• “I Do” Anthology”
• “Grave Goods” Ariana Franklin
• “Whisper of Warning” Laura Griffin
• “To Beguile a Beast” Elizabeth Hoyt
• “Somebody’s Hero” Annie Jones
• “The Surgeon’s Lady” Carla Kelly
• “How to Woo a Spinster” Kasey Michaels
• “A Most Lamentable Comedy” Janet Mullany
• “A Gift from the Sea” Anna Schmidt
• “Crossed Wires” Rosy Thornton

Editorial note: Jayne is taking a hiatus from reviewing for the first time in four years. She’ll be back reviewing full time in February.

Related posts:

1. Top Romances of 2009 by Janet
2. Top Ten Romances of 2009 by Janine
3. Dear Author Recommends January 2009

I am coming to look forward to your many novels set on the Massachusetts coastal islands. Plus you use the turn-of-the-century (turn of the last century I should say) era which is something I’d love to see more of.

Nola Burns initially appears to be an uptight, dried up spinster who’s as rigid as her corset while Harrison Starbuck has been known as a scamp and a carefree rogue since his boyhood. Nola’s hardworking, having taken over the care of her siblings at the death of their parents and since run the teahouse which was her childhood home. Harry is well off due to his instinct for a good business deal. Now they’re about to clash over Harry’s latest venture.

The beachfront teahouse is the perfect location for Harry’s planned luxury hotel to accompany the cabaret he’s building to entertain the locals and summer tourists upon whom they all depend. But it’s all Nola has and she’s not going to sell it or see her business ruined without a fight.

When Nola allows the actors to stay in her house in order to fill in for the summer staff she was unable to hire, the town busybodies’ tongues begin to wag. That wouldn’t bother strong willed Nola but the unsigned, threatening letters which have begun to appear finally start to take their toll on her. Can these two see a way for both to get what they want and how long will it take them to see in each other what the rest of the town already knows?

In many ways, “An Unexpected Suitor” reminds me of “The Music Man.” The time frame, the initially unbending heroine, the charming hero, the disapproving town elders and music thrown in to top it off. For while the town thinks well of Harry, they’re not so sure about the theater people he’s begun to associate with and whom he’s bringing to the island to stage his latest play-turned-operetta.

It reminds me of how restricted were the lives of most women of the time. There is Harry’s unmarried older aunt who’s finally “of an age” not to be bothered by gossip and speculation that she lives alone and the women of the theater, whom most respectable people have already consigned to sin, but poor Nola is still bound by the conventions of the day. I enjoyed watching first Nola’s, then everyone else’s, opinions of the theater people change. Even the minister confesses to his shame that he isn’t immune from preconceived notions. You remind all of us, regardless of creed, to step back and examine ourselves. But you do it without preaching which is something I admire.

The relationship between Nola and Harry takes time to develop. At first they appear not to know each other well at all which is something I found odd. They grew up in the same small town and in their youth, Nola seems to have had a crush on Harry but, when the book starts, it’s almost as if they’re strangers. However, I do like how you conveyed their growing interest in each other without resorting to mental lusting.

The pace of the story is more like the lazy days of summer and there are several subplots. While I enjoyed the story and the characters, I did get impatient at times. I felt a little tightening up would have moved the story along more quickly while not losing the substance of the novel. And while I admire Nola for not casting stones or making accusations before the identity of the letter writer is revealed, her stubborn determination to blow off the threats finally began to seem foolhardy.

Though this book doesn’t match my fondness for “Gift from the Sea,” it’s still one for which I think there is an audience. The setting and time period are ones I hope will be further explored even if I hope the pace is quickened, just slightly. B-

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Gift from the Sea by Anna Schmidt
2. REVIEW: Never too Late by Anna C Bowling
3. REVIEW: Claiming the Courtesan by Anna Campbell

Early 20th century American historicals aren’t exactly falling off trees like the oak pollen covering my car right now. So when I see one, I get excited. When it turns out to be such a nice experience to read it, I want to tell people. So here goes.

Maggie Hunter is an angry and slightly bitter young woman. She over works herself as a nurse at the small hospital on her native Nantucket Island to deal with the grief of losing her best friend and fiance to the war raging in Europe. So when her innkeeper father and a local fisherman discover a half frozen young man on the beach during a January storm and that man turns out to be a German – the enemy – she’s hot for him to be turned over to the authorities. There is no good reason for him to be here and every bad reason to imagine.

Or so Maggie thinks. Stefan Witte is a man who is risking everything for what he believes in. But, seriously injured by frostbite, he might lose the short window of opportunity to do what he’s come to America for – help stop the war that is ruining his beloved Germany. If he can’t convince the Hunter family of his true mission, he’ll end up incarcerated or worse. Can he get this already skeptical woman to help him? Or will these two miss a chance to save lives and find their own HEA?

So we’ve got a hero and heroine who have every reason to be wary of each other and for whom a love relationship is the last thing on their minds. Maggie’s calling as a nurse just barely overcomes her disgust at the thought of having to nurse the enemy. And if her parents hadn’t put their collective foot down, she probably still wouldn’t have helped beyond the initial night. Christian charity can go hang as far as she’s concerned.

Stefan is a man alone among the enemy and too debilitated to even get out of bed much less make a run for it or try to meet his contact on the island. His reticence to trust too much to these people he doesn’t know makes perfect sense. He feels the need to keep some informational aces up his sleeve in case things turn ugly and isn’t above deliberately targeting those he feels he could use in his mission.

As opposed to Stefan as Maggie initially is, and her “way beyond personal” reasons make it entirely reasonable, the change for her to believe in him had to be carefully done. And it is. The scene where he goes for broke and explains to Maggie the reasons behind his willingness to hand over information to the enemy is powerful and immediately made me think of the French movie Joyeux Noël. The way you make the telling slightly understated just adds to the emotional power and helps Maggie to begin to see Stefan, and the German people, as human beings and not just The Enemy.

Emotions for all the characters seesaw back and forth but given the situation mine would too. People who had initially been willing to help this young man in need get reminded of the losses they’ve suffered from the war. When events conspire to raise suspicions again, it didn’t feel to me like improvised conflict but something that would naturally occur. And even in the end, not everyone is completely convinced overnight.

Like Maggie, I have some niggles about Stefan’s contacts and how the underground movement would be able to engineer things across the ocean. In the end, I had to just accept that they could happen as does Maggie. I also had to mentally readjust myself to an age before rapid communication when it might take weeks before decisions are made and events move forward.

The period details add to the story but don’t swamp it. The descriptions of clothes, transport and the isolation of the island during the storms of winter are all part of the plot. The care and treatment of frostbite are sobering as is the danger of pneumonia in this era before modern antibiotics. You even include the need to isolate possible Spanish flu patients as an integral element of the book.

Maggie’s crisis of faith is a necessity given the fact that this is a Steeple Hill line book. Did I feel preached at – which is sometimes a deal breaker for me with these books? No, I didn’t. Was this an important part of her character or did it merely feel tacked onto the story? Question one: yes. And question two: no. I thought Stefan’s arguments about faith went beyond merely trying to get Maggie onto his side and delved deeper into what ultimately brings these two together.

I enjoyed the fact that humor is sprinkled throughout the story. Maggie’s efforts to learn Morse code and her father’s advice to Stefan, “keep it simple as she’s just learning it,” were delightful. And I wonder if Stefan ever gets that nurses hat away from her?

So thank you for a wonderful story utilizing an under served era of American and world history. And danke for making sure that Maggie and Stefan enter their relationship with open eyes and full knowledge of what they might be up against as far as public opinion goes. B+

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from Harlequin or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Never too Late by Anna C Bowling
2. REVIEW: Queen of the Ocean by Anna C Bowling
3. REVIEW: The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson

• To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt.   A beautiful courtesan falls in love with a scarred, tormented lord.  Recommended by Jayne.   
• Gift from the Sea by Anna Schmidt. Enemies turned lovers historical set in early 20th C America. Recommeded by Jayne.
• Always a Scoundrel by Suzanne Enoch.   True rogue tries to shed his past bad association and help a pratical woman about to be trapped in marriage to a man who takes pleasure in destroying others.   Recommended by Jane.
• Hard and Fast  by Erin McCarthy.   Dyslexic stock car racer falls for sociology graduate student.   Funny and sexy.   Recommended by Jane.
• The Madness of Lord Ian McKenzie  by Jennifer Ashley.   Asperger sufferer seduces a widow who curbs his madness.   Recommeded by Robin and Jane.
• Dead and Gone  by Charlaine Harris.   Robin says this is one of the best in the series.
• Not Quite a Husband  by Sherry Thomas.   Estranged couple reuintes and rekindles their love after overcoming past betrayals. Recommended by Janine, who by way of disclosure, is Sherry’s critique partner.   
• The Conqueror by Kris Kennedy. Medieval knight woos barons and landowners to Henry II’s side while plotting to regain his birthright, Everoot, and uproot its current residents including the woman he is falling in love with.   Recommended by Jane (it’s on sale for $2.38).

Related posts:

1. Dear Author Recommends for April
2. Dear Author Recommends for April
3. Dear Author Recommends for June