france

"A strange terror coiled in the shadows behind the brooding elegance of the huge chateau. It lay there like some dark and twisted thing -- waiting, watching, ready to strike. Was it only chance encounter that had brought Linda Martin to Chateau Valmy? Or was it something planned? The lovely young English governess did not know. She only knew something was wrong and that she was afraid. Now she could not even trust the man she loved. For Raoul de Valmy was one of them -- linked by blood and name to the dark secrets of the de Valmy past."

Rating:  Excellent - 5 stars

They met when he was 18 and she was 14.

This is the third and final book that I read on my French vacation.  And how fitting to read Provence A-Z while in Provence. 

Series: Malloren

The nun and the rake!

When Robin Fitzvitry, the fun-loving Earl of Huntersdown, encounters a cursing nun in a French inn, he can't resist the mystery. He offers to help Sister Immaculata reach England, expecting only amusement on the tedious journey home from Versailles.

4 Stars! ~~~ This is a story of star-crossed lovers who both have to overcome the traumas of their youth.

Passionate Betrayal by Jacqueline Baird

Harlequin Presents #1431 – February 1992

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I picked this up off the library shelf with only the back blurb to go on so didn't have a good idea of what to expect (in voice, tone, etc -- I've never read a book by Diane Johnson before). I thought a few times about putting it back b/c I wanted something different but couldn't bring myself to do so, I think b/c the characters are so well-drawn. I don't even know if I like them so obviously Johnson was doing something right (keeping my interest despite myslf). There is a large cast of characters, the central one being an American who has recently become a millionaire or billionaire (sold her dot-com company) and who wants to improve herself, so has come to France for language, cooking and cultural lessons. I don't know how to describe it -- there's not a true HEA, there are affairs, odd friendships. I guess this is a chance for Johnson fans to come tell us about her body of work. Read by Kate Reading, from Random House and Books on Tape. NFM

The story opens with Susanna Dallet confessing it was her fate and her sins that caused her to fall into the world of the French court in 1514, all because she was trained to paint by her Flemish father, and was married to a painter, who wished to learn her father's secrets.

The Spymaster's Lady
Author: Joanna Bourne
Copyright: 2008 (Berkley Sensation); pgs. 373
Series: N/A
Sensuality: Warm

Who: Annique Villiers and Robert Grey