Barbara Samuel

Bed of Spices by Barbara Samuel is a 1993 publication.

I found this book in the KU program and snapped it up immediately. Oh, how I miss these stories! I’m so happy to see these books digitized so I can still enjoy them!

With the ever-present danger of the encroaching plague threatening in the background- Rica and Solomon’s fateful meeting will lead them down a path of immense heartbreak and danger as Rica has been betrothed to another man, and Solomon is Jewish. Despite the odds against them, they continue to see each other every chance they get knowing their love is forbidden and their days together are numbered…

If you have not read any Medieval historical novels, I do highly recommend them- romance or no. This book is a romance- but it is also about antisemitism during the Black Death and forbidden love- with intrigues and manipulations as well as epic heart seizing dramas that had me glued to the pages. These stories capture my undivided attention, my heart- and nothing written today seems to immerse me this deeply into the story. They just don’t write ‘em like this anymore. Sigh…

This is a fantastic story- so good that I might have a little bit of a book hangover- something I have not experienced in years and years. I love being swept away into the past- a past where there are still lessons to be learned and where love conquered all…

5 stars… (more)

Sometimes a book creeps into your soul and lives there for a time - this is one of those books for me.

For me, No Place Like Home started a bit sluggish, but given that Barbara O'Neal has written some of my all-time favorite books, it was nothing to hang in there with her; I am so glad I did.

Coming home is never easy, coming home after being cut off from your family for twenty years is unimaginable, and that's exactly how Jewel felt when she packed up her life in New York, along with her 17-year-old son and her best friend Michael, whom she was caring for through the end of AIDS battle. Now living in her great-aunt's house in Pueblo, Jewel is starting again; widowed, broke, and the pariah of her family, according to her father. But all bets are off once Michael's 6-6 brother Malachi shows up on his motorcycle. Be still my heart.

The storyline is good, but the book's meat is Jewel's love story. Anyone who has ever felt less than what they used to (bigger hips, thicker thighs, wrinkles, saggy boobs, flabby belly) will relate to how Jewel overcomes her own perceptions and allows herself to once again fall in love with herself, her life, her family, and a man.

Originally published in 2002, the simmering heat is unlike O'Neal's later novels and it took me by surprise, but in such a good way [she says with a wink]. And like any good love story, No Place Like Home left me in tears, twice.

I will relish this book's hangover.… (more)

Please, Barbara O’Neal, continue this story!

I LOVED THIS BOOK.

Regardless of if you have ever wanted to be a princess, could you imagine finding out after your parent passes away that you are an heiress, like with a 37-room mansion with land and a title - countess - that comes with it? Oh, and of course, it’s in England. (Sigh.)

That’s the book. And it is as fun and romantic and filled with twists and turns as any centuries old house and family is; just brilliant. And so well-written.

I am a huge Barbara O’Neal fan, “When We Believed in Mermaids” one of my favorite books, but now, I need to set The Art of Inheriting Secrets beside it. Just wonderful. (Obviously, I could continue effusing, but that would take you away from reading. Go. Read this book. You can thank me later ;) )… (more)

The Lost Girls of Devon is a feel-good story written by an excellent author, Barbara O'Neal. Set in Axestowe, England, we follow four generations of women in the Fairchild family.

Lillian, the matriarch, who later in life (love that - she was in her 40s) became a celebrated author of mystery books and, unfortunately, is in the beginning stages of dementia.

Poppy, think hippie sunshine chick, is Lillian's only child and has returned to Axestowe after leaving her daughter to Lillian's care to find herself.

Zoe, Poppy's daughter, who Lillian raised since she was 7, now has a 15-year-old child of her own, lives in New Mexico, is divorced, and is disinterested in other relationships; until she runs into her old fling in Axestowe.

Isabel, Zoe's daughter, holds a devastating secret that has torn her apart.

The disappearance of Zoe's childhood friend, Diana, brings the women all under one roof. There are so many beautiful threads to follow in this story of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings, that it is hard to put them all in one review. Suffice it to say, each of the women answers the other's need for closure, understanding, and self-healing.

While not my favorite O'Neal book (if you haven't read When We Believed in Mermaids - do it!), it is still great. (Mermaids just hit my personal heartstring.) The Lost Girls of Devon is totally worth the read and will leave you with a beautiful sense of female dynamics within the family.


… (more)