Posted in Book Review

Review of Project Duchess

Project Duchess by Sabrina Jeffries, Narrated by Beverley A Crick

Grey, the duke of Greycourt avoids his aunt’s machinations to marry his cousin with the death of his stepfather. His oft widowed mother has summoned him and while reluctant to be around family, it is preferable than to be once again at the mercy of his aunt.

Grey doesn’t trust society, but he has no solace with his family. Estranged for years, he holds everyone at bay with his arrogance. Confronted with a woman who has suffered a similar past, is outspoken and spirited he finds himself attracted despite suspecting her of being involved in his stepfather’s murder.

Beatrice Wolfe embraces Grey’s family as her own. An orphan at the mercy of her lascivious uncle, she finds refuge with Grey’s mother and stepsiblings.

When his brother asks him to help discover who killed his father, Grey agrees to investigate Beatrice under the guise of helping his mother prepare her to make her society debut.

Neither believes themselves capable of receiving love and are reluctant to allow themselves to fall, but they fall hard for each other. Can they overcome the difficulties facing them as others threaten to steal their chance at happiness?

Sabrina Jeffries is one of my favorite authors, even as she deals with some difficult subjects, she brings her readers into the light with hope. This series appears to have an ongoing mystery with each of the duchess’ children finding love while trying to discover what may have happened with their fathers. I look forward to reading or listening to each book. If you like strong characters, especially strong female characters then you will fall in love with Ms Jeffries’ books. This one was one of her bests.

Posted in Book Review

Rogues Rush In

Rogues Rush In: A Regency Duet by Tessa Dare and Christi Caldwell, narrated by Justine Eyre

His Bride for the Taking: When Sebastian, Lord Byrne begins distancing himself from his childhood friend’s sister, Mary Clayton takes matters into her own hands. After being left at the altar, Mary has no choice but to marry her brother’s best friend. This friends-to-lovers story has a lot of twists and turns. I loved it and found Mary to be a strong and capable female who knows how to manipulate life’s events to make the most of it. She is the type of woman who works to make the world fit her needs. A smart woman is a force of nature.

His Duchess for a Day: Some mistakes are worth repeating. Though Elizabeth Terry isn’t so sure she agrees when her husband finds her at a finishing school for young ladies. When he convinces her to return for a day to put marriage-minded mamas in their place, they are faced with the past and have to decide if they can keep from making the same mistakes twice.

Posted in Uncategorized

When Fiction Becomes Real Life

If you have been following the news lately, you know that a little boy in our area disappeared from his home. Several days passed before he was found. Thank God, he was found safe and sound. I do not know the little boy who was missing but I know his family and felt guilty because what I’m writing is so similar to what they were experiencing. I would never wish to profit from someone else’s tragedy, thankfully, this little boy’s story ended on a happy note.

As I continue to work on this story, I hope to show respect to the families who have had to go through this kind of trauma. I hope to honor the first responders and searchers and the volunteers who spent hours away from their homes and their own families. There were a lot of heroes who devoted hours to searching, serving, praying and watching for this little boy’s safe return.

If this true story has showed me anything, it is that there are still good people in this world. The companies who sent food for the searchers and volunteers, those who came out and offered to help, those who prayed and kept the faith. Living in a small town where everyone is connected to each other, it is that connection that inspired me to write my small-town stories. But like the rest of the world, we have our dark side. We must not get complacent and believe tragedy cannot strike here. While we may not be hot bed of criminal enterprise here in eastern North Carolina, the bad stuff still reaches out to touch occasionally. I’m rejoicing over a little boy I do not know while plotting the peril of a fictional character but don’t worry readers, I believe in happy endings.