Cathy Maxwell

My second series from Ms. Maxwell is the Cameron Sisters. It is comprised of 5 books:

1. Temptation of a Proper Governess (2004)
2. The Price of Indiscretion (2005)
3. In the Bed of a Duke (2006)
4. Bedding the Heiress (2007)
5. In the Highlander's Bed (2008)

This series is the story of, basically, a family of three orphaned sisters. The first story introduces business partners from America as they venture to London; One to clear his name of murder, the other to find his long lost father and make something of himself. Michael succumbs to the Temptation of the governess and Alex is kept in the story as his fate is the Price of Indiscretion. Here is where the 3 sisters are introduced. Miranda, the elected 'most beautiful' of the bunch is to go London to marry a title thus finding the funds to bring the other two over the Atlantic from New York where they will wait. Their story began in the Ohio Valley where there parents met their deaths at the hands of the elements. Miranda and Alex have a history, but that was 10 years ago and is determined to find herself a titled gent to please her sisters. The gent she finds is a Duke, but she also finds Alex and cannot seem to let him go. In the third book, it is the eldest sister, Charlotte, that finds herself in the Bed of the Duke as the alliance of Michael and Alex has funded the remaining sister’s voyage to London. Charlotte is on her way to visit a Laird in Scotland when her path crosses that of the Duke that was to be her sister's husband. This story also introduces Justin (aka Tavis) who then Beds the Heiress in story four. Tavis was kidnapped as a baby and brought to a Scottish clan. He was then rescued by his brother and the Duke then tells him that Justin was the first born and he is the real Duke. His heiress is able to fund his ideas to help clan in which he grew up. This Highlander friend in the fourth story is the bed in which, Constance, the third sister, finds herself in for the conclusion of this series.
I enjoyed the flow of events and really liked the fact that all the stories were nicely intertwined. Often non-principal players in some series are lost in the next book and one finds themselves wondering what happens to them. Not so with this 5 part series. The sisters were highlighted in books 2, 3 and 5 and other integral players were highlighted in the other books. The only drawback was in the last book two women were introduced and left with no conclusion which makes me wonder if they will be part of another series, or lost to fiction history.
As indicated by the titles of each installment, each of the elemental characters engages in the pleasures of the flesh prior to the marriage bed. There are no additional partners and neither is married to another at the time (and it all works out in the end.) I found the instances of each coupling to be unique to each story and it did flow nicely, the only drawback was the reactions of each character seemed to be written the same way in each book and it took away from the 'moment' by the third book. The way the experiences were written could have had a greater variance of word choice for their reactions. It did not detract from the essence of the moment nor how this was pivotal to the story, it just would have been nice to feel like I wasn’t re-reading the same scene from one book to the next.
I will continue to work my way through all of the books that Cathy Maxwell has out as I really enjoy her stories and hurdles her characters overcome to find that ultimate, elusive: LOVE

http://www.cathymaxwell.com/

Amanda Forester

Ahhhh, Ms. Forester. I just finished her three book Series Highlander:

1. The Highlander's Sword (2010)
2. The Highlander's Heart (2011)
3. True Highlander Spirit (2012)

There are truly not enough acclaiming adjectives in the English language to describe this series. The writing was superb, the stories were riveting, the characters were believable, adorable, endearing, enchanting, likeable, despicable, and loving, the settings were warming, enveloping, detailed, and the history was fantastic. Wow. My only bad thing to say is that this is all I can find that Ms. Forester has written in this genre.
From my research, Ms. Forester has a PhD in Clinical Psychology as well as a Masters in Theology. Her character insight was enveloping, as there was no mistaking who they believed themselves to be, how they carried themselves, what they believed in, and how they lived. It was true to form from the first written word to the last. Each character was unique until to him or herself and I never felt like these books were written from a formula or on a whim. And, unlike some series, the third book was the absolute BEST. The heroine in that book is delightful, mesmerizing, astonishing, fabulous, witty, and childlike in some scenarios and beyond her years in others. I felt for her, with her and about her through very word on the page.
I highly recommend that when you do read these, and urge you I do, to read them, read the Author's Note at the end of each book. This outlines the historical significance of each event, the actual history behind it and where she took poetic license.
As a side note, there is that stigma "out there" that Romance books are just a load of rubbish centered around two people with puppy dog eyes and how they overcome enormously exaggerated obstacles to come together to live happily ever after. Rot! From researching many an author before I read any of their works (via their own websites or any others that mention them) I have found that their books are written after extensive fact finding through personal experiences, interviews, visiting of historic sights, and their own readings Many romance authors do, what seems like to me, almost as much research as an author of a biography or book on a particular historic event. Ms. Forester is no exception to this painstaking (albeit probably highly enjoyable and thought provoking) process to make the love stories in her books not only believable, but historically accurate (almost to a fault.) She, however, is not the only author that follows this principle. I have found that when a certain subject comes up in conversation, I can recall a romance book that I have read that includes that time period and I am able to add to the dialogue based on the historic references provided.
So, go to your local library, book store, or website and borrow or purchase Amanda Forester's Highlander series, all three of them, and sit down with your favorite beverage and snack and dig in. Though shalt not be disappointed!!!!!!

http://www.amandaforester.com/

Rose Gordon

This is my first series by Ms. Gordon and I have already lined up her other series (which I wish I had read first) to read.

Groom
1. Her Sudden Groom (2011)
2. Her Reluctant Groom (2011)
3. Her Secondhand Groom (2011)
4. Her Imperfect Groom (2012)

The one thing I really liked about this series is the intertwining of all the characters from one book to the next. They were friends or relatives, but it wasn't the 'popular' guy (or girl) and it was the rake that got the attention. It was the ‘brainiack’ or the 'forgotten' one. The characteristics that made up each entity in the stories belonged solely to them and they stayed on course with those quirks through each book. She stayed true to form for each person as they traversed from book one to four.
The only confusing bit for this series was that every person was mentioned by their name with a brief introduction as to whom they were, but then you were expected to remember who they were each time they were mentioned. That was a little difficult for me as I became wrapped up in the story and a name was thrown in it sort of derailed me as I had to then retrace my character list and come up with who they were. Had I read the Ms. Gordon's first series, Scandalous Sisters, I may have been able to keep the extraneous characters straight as they are each featured in those stores, but alas I found this series first and did even think to see if they were linked in any way. As I said, they are in the lineup for the very near future (as I do prefer to mix up my authors as I read to get glimpse of different writing styles, enjoy different time periods of history, and delve into a myriad of cultures.)
All in all this was a wonderful series and I enjoyed the interplay of the characters in each one.

http://www.rosegordon.net/Site/Home.html

Julia Quinn

Ah, Ms. Quinn (aka Julie Cotler Pottinger) and her delightful books. As a side note about this author, she chose the pen name 'Quinn' so she could be near her favorite author in the library. Also, if you visit the Romance Writers of America website she is listed in the Hall of Fame as receiving top honors for several of her accomplishments many times over. In my opinion, all of her awards and words of praise are wholeheartedly deserved as I have yet to read anything of her I have found lacking in any way at all!

Back to the most recent series of hers that I just finished....
Two dukes of Wyndham
1. The Lost Duke of Wyndham (2008)
2. Mr. Cavendish, I Presume (2008)

Where to begin? These two stories are the same except that each is from the perspective of the two main characters of their respective books. The Lost Duke is the long lost son of the son that died and no one was aware that at the son's time of demise, his wife, that also no one knew about, was carrying their child. He was the second son (and most favoured by his mother) and would have become The Duke when the eldest son perished had he also not met his fate at the bottom of the sea. The second book centers on the third son's son who did become The Duke upon his father's death because at the time he was the only living (that anyone was aware of) heir to the Dukedom. The stories begin with a highwayman robbing a coach.
I will admit that it was hard to read the second book as I felt like I was reading the same thing again. And, truly, in some parts I was. Ms. Quinn repeated the exact words in instances where the four characters were (or at least at any time where there were a minimum of two from each book) in a dialogue or having a shared experience. Any thoughts, mind you, were then added from that respective character and thus that made the one book different from the other, but it still made it a bit less 'new' feeling.
It was an excellent series and very well done despite the repetition of events. I applaud Ms. Quinn's insight and creativity to pull off such a work. And making it two books instead of just one, which would have been very easy to do (and maybe more pleasant for the reader to not have to endure the same dialogue twice as well as shared events.) The end results are most enjoyable as Ms. Quinn is able to completely develop a character and keep their traits solely theirs. The heroines in each story are completely different, and the first book reveals nothing of the ending of the second so once the stories split from each other, so to speak, the ending of the second is uniquely its own. That makes it all worth reading (or re-reading as it were) the story.

http://www.juliaquinn.com/

Caroline Clemmons

There are two books in the series I just read from Caroline Clemmons:
1. The Most Unsuitable Wife
2. The Most Unsuitable Husband
and they are very much intertwined. I recommend reading the one after the other due to how the content flows from one to the other.
Her writing is good, the stories flowed very nicely and they seemed very plausible. The relationship of the the three 'children' caused me to question their heredity, but it was soon revealed by the end of the second book.
I don't have overflowing praise for these books, but they were worth my time, I enjoyed them and I would very much read more from Ms. Clemmons.

http://www.carolineclemmons.com/