Celeste Bradley

Another fun Worthington tale. Orion is the scientific one in the family. He is logical and has walled off his emotions. He craves the peace and order that is the very opposite of what can be found in his home, among his eccentric family members. So he accepts the invitation of Sir Geoffrey Blayne to become his lab assistant and stay at his home. There is also the possibility of winning the hand of Sir Geoffrey's daughter Judith, as well as gaining entry to the scientific community.

Francesca show more is Sir Geoffrey's niece, the half-English half-Italian daughter of his brother. She came to England to stay with this part of her family, after realizing that she doesn't fit in with her Italian family, who considers her "too English". Francesca is intelligent, having her own scientific aptitudes, but also passionate, sassy, and playful. She plans to avoid marriage and devote her time to her research.

Orion's arrival at the Blayne house has all the seriousness that he could desire, until he meets Francesca. He is immediately struck by her beauty and her fire, to the point where everything else fades away. He is supposed to work on specific research and also be available to escort Judith, but his mind keeps drifting to her. I loved seeing his confusion at being so affected by her. Francesca has made a small place for herself in the lab, the only place her uncle allows her to work. She is just as drawn to Orion. I loved seeing them argue their scientific viewpoints, all the time fighting the attraction simmering below. Francesca eventually proposes that they give in to their attraction, expecting that it will then be out of their systems and they can return to normal life. It doesn't quite work out that way, and what they experience only serves to increase their need for each other. Francesca's realization of her feelings coincides with an event that forces Orion to end his relationship with her. His own epiphany takes a little longer, but is in time to rescue both Francesca and their relationship.

Sir Geoffrey feels a little off from the very beginning. His attitude toward Judith is not one of a loving father but of a man who uses others for his own purposes. For a scientist he seems to be terribly uninvolved in the research that he is promoting and it isn't long before his actions become suspicious. I had a feeling about his plans for Orion and it turned out I was right. I ached for Orion when he discovered the truth and cheered for what he did next. I loved what he and his family came up with and I loved seeing Sir Geoffrey get what is coming to him. The ending was intense and pretty scary as it was occurring, and also provided some humor at the end.

The secondary characters were pretty good also. Judith was a foil for Francesca, so quiet and always doing her father's bidding. But there was a little more to her than first appeared, and I liked seeing some bits of rebellion. I really enjoyed seeing her finally go after what she wanted. My favorite, however, was Orion's little sister Attie. In previous books she has tried to sabotage her siblings' relationships, but she has matured a little bit here and instead settles on trying to influence it instead. Attie is scarily intelligent and fearless in her actions. Her appearances in the book tend to herald disaster or mayhem of some kind, usually caused by something she has done. I also liked seeing more of the Worthington family. They are still just as odd as ever, but their love for each other still shines through. I really loved seeing how they simply absorbed Francesca into the group and how much at home she felt with them. show less

My first Celeste Bradley book. I hope all the others are as good as this.

Two memorable characters — especially jinx-minx Willa with her passion for Linnaeus and her irrepressible sexuality. The story is competently covered in the Goodreads summary, so I'll mention just a few weaknesses in an almost perfect Regency romp.

Alas, not even Ms Bradley can avoid slipping into anachronistic vocabulary and phrases. The saga of the Royal Four pushes the book close to the dividing line between show more historical romance and historical fantasy. Basil and Daphne's sudden ostracism at the end may have made for a cathartic come-uppance, but left Basil's involvement in earlier shenanigans unexplained. Or maybe I missed something.

Otherwise, once Willa unleashed her slingshot in the opening pages of the book, I willingly suspended almost all disbelief and went along for a throughly enjoyable ride.

Were I rating this book objectively, I'd give it four stars. Subjectively evaluated, it gets five stars for the unalloyed pleasure it gave this reader. show less

Breathless by Celeste Bradley and Susan Donovan

Treasure hunt, romance, historical & contemporary romances, mystery and intrigue all are part of this book. The authors have seamlessly woven the life story of one woman from the past into the present and made it pertinent and real by sending Fitch Wilder and Brenna Anderson on a quest to find out more about the Swan…or is it the Siren?

I was gripped immediately by the beginning of the book and ALMOST decided to read only the portions of the show more book labeled PAST and skip over the PRESENT portions and pick them up later but am happy that I did not do so. Why? Because the story unfolds as it should with highs and lows that really do need to be read in order. I was not always “happy” with the Swan-Siren’s story but then neither was she. I am intrigued about what happened to her after her story ended (in the book) and wonder if perhaps Fitch and Brenna continued to pursue finding out more about her. Oh, one more thing…at a few points in the Swan’s narrative in first person I felt she told her story a bit as Fanny Hill told hers in the book with the same title.

Did I enjoy this book? Definitely
Would I read more books by these authors? Yes
Do I recommend this book? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press Griffin for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars show less

I am a big Celeste Bradley fan so it pains me to give a middling review to one of her books, but what's a girl to do? This book seems like it was written by two people or by one writer who started it, put it in a drawer, and finished up 10 years later.

The first half of the book is largely boring and frequently repetitive. It also provides us with a wildly unappealing hero. Calder is boring, taciturn, dismissive, condescending, and downright mean. He is also verbally abusive to his young show more child and at various points leaves her to wander freely through a textile factory (what could go wrong?) and hands her a loaded gun she is not trained to use when she asks for it. I need to note here that I am not clear on the age of the child because she is 7 in the first half and 9 in the second half even though the entire story takes place over the course of a week. One more note, I was really bugged by how Deirdre castigates herself for her impatience with Calder when he is being an ass. She should be patient with him when he orders her about (not is a sexy way) and treats her like temporary help? Its sad and embarrassing.

Calder redeems himself to some extent in the second half of the book, but that is insufficient. There is no reason our heroine could want him other than the fact that he has a title she needs to access her own inheritance and he is handsome. This makes it hard to sympathize with her incessant wailing about him only wanting her for her looks while protesting her deep love for him. She loves his title, she loves his abs and glutes (spoiler: she "notices" them a lot), but never explains why that is different from his loving her hair and her breasts (spoiler: he "notices" them a lot.) Its just a lot of stuff and nonsense filling pages where they should be getting to know each other better and/or banging.

The second half of the book has our hero suddenly becoming an Edwardian version of Liam Neeson in nearly every movie he has been in the last 10 years. There is no transition time. This guy instantaneously transitions from The Great Santini to Bryan Mills (for those who have not seen Taken or its 74 sequels that is Neeson's character.) Why?

I don't ask a lot from my bodice rippers. I would have overlooked most of this if I hadn't spent 200 pages bored to tears. But I did spend 200 paged being bored to tears so I am feeling unforgiving. Bradley has so many lovely books, but this one is a miss. show less