beloved.

I would have liked Fredrick, despite his internal wounds, to find a way at least halfway through the book to take charge of the situation, but instead everything is always driven by Grace.

I forgive Frederick only because at least he always knew how to defend his wife against the oppression and insults of his infamous mother and overall I liked this love story and I managed to enjoy the novel despite these small doubts about the two characters.

3)This is a #Christian fiction, I didn't choose it for this reason, but prayers and faith in God don't bother me, mostly they are prayers as happens to all of us, to address to the Lord, mentally, in moments of difficulty where we feel insecure and in need of reassurance.

What becomes annoying is the repetitiveness of the same continuous speeches in these prayers... halfway through the book I got tired and easily avoided them since they are written in italics.
This is something you will find in all Christian novels (I happened to read some of them, all beautiful and full of adventure and romance, but with these prayers thought up by the characters and always repetitive because they are almost all the same).

So if you're not a religious fanatic, they might bore you, but I repeat: you can easily skip those lines, because they are written in italics. Or you can read them and draw inspiration from them to face the most difficult moments of your life with more confidence.

4)The TITLE told me that this was a novel with a Christmas setting, unfortunately saying that the protagonist decorates the house with wreaths and holly doesn't make the novel Christmassy.
The only Christmas moment is in the end, when everyone opens their presents at the servants' ball and we can breathe a beautiful, relaxed festive atmosphere of great friendship.

The 4 points above are the reasons why I only gave 4 stars and not 5, but apart from this the reading was pleasant and fun, smooth and engaging in all its phases.
----> This is the first one in a mystery-romance series but you can read it also as a standalone, we have a fully satisfying ending !

NOTE : sorry for any form or grammar error in my text, English is not my native tongue :-)

Join me on FB

Book review : Mysterious Lover by Mary Lancaster

Mysterious Lover
Crime and Passion Book 1
by Mary Lancaster
My rating: 4.8 of 5 stars

It has been a very enjoyable mystery-romance read !
I would re-read it in my future and that I would recommend it to a friend with my same book genre's tastes.

I was undecided whether to read a mystery with a gothic flavor or a beautiful love story that would involve me and make me dream, when I saw the series title: "Crime and Passion" I thought it was the right mix I was looking for and the cherries on the cake was a character different from the usual duke or bow street runner: a Hungarian soldier and doctor, political refugee, after the Hungarian revolution of 1848 (and the cover with him wearing his uniform also charmed me)... intriguing !! :-D

It turned out to be the right choice.

__THE PLOT ___ We are in London in 1851. The story opens almost immediately with an inexplicable murder: the maid of a rich family, murdered near the opera house, while she should have been at home doing her job. Next to her is a precious dagger and the 2 main characters of the story meet themselves, for the first time, at the crime scene:
Lady Grizelda, daughter of the maid's employer and the first to discover the body and Dragan Tizsa, a soldier in the Hungarian revolution, now a political refugee in England, employed as an assistant doctor.
The first thought of both is that the other is the culprit, but logic says otherwise. Unfortunately in the past (and perhaps even nowadays) the less well-off classes are those immediately accused by the law, while the rich... you know how it is!
Now each of the 2 characters has a personal reason to find the culprit.

___ THE CHARACTERS and WHY I LOVED THEM TWO __
I liked the characters straight away due to the fact that neither of them is the usual "winner" in society, but neither of them isolates themselves from the world or gives up, both do their best to live with dignity and to give dignity to the less fortunate.

It is true that Lady Grizelda is the rich daughter of a very important duke in the high society circle, but despite her privileged situation, she is a girl who usually remains in the shadow of her more charming sisters and brothers.
Griz, 24 years old, does not stand out for her beauty and wears glasses, which was considered a disadvantage in frivolous aristocratic society, especially during the events of the season, in finding a husband. However, this does not affect her vitality and her spirit, in fact she doesn't feel like an outcast at all, on the contrary she is dynamic, intelligent and really enterprising.
She doesn't cry over the fact of remaining a spinster, she decide to be a spinster for the rest of her life by embracing its advantages: independence (of course thanks also to the allowance of a rich family), dedicating herself to reading and knowledge and above all giving herself the opportunity to look at the world with different eyes from those of her former society: without social class barriers and helping those who were less fortunate than her.

Dragan on the contrary, possesses the beauty that everyone notices at first glance, but he is a political refugee, he has lost everything: homeland, family, friends and the possibility of completing his studies at university and creating a future for himself.
He has never been rich, although belonging to a noble family of lesser rank, but he does not use his beauty to take rich women into his bed, on the contrary he works as a doctor's assistant and has no illusions about a love life and wedding, because he does not earn enough to create and support a family.
However, he fights for his ideals, for freedom of thought, for everyone's right to vote and to help other refugees.

---> The attraction that immediately arises between them is not just an aesthetic fact, it is an affinity that they feel as together they ask questions around, look for clues, get into dangerous situations and get each other out of trouble during the adventure of an escape at breakneck speed.

___ A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN MYSTERY AND ROMANCE__ the mystery is well thought and if at the beginning it took me a few chapters to feel taken by the investigations and the romance, after the first 20% of the book, I was completely immersed in reading and I savored any new discovery about the circumstances that led to the murder and the alleged perpetrators.

The possible hypotheses are numerous and all plausible. Suspicions fall on different people from time to time, which always left me in suspense while reading and wanting to guess myself who the murderer was and why.

The real culprit will truly be a surprise, a twist that I would never have imagined and which gave a touch of originality to the story !

As for the love story, it grows slowly but steadily and although there are no hot scenes, the agitation of the soul, the thought focused on the desire for the other and on the desire to spend more time together, the acceleration of the heartbeat, the excitement that comes from the birth of a feeling that brings new life into the lives of both , the sudden kisses that defy the rules of social classes, managed to excite me and make me feel the butterflies in the hero and heroine's stomachs.

The only one small and not too explicit sex scene is in the final part of the book, so even if the series is called "crime and passion" I would define it as a cozy mystery-clean romance ( well cozy and clean except that very short sex scene ), so nothing bloody or shocking and no hot sex scenes between lovers.
That is my favorite genre and I really liked it, but of course those who are seeking for stronger emotions will have to look elsewhere.

___ IS THERE ALSO A HISTORICAL PART? __ As I have already said, we are in 1851 and the book mentions the Hungarian revolution. Apart from this, there are no historical notions included in the novel, which I usually appreciate a lot.

However, the author manages to make the reader feel the atmosphere of the time.
The mean alleys, the flower sellers in Covent Garden, the prostitutes and their brazen and derisive way of speaking, the well-furnished living rooms and the parade of guests with bows and smiles, the false flattery of the world of the rich, the dedication of the servants and the desire to be able to rise in rank by moving from the class that serves to the one that is served... these are all well-described details that help the reader to enter perfectly into the setting of that time.

The series offers, so far, 3 other books and a Christmas novella.
Each book finds Dragan and Griz as detectives ( ___WARNING : SPOILER__[ who became husband and wife ]___SPOILER END, but focuses the romantic story on another couple (friends or relatives of Dragan and Griz).

I will DEFINITELY read the other books in the series and I really hope that the writer continues this saga by adding new adventures and refocusing the love interest on the couple Griz and Dragan. :-)

__ A FINAL NOTE ABOUT MY REVIEW : I'm from Italy and English is not my mother tongue, I tried my best but please forgive me for any grammar or form errors in my text )

READ ALSO "Crime & Passion" BOOK #2:
#2 Letters to a Lover review

Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts