The Merry Marquis by Meredith Bond

The Merry Marquis was a sweet story about a second chance for the Marquis. The story starts with the heroine Teresa playing the piano at Richard--the Marquis--house. Only she doesn't know who he is and he keeps it from her. The two are instant friends which made the story quite enjoyable. No angst. However, the friendship doesn't stay hidden before long, because the two are discovered alone together and while sharing a friendly kiss. So they must marry. This is when the story gets a little more interesting because Teresa wants to marry for love. She's a strong willed woman who isn't afraid to turn down a marriage proposal--multiple time!

I found the writing flowed well with this story. The author, Meredith Bond, is a great writer. There is a lot of detail to her story. I read this quickly, not because it was short, but it kept my attention and I needed to know how it was going to turn out.

I would recommend this book to a friend who enjoys historical romance, and even one wanting to check the genre out.  The dialogue flowed well and the characters spoke in a way that made the words flow.

Lacey's Rating:

About The Book:

It is only at the pianoforte with beautiful music flowing from her fingertips that Teresa Seton is happy. New to English society, she feels awkward and unsure of herself.
Only the attentions of her handsome neighbor can convince her that she is where she belongs—a stolen kiss proves that he means what he says. But the kiss is witnessed and the pair are forced to marry for propriety’s sake.

Once known as the “Merry Marquis”, Richard, the Marquis of Merrick, now lives the life of a recluse. Finding a beautiful stranger at his pianoforte strikes a chord within him, bringing back feelings he thought were lost with the passing of his wife. He is mesmerized by Teresa and her beautiful music, but can he convince her, and himself, that he can live and love again?

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A Christmas Reunion by Susanna Fraser

Please join Susanna Fraser as she tours the blogosphere with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for her Historical Romance Novella, A Christmas Reunion, from November 24-December 12, and enter to win a $50 Gift Card to Amazon, Barne & Noble, and Powell's.

Publication Date: November 24, 2014

Carina Press

eBook; ASIN B00MTGFB9S

Genre: Historical Romance

READ AN EXCERPT.

Lady Catherine Trevilian and Gabriel Shepherd met in the Earl of Edenwell’s household, he the earl’s bastard nephew adopted as an infant, and she the countess’s highborn niece taken in after being orphaned as a young lady. Though not a suitable match by society’s standards, they fell hopelessly in love – but everything ended when they were caught kissing under the mistletoe. To protect Cat from Gabe’s lowborn charms, the earl bought him an army commission and shipped him out of the country. Catherine eventually accepted an arranged engagement, but never stopped scouring casualty lists for Gabe’s name.

Five years later, Gabe is home on leave for Christmas. Catherine and Gabe quickly learn their feelings have not dimmed – and a forbidden kiss confirms they’ve deepened into passion. But with Cat due to be married in eight days and Gabe still far below her social station, it will take a Christmas miracle for the star-crossed lovers to find happiness...

*****REVIEW*****

It's been awhile since I've read a historical romance. Susanna Fraser is a new author to me. I liked her writing style. It was easy to read and kept my attention. 

This is a shorter story - roughly 27,000 words. The story felt complete and well written. No details were left out and I felt like I got as much detail as I would a full length.

This is a second chance story, which is a favorite trope of mine. Lady Catherine's first taste of love is with Gabe, however, he isn't anyone in her ranks. So he is sent away and she spends a few years trying out different suitors. Finally Anthony comes in to her life and he's someone she can live with. They are due to be married when Gabe comes back into her life.

The moment the two see each other, the chemistry is back. The conflict comes in when Lady Cat says she won't back down from her engagement since Anthony has been left at the alter before.

There is a nice twist to the story that made me smile. This was a entertaining read and perfect for a quiet evening when you want to get lost in a good story.

I'd recommend this book to my friends who enjoy historical romance. If you're not a big Christmas reads fan (like me), then this one is pretty tame. You will forget you're reading a holiday novella. 

Lacey's Rating

About the Author

Susanna Fraser wrote her first novel in fourth grade. It starred a family of talking horses who ruled a magical land. In high school she started, but never finished, a succession of tales of girls who were just like her, only with long, naturally curly and often unusually colored hair, who, perhaps because of the hair, had much greater success with boys than she ever did.

Along the way she read her hometown library’s entire collection of Regency romance, fell in love with the works of Jane Austen, and discovered in Patrick O’Brian’s and Bernard Cornwell’s novels another side of the opening decades of the 19th century. When she started to write again as an adult, she knew exactly where she wanted to set her books. Her writing has come a long way from her youthful efforts, but she still gives her heroines great hair.

Susanna grew up in rural Alabama. After high school she left home for the University of Pennsylvania and has been a city girl ever since. She worked in England for a year after college, using her days off to explore history from ancient stone circles to Jane Austen’s Bath.

Susanna lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and daughter. When not writing or reading, she goes to baseball games, sings alto in a local choir and watches cooking competition shows.

For more information please visit Susanna's website and blog. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

A Christmas Reunion Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, November 24
Review at Romantic Historical Reviews
Spotlight at Literary Chanteuse

Wednesday, November 26
Review at Laurie Here
Review at Let Them Read Books
Guest Post at Ramblings From This Chick

Thursday, November 27
Spotlight at The True Book Addict

Monday, December 1
Review at By the Book Reviews

Tuesday, December 2
Guest Post at SOS Aloha

Friday, December 5
Spotlight at Historical Fiction Connection

Tuesday, December 9
Review at Historical Romance Lover

Wednesday, December 10
Review at Book Babe
Mistletoe Madness Guest Post at The Book Nympho

Friday, December 12
Review at The Christmas Spirit

Giveaway

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Ella Clah: The TV Pilot That Should Have Made It

Normally, an unproduced TV pilot script wouldn't be available for review.  I purchased this one on Amazon.  It's based on a series of mystery novels by Aimee and David Thurlo.  I found out that the pilot is available as a book when I recently checked The Aimee and David Thurlo Website in order to cite a title correctly in my review of Manroot on this blog.

I also received some sad news from the Thurlo website. Aimee Thurlo died this past February.   I first saw the name Aimee Thurlo when I picked up her Harlequin Intrigue Spirit Warrior back in the 1990's and was amazed to see aspects of Navajo culture in a romance.   After that, I read every single one of her Intrigues and never condemned the entire romance genre out of hand again. Since I am a mystery reader, I later followed the Ella Clah series whose covers finally revealed that Aimee Thurlo's husband David had been her co-writer.  The Ella Clah books center on a Navajo FBI agent who returned to the reservation and joined the Navajo Tribal Police.  I also read the cozier Sister Agatha series about a New Mexico nun who rides a Harley. 

I decided to read and review the Ella Clah pilot script in memory of Aimee Thurlo though it was actually authored by well-known TV writer and producer Lee Goldberg in collaboration with William Rabkin. 

                                                      

When I was active in the fandom for the Highlander TV series, I learned from staff writers Gillian Horvath (who blogs at Athena TV) and Donna Lettow  about the challenges of  getting a series on television and keeping it on the air.  So I knew before I read this script that issues other than quality could have prevented it from being produced.

Because there are more limitations in writing for television than there are in writing novels, the Ella Clah in the script could not be exactly the same as the one that the Thurlos created. For budget reasons Goldberg and Rabkin created an alternate lifepath for Ella Clah.  She remained an FBI agent based in Albuquerque.  Yet the pilot script does involve a case that required a visit to the Navajo Reservation.  Her parents and brother are part of the plot. It becomes clear in the course of the narrative that the conflicts within her family had motivated her to make a life for herself elsewhere. Yet I found the final scene between Ella and her mother rather touching.  I also liked the relationship that Ella developed with her Latino FBI partner and the background that was developed for him.

There are story lines included for episodes of the proposed series.  The story line I liked most was the one dealing with a Navajo woman activist whose organization's offices were burned.

I was excited that Goldberg and Rabkin had approached the Native American actress Irene Bedard about playing the role of Ella Clah.  She agreed in principle to play the role at the time, but that was more than a dozen years ago.  If an Ella Clah series went into production now, I'd imagine that it would appear on a cable channel.   As Aimee and David Thurlo pointed out in the foreward that they wrote for this book edition of the pilot script, "If Longmire can make it, can Ella really be far behind?" They were referring to an A&E series based on mystery novels by Craig Johnson whose protagonist has a Native American sidekick played by Lou Diamond Phillips.  I would like to think that Ella Clah could have a successful run on TNT, Lifetime or Hallmark.