ARC REVIEW A Justified Murder by Jude Deveraux

Medlar Mystery #2, Aunt and niece, Sara and Kate, along with their friend and basically roommate, Jack are yet again on the hunt for who murdered a seamlessly helpless old lady. Just a few months after their first adventure and all three say they are going to let the proper authorities handle it but everyone who had contact with the deceased comes to them explaining why they would have had cause to murder and before you know it Sara, Kate and Jack are once again neck deep in the case. The more they look into this lady's past the more they realize she wasn't who she seamed and it quickly goes from a whodunit to a who didn't do it seeing how most everybody had a motive.

I love Kate and Jack, their banter is so funny. Jack obviously has feelings for Kate but she's not in the right place for a relationship so she just blows off Jack when he makes certain comments and teases him referring to him as "brother like". Sara as a retired author has a unique way of looking at the world which comes in handy in solving murders. I loved that characters and I enjoyed the mystery and really liked the ending.They seem to get distracted a lot but just about every little thing is important. Overall, it was a good read.    

ARC REVIEW The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux

I have a new favorite Jude Deveraux book!

This is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice in the same manner that Kiss Me Kate is a retelling of Taming of the Shrew. If you haven't seen it or heard of it. It's a stage production of the original story but with a case of Life Imitating Art. A small town stage production of Pride and Prejudice, but the actors are put through situations and the events and their attitudes reflect that of the the original story. This is in Deveraux's Montgomery/Taggert universe but can be read apart from the other series and is the start of a new series Summer Hill. I love Jude Deveraux writing style, her writing is always humorous, sweet, romantic, and a bit of heartache. One little thing about the book I enjoyed was that instead of chapters it's Act and Scene, I thought that was neat. There is a lot going on in the book, if you know Pride and Prejudice this is very similar just updated and it's very well done.

Kit Montgomery has written a stage version of Pride and Prejudice. His idea is to get his newly discovered relative to Tate Landers to play Darcy, he just has to trick him into it. Tate's family home is in Summer Hill, his Mother had to sell the place before he was born and for his sister and his adorable niece he bought the place and fixed it up he never planned on staying there. But for his sister he will even if it means getting roped into playing Darcy. Casey Reddick was the head chef at a prestigious D.C. restaurant, but when her boyfriend left her she felt she needed to reevaluate her life, her mother suggested finally meeting her father and all eleven of her half siblings. (funny story that)

When Casey and Tate first meet it is hysterical. Casey, like Elizabeth, has an immediate dislike to the man. Tate is a famous actor and has been typecast as the brooding male role, he is use to woman falling at his feet and is intrigued with Casey who has nothing but disdain for him. Doesn't help matters that Tate's ex-brother-in-law has also been cast in the play as the part of Wickham, who in real like is the embodiment of Wickham and tries to sway Casey from Tate. You also have the side story of Jack and Gizzy aka Jane and Bingley and also that of Kit and Olivia and little Lydia.

Overall, I loved this book it was such a fun and sweet story with naked men and crazy peacocks.            

ARC REVIEW Ever After by Jude Deveraux

I love Jude Deveraux, this is my first Nantucket Bride book but the third in the series, I need to find the first two. It is a beautiful story about healing, falling in love and two ghost matchmaking. Jude Deveraux has an enchanting writing style, I always enjoy her work even when it's not as good as her other stuff I still enjoy reading her books. Ever After  I loved reading, I loved the characters, the story, and the setting I could not put it down.

Hallie is a Cinderella type character finding her escape from a cruel stepsister when a stranger leaves her a house in Nantucket. With some distant family connection to the house Hallie is excited to discover her connection to the historic home. She almost missed the opportunity when her stepsister, Shellie, forged papers pretending to be her. Hallie is a newly licensed physical therapist and she also agreed to treat Jaime Taggart, whom she thinks is a rich playboy who was injured while skiing. Jamie Taggart is more then he seems, he tries to play off the playboy image not wanting to see pity in Hallie's eyes, he has had enough of that from his family. The Montgomery/Taggart family has treated Jamie with kid gloves and he has had enough so when the opportunity to have his PT away from them to took it. He never expected his physical therapist to be as beautiful as Hallie. Hallie and Jamie quickly become friends they are comfortable around each other and they dance around their physical attraction trying to keep things professional.

The mystery of the house is that two sister ghosts haunt the house after their untimely demise. The sisters were the most beautiful ladies on the island and had a knack for matchmaking. Even now as ghosts they still work their magic. Hallie and Jamie slowly uncover, with the help of Jamie's family and the dreams that Hallie has been having, what happened all those years ago.

The relationship between Jamie and Hallie progresses to the physical, and when his family descends upon them old uncertainties resurface and truths are revealed. Both Jamie and Hallie have to face their demon before they can have their HEA. Overall this is a romantic and entertaining book with a touch of the supernatural.  

 

Change of Heart by Jude Deveraux

I am a fan of the Edilean series, but this one lacked the magic of the previous ones I have read. I did enjoy the first part which contained the original novella in the Holiday of Love anthology. Eli and Chelsea worked together to get Eli's mom out from under his dad's manipulative father even thought they have been divorced for some time, another manipulation caused by Eli and Chelsea. Eli has a pen pal in mind, a billionaire he meet on a class trip and kept in contact with. Miranda, Eli's mom, is a nurse and gets offered a job to nurse a rich man in his convalescence. Miranda has been picturing a kindly old man and is taken back when she discovers a ruggedly handsome man. Frank is taken back by the motherly and warm nurse send by his brother, he soon figures out she is his friend Eli's mother and that she was sent their to fall in love with him. Miranda is like no other woman Frank has ever met and very quickly falls in love. he almost blows it when his assistant shows up and plants a seed of doubt. Frank knows he is going to have to change if he wants to win Miranda back, and with Eli's help he just might be successful.

The second part of the story follows Eli and Chelsea grown up they have gone their separate ways and lost contact with each other. Eli has always loved Chelsea and her abandoning him as a teenager hurt him. He has kept track of her keeping an eye on her for when she was ready he would put himself out their for her again. Chelsea got off track in Eli's opinion, she became a model and did that whole scene but soon lost interest in that and just floated about doing things and dating random handsome men, when the latest one drops her she returns home and shortly after receives an invite to Eli's new home in Edilean, Virginia. Just to appease her parents she  goes but what she finds blows her mind. That's not the Eli she left all those years ago. But just like Frank and Miranda they have to work through their differences before either can admit to loving the other.

Over all the second half seemed rushed, I think the first part could have been left off and Eli and Chelsea's story could have gone a little slower and filled enough for it's own book.