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
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