Rating: Summary: Fatal attraction Review: "You can't choose who you are going to fall in love with," says Francesca Cahill, a staunch reformist and sleuth caught in a love triangle between the commissioner Rick Bragg and his nemesis of a half-brother Calder Hart. In Deadly Caress, the 5th installment of Joyce's mystery-romance series, her characters' lives are tangled once more in one dramatic denouement after another. Joyce continues the mystery behind the vandalism of Sarah Channing's portraits, whereby the latter is the fiancee of Francesca's brother Evan. A fellow artist Ms. Neville vanishes abruptly with her neighbor-sans-Evan's mistress Ms. Conway strangled to death. Eyewitness Ms. Holmes is also silenced and evidence points to Evan. Francesca sets out to investigate with Rick Bragg and discovers new suspects like Ms. Neville's lover and brother sprouting. True fans voraciously devouring Joyce's series would know the fascination lies in her knack to galvanize with twists and secrets. This time is no different with exciting developments like the return of Bragg's wife Leigh Anne and Hart's relentless pursue along with Francesca's sister Connie handling her marital crisis. However Deadly Caress breaks free of the archetypal romance mold with its ensemble of flawed and honest characters who are subjected to temptations and desires. Rick Bragg, the central protagonist is a hypocrite with confused feelings for his wife and Francesca; Calder Hart who was portrayed as villainous in the series is refreshingly honest and honorable. The romance is complicated with hidden passion and recognisably realistic to shed the perfunctory soap-opera cloak. Joyce has outdone herself this time round with finely-paced suspense and dimensioned characters to engage us to the Deadly series. It's a fatal attraction.
Rating: Summary: Deady Caress Review: Best series of books!!! Fun, enjoyable, exciting, funny, engaging. Beware, once you read the first one, you'll just want more.
Rating: Summary: I wish Joyce wrote as fast as J.D. Robb Review: Francesca does at times get on the nerves. Her bouncing back and forth between Hart and Bragg is a little irritating - both should just walk away from her. But she is very young and naive...if someone who has hidden and watched two couples make love can be called naive......This is a great series. I would highly recommend the Deadly books and the author (The Chase was fantastic!) I was glad to see that the next Deadly book will be out in the Fall of this year. Don't miss out on this series and make a point to read the books in order to better understand the relationships.
Rating: Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! Review: I am an avid reader, and absolutely love the Deadly Series by Brenda Joyce. I sat down and read this book from start to finish. I could not get enough. I love all the characters and I love the relationship between Francesca and Hart. I can hardly wait until the next book is released. Brenda Joyce is excellent! I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good love story, a lot of drama, and lots of laughs.
Rating: Summary: Great Book!!!! Review: I can't wait for Brenda Joyce to come out with another one after Deadly Promise. I have read all of the deadly series and I cannot get enough. I hope the next book comes out soon!
Rating: Summary: Best in the series. . . so far! Review: I loved this book. The relationship between Francesca and Calder really keeps the reader hooked. Although he claims that he doesn't believe in real love I believe that he soon will be singing another tune. This book was a quick read and very enjoyable.
Rating: Summary: Best in the series. . . so far! Review: I loved this book. The relationship between Francesca and Calder really keeps the reader hooked. Although he claims that he doesn't believe in real love I believe that he soon will be singing another tune. This book was a quick read and very enjoyable.
Rating: Summary: MUCH better this time... Review: I seriously comtemplated not buying this book. The last book in the Deadly series was...well, deadly. I went ahead and tried this one and luckily I liked it very much. I appreciated that there was much more passion and some adult emotions. The last book the heroine was so silly I just couldn't believe anyone would love her at all. It's also hard to buy why Bragg keeps calling her to help him with cases. Does she really help or just get in the way and ends up needing to be rescued? I liked the romance between Fran and Hart, but I liked Bragg better in the beginning. Everything keeps changing and that's OK, but sometimes it's just frustrating.
Rating: Summary: DEADLY CARESS A DISAPPOINTMENT Review: I was eager to read this when I first got it, but the further I got in the book, the more disturbed I got. I liked all of the previous deadly books, but this one doesn't get my vote. I think that bringing back Leign Ann was a mistake and that only complicates this story. Bragg shouldn't have let her win, and frankly, he was too weak, and he succumbed to her will. I think that if this story was to come out with a good ending, Francesca would have to find another man and leave Bragg and Hart behind, because they have too many problems. At this rate, this series will go on forever and I just can't picture a good ending to all the mess Joyce created. Never mind that though, I will be back in the fall to read the next one in the series, but I sincerely hope it's better than this one, or I may just stop reading this series. That's not too likely though, for one thing is true, the series is captivating and you'll catch on to it quickly.
Rating: Summary: TOO UNBELIEVEABLE FOR WORDS Review: I won't go into the content of this particular book as it is well done below; however, I do agree with one of the reviewer that somehow the writer has forgotten this is the Victorian era. First off, a Police Commissioner will absolutely not call a 20 year old, wealthy debutante to inform her of various murders. No way, no how. We are supposed to believe that she runs around at all hours of the night with a pickpocket kid from the slums and her parents allow her to do this? Forget that. Then we have wonderful brother, Evan. He owes $200,000 (remember this is 1902 and this is real money), has a fight with his father, quits his job with his father's company, gets beaten by LaFargue to whom he owes the money, and is going to move to a Fifth Avenue hotel. Yes, Calder Hart did pay $50,000 of that debt but that still leaves $150,000 owed and he is still gambling every day at LaFargue's gambling establishment. Now, I ask you, what is he going to use for money to pay his hotel bill, to continue gambling, etc. Credit cards were not available at that time. Evan is not a likeable person, is spoiled, immature and needs someone to talk some sense into him. We are also to believe that Fran's parents allowed Maureen Kennedy and her brood to move into their mansion until she's recovered from her stab wound. Remember Mrs. Kennedy is from the slums and we're talking wealthy people that live on Fifth Avenue in New York. Yep, realistic all right. I know this is fiction but, come on, let's have a little credibility. Now, we come to the Countess Bartolla who is nothing but an impoverished whore. She plans on getting Evan to take her to bed and pretend she is pregnant. Evan doesn't have a dime so how will that help her. Then, there's Rick Bragg who is not a person of high moral fiber. If I recall correctly he has sired two illegitimate children, his wife, Leigh Anne left him, then came back from Europe because her father was gravely ill; however, she has made an agreement with Rick to live as man and wife again for 6 months to see if they can work out their problems. Although Fran was hot for Rick before she found out he was married, she has now directed her attention to Calder Hart, Rick's half brother, who, along with Sarah and Rourke appear to be the only normal people in this series. Sorry, but my take on this is preposterous, unbelieveable, and we expect more from Ms. Joyce.
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