Rating: 
Summary: Did Jude really write this???
Review: This was very untypical of Jude Devereaux work. I have been a major fan of hers for years and always anxiously await the new books..which are always fun, romantic and interesting in several different ways. However, while interesting and a bit mind boggling as it kept changing directions was almost totally different from her usual work. Her main character was her type of different female, but no one else in the book really fit her previous profiles, and neither did the plot. It was almost as if she had outlined the story and someone, or several someones filled in the missing pieces. Lots of things made absolutely no sense and happened completely out of context. It was difficult to follow without a scorecard and the resolution came too fast and without a "saving grace". I do hope that she has not sunk to phoning in her stories, she is too good for that. I did read the preview of the next book and it has a man as the storyteller....also a different avenue for her. Maybe she is just trying some new and different ideas. If you have never read Jude Devereaux, do not count this one as typical.....go back to her older works and enjoy!!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: This story is centered around Lillian Manville the young widow of an excentric billionare who at his death leaves her nothing but a run down farm house in the middle of nowhere. Lillian was a child bride who's husband molded her into the woman that he wanted at his side. At his death she is left practically penniless and has to solve the mystery of a cryptic note left by her late husband. When Lillian moves into the farmhouse she begins to piece together her life and the mystery of why her husband left his billions to a sister and brother he hated. Jude Deveraux did an excellent job of making this story and the characters feel real. The characters though many, are well thought out and very intricate. The people in the book are flawed with real problems and issues like every other normal human. This book walks you through Lillians struggle to find out who she is and what she will make of herself. Just to spice it up, JD has added murder, mystery, cover-ups, shady pasts, lies and secrets, all centered around Lillians dead husband. You will find yourself entralled with the pampered life she led, the new life she is trying to build, the mystery she needs to solve and the people (and a new man) she grows to love in her new life. The story will keep you guessing and turning pages until the very end!!!
Rating: 
Summary: I was hooked from the 1st page
Review: This book is very interesting and captivating.Well when i bought this book i didn't know the rate that was give to it here in Amazon , so i checked it up after i bought it and i found out that it only took 3.5 as a totall so i was depressed (i thought i have just wasted my money) but i said to myself i have read a lot befor for jude so i will give it a shot, as i started reading, i was hooked and not from the 1st page but from the 1st lines !! it's worth it and it can't be disappointing.Our heroine is lovely written , she a charater u shall love and her quest is very intriguing and u won't be able to stop reading until you know what she is after , that's one thing,the other thing is her cooking , your mouth will water !! it's not a typical love story yet the love within is a very specail kind . i just wanted to change the rate given to that story , it's wonderful and i promise u the second u have have in ur hands you won't put it down specially if you are in for some mystery.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: Although I am a longtime Jude Deveraux fan, I haven't loved her newest books, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The characters were very well written, and the story itself felt lush, if a bit unbelievable.
I liked the idea of a woman setting out on her own, learning to live independently (even though there's another guy waiting in the wings), while solving a mystery. If the plot is a bit pat at points, and Lillian/Bailey's life seems controlled by men, well. . .it is a romance novel, after all.
The only big problem I had with the book was that I found the ending far more complicated than it should have been, especially for a book that was otherwise such a perfect beach read.
This is not Ms. Deveraux's best, but if you're looking for a light read with great characters, that really draws you in, this would be a fine choice.
Rating:
Summary: My dream house, on dream land, with dreamy stuff too
Review: I think Jude Deveraux should add a supliment to this book---all the little tidbit recipes she threw in; even if she does scorn the idea of one more cookbook on the market! I enjoyed this book--it was a departure from her old romancey stuff---I have been reading her books since I was a teen---I thought she was so old! :)
And I hadn't picked up anything of hers for a long time--unlike the rest of the world, I didn't care for "A Knight in Shining Armor." Anyways, the story is about a fat and ugly rich woman, who, like in previous novels of hers, is made beautiful by her circumstances. In this one, a diet and a nose job. Ahem. She gets left a "charming" farmhouse and a perfect ten acres by her billionaire husband, who dies under mysterious circumstances. This book reads like somebodies dream come true. Like a fantasy played out in printed pages. So fat lady billionaire is welcomed to the small town and on and on (in VA) and gets to solve a mystery of her husbands past. Its pretty interesting. Everything held together well, even if it is....well, its good to me. The ending seemed a little rushed, and some parts aren't pieced together well, but all in all, a good story. Don't expect any romantic stuff to be the focus of the story---its all about the Golden Six and starting your own jelly business. Oh yeah and I thought it was very...interesting how our main character grabbed her "canning" past when she grew up in suburbia but then later Kentucky----all in the middle of the book. Nice editing job.
But truly, an entertaining weekend read. C'mon, don't expect anything more!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: I loved all the characters it was just fantastic one of my favorites by her. There different from her earlier books, the old ones are great, but this was fantastic. Great love story.
Rating:
Summary: Pass the Berries
Review: I have to agree with most of these reviews. The story started out great and kept my interest untill the chase in the end to solve the mystery by finding lost geriatric characters. It was far too involved, intertwined and connected to everyone mentioned so far. It's a wonder Jimmie ever got away a made a life, but was it so bad he had to pay off everyone to keep it a secret?
I've read much better stories, but you can't win them all.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book by Jude Deveraux.
Review: I thought that this book could not have been any better. Great work! A must read!
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointed
Review: Very disappointed. Jude Deveraux seems to begin her slide with this Novel. What started out very interesting dissolved into a mere mystery novel and left me feeling cheated. I leap at a Jude Deveraux book when it comes out because I can't wait to be entertained. I have all of her books. I NEVER get rid of them. This didn't live up to expectation. The small biography at the back of her books seems to intimate that she is either single or divorced and lives with her small son in North Carolina and Italy. There seems to be a running theme of "I really miss and want sex!" in her "Mulberry Tree", "Always", "Wild Orchids" and "Forever and Always". If that is what it takes to bring back the old beloved Jude Deveraux, then PLEASE! Go find someone! Have a fling or two! Maybe she should go back and re-read some of her old novels to get back in the rhythm! If not, then I might just read new ones and then get rid of them. Not worth keeping. 'SIGH' At least I have her earlier 30 odd books I can re-read and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Characters
Review: I loved this book. It is not a stereotypical romance, and that may explain some of the not so stellar reviews. I thought it was complex and moving. I loved how the Jimmie character was so real, and like a real person had a good and bad side. This is not a story of a perfect woman meets perfect man and they have a perfect life. The characters are much more complex, much more real. And the mystery portion was original and well paced. I found it quite suspenseful and it kept me up until 2am to find out the end! The romance portion was not all steamy and dramatic, but more subtle, more real and more like the way REAL love develops. I guess some readers like to be taken away into a fantasy world, and if that is the case, this may not be for you. But I really enjoyed every last bit of it. WARNING-the food descriptions may make you hungry in the middle of reading. Not a good book for dieters! This book reaffirmed my passion for Jude Deveraux's writing and I can't wait to read more!
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