Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: A heart-stopping story that unfolds brilliantly. The characters are intense and powerful. A huge bravo to Pamela for taking on the challenging conflict between religions! Well done - this adds so much reality!
Rating: 
Summary: wonderful medieval romance
Review: English Protestant Jamie Blakewell hopes his Oxford University friend Lord Sheffield Tate III can influence the House of Lords to employ a navy against the French. However, Sheff is not the same caring person Jamie knew and respected. Instead he seems abusive, mean spirited and obsessed, especially with Irish Catholic lass Brighid. Jamie decides to keep Brighid safe by hiding her from his former friend though he pretends to help a man he believes is mad.Brighid hates the English though her warden seems nicer than most. She grew up with memories like the English overlords starving her mother, selling her father into slavery, and stealing his land. Star crossed as any couple could be, Brighid and Jamie fall in love while their religions excommunicate each other's believers. Then there is the psychopath Sheff who willingly will kill a friend to possess Brighid and he is coming. The second medieval romance (see the delightful SWEET RELEASE) CARNAL GIFT is a wonderful historical because the audience can understand the obstacles that the lead couple face if they want their love to forge a permanent relationship. Brighid and Jamie should never be able to find a love as their nations' war and their religions squabble even more, but it is their courage that makes this more than a prisoner of love tale. Though Sheff is too much a lunatic, fans will enjoy Pamela Clare's fine tale of hate turning into a "taboo" love. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Not memorable
Review: I didn't hate this book, despite the 2 stars. But it's all kind of, much ado about nothing...been there, read that. The setting is different (Ireland, 1750's), and it started out well, but...it's pretty sterotypical & the basic plot & characterizations will remind you of other romances you've read. The author has talent, I'd like to see more of her work, but this one was a miss, not a hit. Nice cover art -- that, and the back blurb, persuaded me to buy it...don't say you weren't warned!
Rating:
Summary: Not memorable
Review: I didn't hate this book, despite the 2 stars. But it's all kind of, much ado about nothing...been there, read that. The setting is different (Ireland, 1750's), and it started out well, but...it's pretty sterotypical & the basic plot & characterizations will remind you of other romances you've read. The author has talent, I'd like to see more of her work, but this one was a miss, not a hit. Nice cover art -- that, and the back blurb, persuaded me to buy it...don't say you weren't warned!
Rating:
Summary: Nice Irish-English Historical
Review: I liked the book, and the characters. Those little kindnesses Jamie did made him someone Brighid should have fallen in love with, and to me made the story memorable. I don't usually enjoy reading from the POV of the bad guy in romance novels. This creepy bad guy had one memorable scene that I didn't enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Irish-English Historical
Review: I liked the book, and the characters. Those little kindnesses Jamie did made him someone Brighid should have fallen in love with, and to me made the story memorable. The only part I was less than thrilled with was... I thought the bad guy was tiresome, overused as a plot element. That is a personal preference. I don't usually enjoy reading from the POV of the bad guy in romance novels. This creepy bad guy got a small scene or two that I didn't enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Unremarkable
Review: Jamie Blackwell travels to England on some urgent business of national security for the American colonies. While there he travels to Ireland to visit an old friend from his days
at Oxford who is now an earl. While on a hunt they gallop right into a Catholic burial which is illegal under English rule. Jamie quickly steps in to diffuse the volatile situation and manages to convince his friend to let the priest and mourners go without any repercussions. One of the mourners was a young woman whose beauty immediately caught Jamie's attention. He tried
not to stare at her so as not to bring his friend's lecherous attention to her. Little did he know that his heated glances
did not go unnoticed by his friend the earl who decided then and there to give his friend a gift he would never forget.
When Brighid was chased down by the earl's minions she gave herself up to them without a fight. She knew that resisting would only bring more tragedy to her poor family and put her brothers lives in danger. Brighid was under no illusion as to why she was being taken to the earl's home but she was surprised
to find that the man who was going to ruin her was not the earl but the handsome man who had saved their lives earlier. Jamie couldn't believe his eyes as his friend presented him with the
beautiful girl from the funeral dressed in a provocative gown that set his blood on fire.He was torn between his sense of honor and justice and his powerful desire for her. He could not refuse her and leave her to his friend's tender mercies but could he trust himself to keep his hands off her? I bought this book because I had enjoyed the authors first effort and also because I found the premise interesting. It was hard to give this book a low rating when I had no problem with the writing or the premise. In the end I just did not find the hero and heroine compelling enough to give this book a higher rating.I did not feel touched or affected in any way by their story. For me a five star read would be one that leaves me thinking about the characters long after I turn the last page, one that makes me sigh long after I closed the book. In short my emotions have to be engaged in order for me to consider a book a keeper and this book simply did not do that for me. I know this is highly subjective but then again a review of anything usually is. I recommend this read with many reservations.
Rating:
Summary: Another Very Good Historical By Newcomer Ms. Clare!!
Review: Ms. Clare's latest effort is well worth picking up. Again she manages to bring history back to the historical romance genre with another emotional read that will touch on all levels of emotion. This time we visit Ireland and the turbulant time in which the struggle of the Irish is an everyday occurance with the ruling English class that has taken over. I won't go into a long descriptive summary regarding plot. Suffice to say Jamie (we met him in Ms. Clare's first novel) a member of the landed gentry and Protestant finds himself drawn to Brighid a peasent Irish lass that has all of the spirit and pride of her heritage as well as a deep desire to find a man to love and care for. These two are destined to find love but it will not be a smooth path and there will be many that will do all that they can to keep these apart. Ms. Clare again proves that she has taken time to research the time period as well as the various problems that would have arisen as a result of religious issues of the time. The characters (both main and secondary) are all important to the telling of the story. Kuddos again to Ms. Clare for not shying away from adding true historic details in the telling of her story. As a result of this you are in for a very rich and deep story that will cause you to laugh, cry, and cheer for a happy ending. I have now added Ms. Clare to my must read list and highly recommend her to anyone who loves history and romance that at times can by sensual in their historical romance!
Rating:
Summary: Another Very Good Historical By Newcomer Ms. Clare!!
Review: Ms. Clare's latest effort is well worth picking up. Again she manages to bring history back to the historical romance genre with another emotional read that will touch on all levels of emotion. This time we visit Ireland and the turbulant time in which the struggle of the Irish is an everyday occurance with the ruling English class that has taken over. I won't go into a long descriptive summary regarding plot. Suffice to say Jamie (we met him in Ms. Clare's first novel) a member of the landed gentry and Protestant finds himself drawn to Brighid a peasent Irish lass that has all of the spirit and pride of her heritage as well as a deep desire to find a man to love and care for. These two are destined to find love but it will not be a smooth path and there will be many that will do all that they can to keep these apart. Ms. Clare again proves that she has taken time to research the time period as well as the various problems that would have arisen as a result of religious issues of the time. The characters (both main and secondary) are all important to the telling of the story. Kuddos again to Ms. Clare for not shying away from adding true historic details in the telling of her story. As a result of this you are in for a very rich and deep story that will cause you to laugh, cry, and cheer for a happy ending. I have now added Ms. Clare to my must read list and highly recommend her to anyone who loves history and romance that at times can by sensual in their historical romance!
Rating:
Summary: The essence of romance
Review: Once again Pamela Clare has captured the essence of what romance novels are all about with a story that I couldn't put down. Her ability to bring characters and places to life is amazing! I found myself empathising not only with the main characters, Jamie and Brighid, but with the Brighid's family members as well. Pamela has captured the magic of classic storytelling with a hero and heroine that you can't help but love and a story that is honest, heartbreaking, suspensful, beautiful and completely satisfying!
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