All Smiles [Mass Market Paperback]

Stella Cameron (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mira | Publication Date: February 1, 2000

What Meg Smiles lacks in wealth she more than makes up for in audacity and determination, both quickly harnessed when Jean-Marc, Count Etranger, and his sister take up residence next door. Now gainfully employed as companion to the count's madcap sister, Meg discovers it is not her charge who occupies her thoughts, but the older brother. When Meg becomes the victim of a series of strange accidents, Jean-Marc vows to ensure her safety, even if it means keeping her close to him day and night.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"It's not easy being a ghost," grumbles Sir Septimus Spivey from his favorite spot on the staircase newel post at 7 Mayfair Square in 1821 London. The magnificent home Sir Septimus built for his family has now been divided into apartments and turned into a boarding house. He intends to get rid of the boarders one at a time, starting with Meg Smiles. If his ghostly meddling works, Meg will secure a position with Count Etranger as advisor and companion to his sister, Princess Desiree, and leave the house for good. A job is just what Meg needs; she is in "reduced circumstances" since her odious cousin cut her allowance from her father's estate. But the chore of turning a drab, graceless, bad-tempered princess into a charming creature in time for the forthcoming Season is more than a little daunting. Meg's growing attraction to the handsome count doesn't make her job any easier, nor does the fact that someone is apparently out to do her in. This second installment to the Mayfair Square series is sure to please historical romance fans who enjoy steamy love scenes combined with a little mystery, all penned with a lively hand.

Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Stella Cameron is the New York Times/USAToday/Washington Post best-selling, award-winning author of sixty historical and contemporary novels and novellas. Each of her single-title releases has appeared on the WALDENBOOKS mass market, and romance lists, and on the BARNES AND NOBLE list. Stella has won the ROMANTIC TIMES Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense and the ROMANTIC TIMES best Romantic Suspense of the Year Award. She has been a RITA finalist, and is the recipient of the Pacific Northwest Writers' Association Achievement Award for distinguished professional achievement and for enhancing the stature of the Northwest literary community. Current titles include 7B, the third book in the 1820s Mayfair Square series (THE ORPHAN is the fourth book and due out in March, 2002), FRENCH QUARTER, KEY WEST, GLASS HOUSES, all contemporary romantic suspense novels, and the contemporary romantic drama, FINDING IAN. TELL ME WHY, contemporary romantic suspense, is due out in September (2001) and SLOW HEAT, a contemporary anthology is now on sale.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Mira (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551666154
• ISBN-13: 978-1551666150
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 3.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,979,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stella Cameron is the New York Times best selling author of the acclaimed Court of Angels Series, the Bayou Books and many others. There are fourteen million copies of her books in circulation worldwide. She is the recipient of the Pacific Northwest Achievement Award for distinguished professional achievement and for enhancing the stature of the Northwest Literary community. She lives in Washington State.

Stella's current titles include OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF BODY and OUT OF MIND from her critically acclaimed Court of Angels series as well as her recent exclusive eBook releases BREATHLESS (contemporary romantic-suspense) and BARGAIN BRIDE: A NOVELLA (historical romance).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stella Cameron defines romance, February 22, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All Smiles (Mass Market Paperback)

When their father, a rural vicar dies, sisters Meg and Sybil Smiles move to London's 7 Mayfair Square, home of an unhappy ghost, Sir Spivey. The spirit plans to force the two sibling out of his home by matchmaking the outgoing Meg with a nearby resident.

Meg realizes that the sisters have a financial problem. She applies for employment as a companion to seventeen-year-old Princess Desiree of Mont-Nuages, a tiny country on the Italy-France border. Meg's plan is to net a wealthy spouse while serving as a guide to Desiree. Meg needs to persuade Desiree's older stepbrother Jean-Marc, Count Etranger that she can do the job. Surprisingly, Jean-Marc hires Meg. As Meg works closely with Desiree, she and Jean-Marc fall in love. However, he is the heir to the throne and she would never suit as his queen. Then again, his uncle plans to destroy the only contender to being the next monarch of Mont-Nuages even if it means killing Meg.

ALL SMILES is an entertaining Regency romance that provides a fresh look at Stella Cameron's superb 7 Mayfair series. The story line is crisp and the entry of Jean-Marc and Desiree provides a different perspective of the lives of Europe's early nineteenth century aristocracy. Meg is a wonderful and brave character whose antics adds depth to the fireworks. Sub-genre fans will demand Sybil's story soon.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best in the series, May 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: All Smiles (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to say I was very disappointed in this book. More & More (7 Mayfair Square series, 1) and 7B (3rd in series) were much, much better. I disliked Count Etranger immensely. He was overbearing, arrogant, selfish, foul-tempered, and autocratic. I found it incredibly hard to believe that Meg Smiles' had any difficulty in deciding if she should be Jean-Marc's mistress after what she did with him (and to him) in his bedroom the first day she met him. I found that scene in poor taste since it was so soon in their acquaintance. Jean-Marc seemed to know how to say what Meg wanted to hear. For a man who wanted to coax her into being his mistress (because she wasn't socially acceptable as a wife for him) he did a poor job, even shouting at her in front of people on one occasion.

Oddly enough I liked both characters much better in Meg's sister Sibyl's book, 7B. Although Meg seemed a bit arrogant too there (must be hubby's influence). The interesting thing about All Smiles was its introduction of the Count's half-sister, Princess Desiree. I am hoping she gets her own book - with Adam Chillworth as the hero of course!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery and romance in Mayfair Square, February 22, 2000

By 

Maggie (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Smiles (Mass Market Paperback)

ALL SMILES is the second book in Stella's new Mayfair Square series and it is a worthy successor to MORE AND MORE, the first book in the series. It is 1821 and Jean-Marc, Count Etranger from Mont Nuages, has come to London for his 17-year old sister's debut in society, an onerous task but one he is determined to accomplish. When Meg Smiles, the impoverished daughter of a country parson and resident of #7 Mayfair Square, brazens her way into his home offering to help prepare Princess Desiree for her debut, he readily agrees. Not only does he need help with Desiree but he also finds Meg quite compelling in her own right, even though she is far beneath him socially and completely "unsuitable." Add a meddlesome ghost, delightful secondary characters and a huge gray cat and what follows is a classic British romp with quirky characters, sparkling wit, a whiff of danger to spice things up, and plenty of sensuous romance.

Stella has outdone herself in ALL SMILES. The wry, dry wit was just delightful. Jean-Marc, the hero, is a harmless (but loud) blusterer. Meg, the heroine, is a spunky and eccentric foil for him. They are clearly meant for each other no matter how they struggle against it. I cheered them on as they learned about themselves and each other. And as much as I enjoyed the hero and heroine, the secondary characters just glowed. Princess Desiree is a very precocious 17 year old and sister to Jean-Marc. Verbeux is a sexy but very mysterious valet. Ila Upworth is a "fallen woman" with an agenda of her own. Sibyl Smiles is Meg's sister who watches in horror as Meg becomes closer and closer to the unattainable Jean-Marc. And the troublesome ghost, Sir Septimus Spivey, simply cannot remain quietly in his newel post in the front hall of #7 and stirs things up hilariously. The other residents of #7 also make many appearances and each character continues to develop leaving me eager to read their stories.