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Rating: 
Summary: I do not agree with these reviewers and I'll tell you why...
Review: Cassandra de Warrenne, a woman whose passion is found in the pages of history books, is about to live the nightmare of her life. When her sister, Tracey, brings home her new boyfriend, Antonio de la Barca, Cass never expected the immediate attraction she experiences. Catherine de Warrenne, aunt to Cass and Tracey, never thought she would see another de la Barca in her lifetime, but when she meets Antonio, the horror and memories flood back to her. Isabel de Warrenne, a woman who died 445 years before, is about reek havoc on these two families. But what no one knows is who she is and why she is here' ***** Never in my life did I think I would read a scary book, but this one I could not put down. The character's and the story flowed together so well, I forgot I was reading a book. I kept on looking over my shoulder making sure Isabel wasn't there watching me. Look at the reviews on B&N online and you will see everyone thought this book was 4 or 5 stars! Most reviewers here have only theirselves to blame, since they did not seem to read what the book was about. They simply are used to this author writing a different TYPE of book. However, that does not make this type of book bad! It is EXCELLENT for those of us who like GOTHICS! I don't care what others think, this one sent chills down my spine! Recommended reading! *****...Blair
Rating: 
Summary: Tense and Riveting but she could have done more w/ premise
Review: First of all, I want to say that I love Brenda Joyce's other works. I'm a very big fan. I loved the concept of this book and found the evil presence affecting everyone intriguing and actually scary. One problem I noticed right away was that some of characters were pretty unappetizing and very unsympathetic. In fact it was very hard to care about the heroine's sister at all. The main problem is that towards the end the heroine just kept panicking and there was no creative way to deal with the what she in encountering. I kept thinking to myself that the subject matter could have been dealt with more creatively and I sensed that even wonderful Brenda Joyce, whose works I adore and will buy almost anything of her's without reading the synopsis before buying a book, was stumped as to what to do. It was riveting through the first half of the book but the constant harping on the sister relationship and then the lack of development of the malevolent force just made me more and more frustrated towards the end. It's worth reading for the first half and by the time you get frustrated, you can't stop reading it because you have to know WHY all the terrible things have happened.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip this one!
Review: I don't know why I keep giving Ms. Joyce another chance. This one goes in the discard pile. I agree with the reviewer who described the book as "disjointed." I would describe all of her books that I have read this way. I may read any future of the "Deadly" series just to see where that story could possibly go, but I don't think I will be reading any others.
Rating:
Summary: did not like it.
Review: I had never read a Brenda Joyce book before picking up her "Deadly..." series written as BD Joyce. I Am finding them wonderful, engrossing and fun reads. I can't wait until the next one. So in the meantime, I decided to try out some of her other books. Unfortunately, this is the fist one I picked up. I am glad that this book isn't the first book that I read by this author because I am sure I would not have picked up the "Deadly..." series and would have missed out on a good thing. I didn't like this book in the least. First of all, it made no sense. Isabel, the ghost, had such power that she was able to manipulate events for over 400 years so that she managed to keep these two families entwined so that she could use them against each other to wreak her vengeance. But if she had that much power what was taking her so long to destroy these people? And then there was Cass, Antonio, Gregory and Catherine Why the heck were they so stupid? These people all knew a ghost was manipulating them, and yet they continued to hang out in the house. And whenever anybody went missing they always split up to go searching and they'd leave the kids behind. I'm sorry but if I am stuck in the middle of nowhere and I know that a malevolent ghost is running around, I am not gonna go exploring a house alone and I am not gonna leave my 8 year old niece and 10 year old son by themselves either. At least poor Tracey had no idea what was going on, so that part at least made sense. I think the book would have been much more suspenseful if everyone else had been like Tracey, truly at a loss as to what was happening and why. And then there was the writing. It was repetitive and I felt as if the story were going in circles. Rather than creating a claustrophobic atmosphere of menace, all it did for me was create an air of tedium. And finally, the ending stunk. After all that ghostly menace, everything ended with a wimper. I also feel that Isabel was, wrongly, made out to be some innocent little victim. She wasn't. She was as culpable in her own downfall as the people who "betrayed" her. I am disappointed that this book was so enjoyable because I think there was a really good book somewhere in there begging to get out.
Rating:
Summary: Hello, Brenda? Why so DARK?
Review: It may be dark gothic romance, but it surely isn't the level of romance I've come to expect as a confirmed Brenda Joyce fan. However, if you like dark parapsychological historical gothics with some very strange tones, you'll love this one! Brenda worked a bit too hard to make this "odd", in my opinion -- and while I read it from cover to cover, I kept waiting for the "romance" aspect to bloom much more fully. In one particularly dark scene, the language and the physical union between Antonio and Cass borders on rape in a violent, fairly disturbing manner that was completely unappreciated. Other sex scenes are equally as unfulfilling and unsatisfying to this reader. Certainly, as a gifted writer, Ms. Joyce could have gotten her messsage and theme across in a much more creative manner. That being said, the author gets high points for weaving an intricate plot, creating great child characters and for incorporating Isabel's history in scenes that are well-done and quite strong (although a few were merely ill-timed breaks and annoying in their interference -- we'd already 'caught on', thanks!) Will this make me give up Brenda Joyce? Of course not -- every strong, talented writer deserves the chance to try something new and to push the envelope. And Brenda Joyce is TALENTED! This 'push' shouldn't be repeated, however -- please!
Rating: 
Summary: Good story, but needs a proofreader and a thesaurus
Review: Ms. Joyce tells a good tale, she just needs a good proofreader and needs to invest in and use a thesaurus. The tale itself is a mixture of mystery, historical novel, and romance. The base of the story is that a woman who died 400 years ago is linked to two families. She feels that these two families betrayed her and she's still out to get them. The story mixes modern world with the story of this woman from 400 years in the past. Meanwhile, in modern times, you've got a pretty scary ghost story going on. The story itself is highly entertaining, as long as you don't pay attention to the details. Think of it as that highly entertaining, but critically unaclaimed movie that you watch just for fun. If you get caught up in the details that just aren't right, then make a game of it, because otherwise, it will make you crazy. When I say it needs proofing, I'm not kidding. There are places where a man is described as wearing a black coat and then two pages latter it's blue. She describes a young boy as having polio. Now this takes place in modern times and this child is less than ten years old. To my knowledge, a case of polio hasn't been reported in Western Europe in the last 10 or 20 years, so that's just totally bogus!! And then there was my favorite proofing error, "She hid her hands behind her face." I'm not sure this is anatomically possible. Ms. Joyce needs to get a thesaurus to try and cure her overuse of the word gaze. She loves this word, both as a noun and a verb and in one nights reading, I kept track. The longest Ms. Joyce could go without using some variation of this beloved word was two pages. If you want a fun read, go for it. But don't be looking for literary excellence.
Rating:
Summary: Good story, but needs a proofreader and a thesaurus
Review: Ms. Joyce tells a good tale, she just needs a good proofreader and needs to invest in and use a thesaurus. The tale itself is a mixture of mystery, historical novel, and romance. The base of the story is that a woman who died 400 years ago is linked to two families. She feels that these two families betrayed her and she's still out to get them. The story mixes modern world with the story of this woman from 400 years in the past. Meanwhile, in modern times, you've got a pretty scary ghost story going on. The story itself is highly entertaining, as long as you don't pay attention to the details. Think of it as that highly entertaining, but critically unaclaimed movie that you watch just for fun. If you get caught up in the details that just aren't right, then make a game of it, because otherwise, it will make you crazy. When I say it needs proofing, I'm not kidding. There are places where a man is described as wearing a black coat and then two pages latter it's blue. She describes a young boy as having polio. Now this takes place in modern times and this child is less than ten years old. To my knowledge, a case of polio hasn't been reported in Western Europe in the last 10 or 20 years, so that's just totally bogus!! And then there was my favorite proofing error, "She hid her hands behind her face." I'm not sure this is anatomically possible. Ms. Joyce needs to get a thesaurus to try and cure her overuse of the word gaze. She loves this word, both as a noun and a verb and in one nights reading, I kept track. The longest Ms. Joyce could go without using some variation of this beloved word was two pages. If you want a fun read, go for it. But don't be looking for literary excellence.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! MIND BLOWING
Review: This was the first book I read by her and I absolutely loved it. I can't wait to read more.
Rating:
Summary: A scary but great romance story
Review: When Cass de Warenne (the historian) and her sister Trace (the jetsetter) go to Spain as the uninvted guests of the (noted historian) Antonio de le Barca, everything starts to tumble out of the closets. Trace is there for one reason: to lure Antonio back into her net; this is the man for her. There's only one rather scary problem: Isabel. There has been a long standing feud (only 445 years)between Isabel and both familes. Once Isabel made her debut I couldn't put this book down. You never knew what terrifying deed would happen next. This book is definitely worth taking the time to read.
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