Margaret Brownley - Mallory Burgess - Shirlee Busbee - Nancy Butler
Brownley, Margaret - RAWHIDE AND LACE (Topaz - 1994) (4)
A woman and her newborn child charm the citizens of a lawless mining town, and prove that love can move mountains...and one mighty stubborn hero. The author strikes gold with this heartwarming, humorous romance. ~June (bookbug@oocities.com)
Burgess, Mallory - BELOVED HEART (Kensington - 1997) (4)
Callie Wingate, the daughter of an antiquities scholar who has overcome humble origins to rise to the position of Oxford don, is a talented artist in her own right. She is set to marry into the heights of the English aristocracy when an encounter with a naked Scottish "savage" changes her life forever. Callie's story, set against the backdrop of the Jacobite rebellion of the 1740s, contains more than one anachronism, but none of them can mar the author's skill as a storyteller. This is the second historical romance I've read by Burgess and I intend to try to find others. ~Elena P.
Burgess, Mallory - BELOVED LORD (Kensington - 1996) (4+)
In 14th-century Scotland, a Scots lass with deep animosity for the English reluctantly agrees to nurse the infant son of an English barrister, who has become the local lord as a result of English victories in warfare.
For me this was the best book so far by a writer who, whether writing as Mallory Burgess or Sandy Hingston, consistently does a bang-up job. Though some of the setting details here seem later than the 14th century, the anachronisms are minor. The overall historical background is well handled and integral to the romantic conflict, which, despite various plot complications, flows naturally and never seems forced or silly. I found the characterization excellent, the plot suspenseful and ofttimes moving, the hero mighty appealing, and his faith in English law and lack of faith in warfare interesting to follow. ~Elena P.
Busbee, Shirlee - LOVE BE MINE (Warner - 1998) (4)
LOVE BE MINE is a story with many facets. It is a romance about
two people who reach across cultural barriers to claim their heart's desire. It also tells about the Duprees, a French Creole family that is proudly entrenched in tradition and reluctant to include outsiders. And lastly, it is a tale about New Orleans in the early 1880s, a city already steeped in tradition and now forced to include and accept the American way of life, which can only add to the charm and mystique of one the most beloved cities in the United States.
The story begins just months after the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French. The Dupree family has run the shipping business of "Galland, Lancaster, and Dupree" as if it were exclusively theirs since its inception in the 1780s, ignoring the fact that Hugh and John Lancaster own the controlling shares. Hugh has been content to let this family manage the profitable business, but after he discovers that someone is stealing from the company, he decides to move to New Orleans to investigate. Not only are the Duprees personally offended, but as a whole, the French Creole in New Orleans resent any intrusion by the arrogant and brash Americans. The lovely Micaela Dupree also dislikes Hugh because, unlike the young men who pay court to her, he seems indifferent to her charms. Nonetheless, she is attracted to this handsome American who has the look of a Creole.
Hugh feels a stirring of passion for Micaela, but mindful of his plan to marry a proper American woman, he will not be swayed by lust. Micaela's family members are also pressuring her to consider the marriage proposal of Alain Husson, a partner in the business. Marrying Alain would cancel a rather large gambling debt that is owed to him. She resists, and due to a misunderstanding, Hugh becomes involved—only to be challenged to a duel by the spurned suitor. Alain is injured in the duel, and fate later brings our hero and heroine together in a situation that compromises Micaela's reputation. Hugh has to do the right thing by marrying her, and he finds them a home in the country. The new bride is cautioned to behave as a proper "French Creole wife" and to refrain from noticeably enjoying the relationship. Hugh realizes he is in love with Micaela, but because he misunderstands her reserved behavior, he doubts she will ever return his love. In addition, he must stay in the city in order to find the culprit who has been stealing from his company. With so many obstacles, will these two ever realize the love that is meant to be theirs?
LOVE BE MINE is a book to treasure. Shirley Busbee entertains us with a wonderful romance and a story about a city filled with fascinating and dynamic people of an era gone by. I encourage you to read it and let yourself be carried away, as I was. ~Jolene Ehret for Bookbug on the Web
Butler, Nancy - RAKE'S RETREAT, THE (Signet - 1999) (4)
THE RAKE'S RETREAT is the best Regency by a new (to me) author that I've read in years. Against a backdrop of Napoleonic spying, a spinster awakens true love in a womanizing rake who has never before experienced such feelings, while he in turn awakens loving passions that she has never before felt. Butler breaks no new territory in her plot, but while a rake and a spinster may sound like stock Regency characters, here they are drawn with far more honesty and believability than is usual in such types. And their story is masterfully told, in unobtrusive but carefully honed prose. It has none of those dense, tedious patches often encountered in Regencies attempting to capture the language of the period, but at the same time is without those jarringly modern notes all too frequently found in so many American-penned Regency-era "historicals." Butler really seems to understand the universals of human nature as well as the social milieu of the Regency period. I look forward to more books by this talented author. ~Elena P.
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