Chronicles of the Lost Years is a Sherlock Holmes story in the best tradition of Arthur Conan Doyle. Dr. Watson is, as in the original tales, the narrator, and the story features other well known Doyle characters such as Sherlock Holmes, his brother, Mycroft, the Baker Street Irregulars, Holmes’s adversary Moriarity, and a couple of others.
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(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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This historical tale is both sexy and exciting as Ms. Killion delves into the sometimes brutal and unjust lives of the Lairds of the Scottish Highlands in the late 1400s.

The secrets of Brycen Castle were the reason a young lad was able to witness the birth of a young lass, her father’s maniacal temper, and his father’s, her mother’s and members of his clan’s violent and savage deaths. Stepping out of the shadows to take the babe from the priest’s hands before the Laird returned to lay waste to her young life, too, he brands the bundle with his father’s signet and escapes with the little one in tow.

Throughout the young maiden’s life, she has been shunned as a witch or worse. Akira is much loved by her adoptive family but is not privy to the information on her real heredity. Her benefactor, although unknown, has captured her young heart as he has long said that he will send for her to become his bride when the time is right. Laird Calin MacLeod has grown since he escaped with his betrothed from Brycen castle and now was a Laird in his own right. When he arrives to get his bride, it is found that she has been taken by someone of his own house, and he and her brother Kendrick must rescue her from the slave auctions to which she had been sold. Returning from the auctions, Calin must slowly woo the lady he has trothed his life to as they make their way back to MacLeod lands and to the wedding. When Akira finds out he is one and the same as her benefactor and that she is not truly a sister to Kendrick, Akira shows her strength in battling her feelings of betrayal and her growing feelings for Calin.

The two must deal with their growing relationship, internal strife and betrayal in the MacLeod lands and the uprising of Laird Kinnon, Akira’s true father, in his attempts to control not only his lands but neighboring clans as well.

I was truly enraptured with this story and its characters. Calin and Akira were both very strong and brave in their drive to protect the ones they love and rid themselves of a man who had left a trail of blood and turmoil throughout their young lives. The book was a sensual and romantic read that fascinated me from the start to the finish with its both amusing and tantalizing scenes, including two weddings and a mass murder. This would be a great beach or summer read to fill your thoughts with imaginative, suspenseful and arousing images of a life long ago.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Zebra Books (Mass Market) (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420104411
• ISBN-13: 978-1420104417

To purchase a print copy of Highland Dragon from Amazon click here.

To purchase a print copy of Highland Dragon from Barnes & Noble click here.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Orphaned when her parents died in a fishing accident in Virginia, Raine Brinsley wants nothing more than to head straight home to Maine and forget her sadness and trauma of nearly drowning. Unfortunately, without her parents’ protection, Raine is penniless and homeless. The owner of the boat on which they were sailing, Derek Stafford, has graciously offered to let her stay as long as needed and also to pay her passage to return home. Raine refuses to receive charity, so they agree that she will become a chambermaid at Stafford House until she has earned enough money to return home.

Stafford House has an underlying sadness that Raine does not fully understand, but Derek explains that his wife Lucinda passed on six months previously, and Raine believes this to be the reason – until she feels the presence of an unsettled spirit inhabiting the upstairs hallway.

Derek Stafford is torn between grief for his wife and the duty he feels to his father. Julian Stafford is an old-fashioned and unyielding man who is most insistent that either Derek or brother Lyman father a male heir to carry on the proud name of Stafford. Lyman and his wife have three daughters, while Lucinda suffered both miscarriages and stillborns. Julian offers the first son to produce a male heir Stafford House and its vast acreage, and Derek, loving Stafford House and his way of life, hatches a plan. He has a contract drawn up that offers Raine ten thousand dollars if she will agree to bear the male heir his father so desperately wants, and then relinquish the child, never to see him again. Raine is taken aback when Derek presents his proposal but eventually agrees. Will Raine honor the contract as presented? Will Derek reconsider the decision?

I applauded Raine for her strength in the face of her parents’ deaths, especially during a time where women were seen as needing constant protection. Her determination not to accept Derek’s charity was admirable, as was her willingness to tackle any job she was assigned. Although she was a strong woman, her gentleness was demonstrated in her concern for the spirit and her attempts to understand its message. The contrasts within the family were quite believable, and the characters were well developed and realistic, though not always likable. This story has everything and then some – romance, birth, death, voodoo, adventure, psychic ability, and a touch of Civil War – and I could not put it down. K. Celeste Bryan has once again done a wonderful job of involving the reader in the lives of her characters, and I highly recommend this book.

Book Stats:

• E-book: electronic, digital formatting
  
• Publisher: New Concepts Publishing
  
• Language: English
• ISBN: 978-1-60394-246-1

To purchase an electronic copy of Sojourn with a Stranger click here.

To visit the author’s website go here.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Donna Lea Simpson crafts a lovely, historical novel, creating a plethora of delightful characters in this wonderful start of a new series. Lady Anne is a first-rate mystery of the highest quality, filled with delicious historical details and plot-twists that will capture the imagination.

Lady Anne Addison is a noblewoman in the late eighteenth century visiting her spooked friend, Lydia, in Yorkshire, who is certain she has seen a werewolf prowling the estate where she and her husband live. A werewolf, however, is only the beginning of the story, with the body of a servant-girl turning up upon Anne’s arrival and the start of a romance between Anne and Lydia’s brother-in-law, the Marquess of Darkefell. Lady Anne is a complex story of deception and hidden trysts, marked by the intense humanity and believability of even the smallest characters.

I highly recommend this book! This being my introduction to this excellent author, I was stunned by how well-orchestrated the novel was. Everything fell together seamlessly, and the interplay between the leads was humorous and natural. An lovely mystery and romance.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402217919
• ISBN-13: 978-1402217913

To purchase a print copy of Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark click here.

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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