Stolen Hearts

Rating:
Summary: From the back cover:
Review: For years, the king of thieves known only as Delgatto has searched for the legendary emerald stolen from his family centuries before. But then fate leads him to a battered wooden box buried in the ruins of the Chesterfield Hotel. When he touches the broken gold chain inside, he is suddenly transported back a hundred years to find the Chesterfield in its heyday--and the Heart of Saharanpur around the neck of an innocent beauty. The glow in Emily Drewett's eyes put the jewel to shame, and soon Delgatto is faced with a desperate decisionl To claim his legacy, he must break Emily's heart. Torn between duty and desire, he must decide if what he really wants is the necklace, or something even more precious...Emily's devoted love.

Rating:
Summary: An Accurate Review
Review: Funny how some reviews contain no information whatsoever about the book reviewed-no names, no identifiable content. Just a trollish-attack...

I was coerced by a female friend to read this book and it's far from "syrupy." It's written primarily from a very strong male viewpoint which was a pleasant surprise to me as a reader. I thought most romance books were always female-led. The plot was unique--evidently this is one of a series of time travel romances centered around the same hotel. I'm going to pick up the others and see if they hold up as well as this one.

I found Delgatto to be an interesting and well-defined character and enjoyed his actions and reactions with respect to the plot (which was far from formulaic). Emily was equally well-drawn and true to her time period, yet had the right streak of independence to appeal to this modern man.

I enjoyed the adventure and the romance of the quest for the Heart of Saharanpur. I didn't really expect to like the book since this isn't my usual reading choice, but it was an inventive adventure, a neat plot and a good wrapup.

Now if only the cover hadn't been so--pink.

Rating:
Summary: Needed More Development
Review: I have been reading this Hope Chest Series and this is the fourth book. While I loved the first three in this five-part series, this one left me cold. Since it is so far along in the series one would hope that the previous characters would be reintroduced and play some role in this plot. Because they are nowhere to be found in this story, it is hard to tell when in the scheme of the plotlines this particlar event is taking place. I must assume Laura Hayden wrote this book before the others were written, so it is not connected to the rest of the series. Otherwise, I found it hard to like Delgatto and Emily or root for their romance. The humor seemed out of place, not very funny and I found it tedius to read. I might have skipped around if I had known it was not connecting the other characters in previous books, but I was afraid I would miss something that might be relevant to the eventual outcome of the series.

Rating:
Summary: It will steal your heart -- Very highly recommended
Review: There's something winningly whimsical and marvelously magical about the premise of the power of a hope chest and equinoxes winging characters across time to find healing and love. A hope chest found in the historic Chesterfield, now undergoing renovation provides the focal point for the Hope Chest miniseries. In Karen Fox's Laura Hayden's STOLEN HEARTS, the forth book of the Hope Chest miniseries, it's the chain to a stolen emerald necklace that wings the King of Thieves back in time to discover love.

The King of Thieves known as only Delagatto is a twenty-second century Robin Hood, who redistributes the wealth of those undeserving to those in true need such as orphans. At thirty-eight, he's growing tired of being a cat burglar, of researching his marks, planning his strike, and executing his theft. But honor ties him to a family legacy, and he cannot retire without fulfilling the pledge. Like his father and his grandfather, Delagatto vows to find and steal back the family heirloom that had been taken from their royal family a hundred years ago. His need to prove his skill, and the promise of the heirloom, lead to his passage back in time.

Planning to leave on the next train after completing her two-year contract as a maid at the Chesterfield Hotel, Emily Drewett receives a telegram warning her not to come home due to a quarantine. With no money and no place to go, she accepts a generous offer to spend the holidays in a luxurious room compliment of the hotel owners. The upcoming Christmas masquerade ball will provide the opportunity for her dress in borrowed finery and flirt outrageously with handsome young men. While it might be the emerald around her neck that draws Delagatto, it's her stunning green eyes that threaten his heart. As she disappears among the masked and bejeweled, Delagatto makes plans to purloin the jewel later. Unfortunately, he doesn't know the beauty's identity.

Laura Hayden's STOLEN HEARTS provides a terrific edition to the Hope Chest Miniseries. Perhaps it would have benefited from an earlier release as it doesn't update previous characters. And Karen Fox's GRAND DESIGN indicates a renovation of the old Chesterfield Hotel, while Hayden indicates further deterioration. Those small details aside, STOLEN HEARTS is a marvelous read. While in previous books of the miniseries, it's the women who travel back in time, in STOLEN HEARTS it's the man who moves backward in time. And this is no ordinary hero, but a man of his own code of honor. An imaginative, sparkling edition to the Hope Chest miniseries, STOLEN HEARTS will steal the reader's heart. Very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A waste of time
Review: This book is a syrupy romance with nothing surprising in the plot. It'a formulaic and lacks emotion.

Rating:
Summary: Loved the book
Review: This was a great book. The only thing that I didn't like is that the book did not give updates on the main characters from the last books. This book could have been read without reading the others but since I did read the others I was a bit bummed that she didn't reintroduce the characters. I was expecting to find out what happened to the characters from Grand Design. At the end she says that Delgatto is meant to be similar to Autolycus from the show Hercules. I can see that. Without watching the show I pulled up a site and saw a pic of the actor and that is exactly what I would have expected Delgatto to look like. That was interesting. Besides wishing she had brought back some of the other characters I must say that this was one of my favorite books so far in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Loved the book
Review: This was a great book. The only thing that I didn't like is that the book did not give updates on the main characters from the last books. This book could have been read without reading the others but since I did read the others I was a bit bummed that she didn't reintroduce the characters. I was expecting to find out what happened to the characters from Grand Design. At the end she says that Delgatto is meant to be similar to Autolycus from the show Hercules. I can see that. Without watching the show I pulled up a site and saw a pic of the actor and that is exactly what I would have expected Delgatto to look like. That was interesting. Besides wishing she had brought back some of the other characters I must say that this was one of my favorite books so far in the series.