Customer Reviews

Deadly Desire

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

i read Deadly Desires first and realised during it that there were 3 other books written already in the series. i loved the book-particularly because i found the characters and their lives so engrossing. i've since read the rest of the series and a lot of things in Deadly desire fell more completely in place. The heroine Francesca Cahill is admirable, young and gutsy. It was a surprise to me to find that there are actually two heroes and that Francesca may end up with either one of them. I strongly favour Hart Calder who is half brother to Rick Bragg, the man that Francesca fancies herself in love with at the moment. Throughtout this book there is a compelling and ever increasing chemistry between Francesca and Hart but currently there is no strong evidence to suggest which one of the two Francesca will end up with. whoevever Brenda Joyce eventually pairs Francesca with will no doubt leave many readers disappointed as both heroes are popular. i suspect that some readers may not like the fact that the heroine is attracted to two different men .she is convinced that she is in love with Rick but he is married already although estranged from his wife. It has to be kept in mind that Deadly Desire is the latest in a series and to enjoy it one will have to want to read the rest of the series otherwise too many questions are left unanswered which 'one of readers' might find unsatisfactory.

I read Deadly Affairs and Deadly Desire back-to-back. I started reading this at 7am and finished it at 2pm (cleaning the house in between) I had to know the outcome!! Deadly Desire picks up right where Deadly Affairs ends. The romance between Bragg and Francesca heats up and we meet Braggs family, as well as the infamous Mrs. Bragg, Rick's Wife. Ms.Joyce raises the stakes with several delicious twists in the plot..in fact, I find it difficult to believe that this is the final book in the Francesca Cahill series. Ms. Joyce has once again left much of the plot hanging at the end of this 4th book..with much indication that there MUST be at least a 5th book to wrap it all up!!

I think that Brenda Joyce really got a good series going this time with Deadly Desire beng the best so far. I love the relationship between Fran and Calder, they are perfect for each other. The author really kept the tension going and you can sense the intensity of feelings that Fran and Calder have for each other. Though Bragg is supposedly the hero, the way the series is going, Calder surely wins out because though he is highly attracted to Fran, he is in control and will not take advantage of her like how Bragg is doing it with her in the train and car. It seems that Calder deeply cares for and respects Fran. I really hope they end up together. Can't wait for the next of the series to come out.

I love this series. I really do. But you just don't know how frustrated I was that after buying all four books, there is no resolution to the series. Everything is still left up in the air, and according to Ms. Joyce's Web site, there is no guarantee that she'll be able to continue with the series. (She has no contract as of yet with her publisher to write anymore of the Deadly series.) I was a little angry about that. I have been trusting her all the way, but this book really bugged me. And with one book coming out every month, the publisher and the author gave the illusion that the series would wrap up by the last book. Shame on both of them.

Now to the book itself: The mystery that opens in this book goes unsolved. Multiple characters are introduced and then left dangling with no explanation. Even the love story that was so compelling in the other three books jarringly goes off course and another hero is substituted. The story line with the sister is just stagnet. I won't spoil what happens, but I wish I had stopped at book number three.

I know lots of people have loved this book, so I may be the odd woman out, but I felt compelled to write this review. I hope Ms. Joyce can get her publisher to let her at least write one more book to wrap this story up. I feel really disappointed that the series wasn't planned better.

"Deadly Desire" is author Brenda Joyce's fourth installment, and by far the best book yet in her historical mystery series featuring New York City debutante, bluestocking and amateur sleuth Francesca Cahill. Miss Cahill, the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, is an unwilling member of New York City's social elite at the turn of the 20th century. She lives in a Fifth Avenue mansion, with her parents and older brother, attends glittering society balls and fundraisers, and is a champion for social reform. An intellectual, but not a snob, Francesca is determined to do something with her mind other than plan dinner parties. Unbeknownst to her mother, she enrolled in Barnard College with aspirations to become a journalist. However, since she met and fell in love with newly appointed police commissioner Rick Bragg and began solving crimes, her grades have been suffering. With each new book Rick's and Fran's friendship has grown and their love for each other has deepened, especially since they spend so much time together working on cases. Unfortunately, there are complications in the commissioner's life which prohibit him from proposing marriage and planning a future with the young woman he cares for so much.

Although I am hooked on the series' secondary characters and their ongoing stories, I have been very skeptical about the quality and credibility of the narrative in the first three books. With "Deadly Desire" I think Ms. Joyce has hit her stride. This actually seems more like an installment in a serial novel than a stand alone romance/mystery. In fact, most of the characters are from the previous books and the mystery is part of the continuing storyline, involving Francesca, her family, friends and those who touch upon their lives. This approach suits very well and certainly has me returning for more. There are still some major flaws, but since I am so absorbed in the various subplots, I tend to overlook them at this point. The author has succeeded in holding my interest and has me coming back for more - not an easy thing to do!

Sarah Channing, a brilliant artist and Francesca's soon-to-be sister-in-law, discovers that her art studio has been vandalized. One portrait, in particular, has been brutally slashed and smeared with blood red paint. Sarah pleads with Francesca to help her find the person who committed this savage act of destruction. Fran decides to interview Calder Hart, Rick's half brother, wealthy art connoisseur and womanizer, who has befriended Francesca and is clearly attracted to her. If any other artist in the area has had similar problems with vandals, Calder would know. However, involving him, spending more time with him, is courting trouble because Calder would like to be much more than Francesca's friend.

Meanwhile, Rick's, (and Calder's), family is having a reunion of sorts in New York and, of course Fran meets them all - patriarch, Rathe Bragg, mother Grace, sister Lucy Savage with her twin toddlers and adolescent stepson, and brother Rourke, a medical student. While lunching with Lucy, Francesca realizes that her new friend is being stalked by a ruthless criminal who followed her and her children from Texas. When the thug kidnaps Chrissy, one of the twins, Fran and the Bragg clan pull together to find the little girl...hopefully alive.

Complicating things further, Leigh Ann Bragg, Rick's estranged wife, enters the picture and calls on Francesca. And of course, Fran's brother Evan continues having problems with his upcoming marriage, his father, and gambling debts. Sister Constance's marriage is rocky and her husband, British Lord Neil Montrose, is beside himself with angst, etc., etc..

Say what you will, I am hooked! If you are interested, I would suggest reading the previous Francesca Cahill novels before "Deadly Desire," as this is a continuing saga and very addictive. ENJOY!!
JANA

What a series Joyce has created. And you can read this installment knowing that there is surely another one in the works. Oh, goody!

I absolutely love the characters she's created, and the ambiguity. Through the first several books my romance radar was convinced that Bragg was the hero and would end up with heroine. Now I'm not so sure.

The threads Joyce has begun to weave together draw in more tightly and in ever more complex patterns, as Bragg's beautiful and manipulative wife enters the picture, and as Fran herself becomes aware of the undercurrent between herself and Hart.

I have to say I like Hart better now. Joyce has done a fabulous job with character debelopment.

It seemed more of a romance than a mystery, however...

I'm anxious for the next book.

I am am huge fan of Brenda Joyce. This book is the fourth in the Francesca CaHill series. I first read Deadly Love and thought that it was okay but without any real development of the romance and passion which characterises Ms. Joyce's other books. However, I have just completed reading Deadly Affairs and Deadly Desire and simply could not put them down once I started... the increasing passion between Francesca and Bragg and the development of the sexual tension between Francesca and Calder, Bragg's brother, was too captivating. I really do think that Calder is the man for Francesca and I cannot wait to read the fifth book Deadly Caress and to see what happens next.
Also, it was enjoyable to get to know the other characters, especially Francesca's brother Evan, who is engaged to a woman he does not love. There is an attraction between he and Maggie (Francesca's dressmaker, a working class mother of four) and it will be interesting to see if there is any further development in their relationship.
I have only two regrets, that I have to wait for the next book to be published and that I didn't read Deadly Pleasure, the second book, which introduced Calder. I plan to get Deadly Pleasure a.s.a.p. and read it.
I highly recommend the series and suggest anyone who is interested read all the books to fully understand the development of the story and the characters.

I've finally discovered the trick to letting go of several issues/reservations I have about Brenda Joyce's Francesca Cahill novels -- not to treat them as either mystery novels or romance novels, but more as historical novels about the continuing chronicles/saga of the Cahill family and everyone involved with and related to this family. This way, I give up throwing my hands up in despair over the fact that these novels are not really very satisfying mystery novels, and I stop obsessing about why Francesca's antics sometimes upset me so, and am able to just let go and enjoy the events that unfold before my eyes. For I'll admit this series is almost a guilty addiction. Francesca may (in my opinion anyway) be unhealthily engrossed with Police Commissioner Rick Bragg, but I'm dying to know how things will turn out for Sarah Channing (Francesca's about to be sister-in-law). Will she end her engagement with Evan Cahill and move on, hopefully to better things, and perhaps someone more interesting, mature and vital than that idiot Evan? I certainly hope so. Brenda Joyce (I think) seems to hint at such an outcome in this latest Francesca Cahill novel, and I'm thrilled. However on another note, I must own that I'm a little disappointed with "Deadly Desire," because the excerpts from the previous books had led me to believe that "Deadly Desire" would focus more on Sarah. Sadly the mystery of who trashed Sarah's studio and why was sidelined in favour of the subplot involving Bragg's sister, Lucy.

Bragg's family are currently in town for a family reunion, and when Francesca meets Bragg's married sister, Lucy, she immediately senses a kindred spirit. Especially when Lucy insists on helping Francesca discover who has trashed Sarah's studio. However their joint investigation never really takes off. Francesca discovers that Lucy is being stalked. At first Lucy refuses to confide in Francesca. The stalking soon escalates to physical threats, and still Lucy refuses to confide in Francesca or to tell her family what's going on. Francesca however is determined to discover what trouble her new friend is in and to help her out no matter what. But even Francesca is unprepared for the sheer malevolence of what happens next.

As usual, the bulk of this novel revolves around the several set issues that are affecting the members of the Cahill family: 1) Constance & Neil's falling apart marriage. May I say that I'm a little tired of this stale issue? I wish someone would either lock these two up in a room until they come to an understanding, or else (and I'm leaning towards this solution strongly) really shake them until their brains snap into place? 2) Evan & Sarah's engagement. Neither of them are really thrilled at being engaged to each other. And Evan is such a lightweight fribble. It looks as if (I'm crossing my fingers here) Brenda Joyce may be introducing a new character that may sweep Sarah off her feet. Let's hope these two get unengaged soon, and that Sarah finds happiness first! (petty aren't I?) And finally 3) the Franceca-Bragg-Hart triangle. Who will Francesca finally choose? And will either man be able to live with her decision? Tacked onto these issues is the subplot involving Lucy's troubles. It is a rather interesting subplot that sometimes seem to get lost in the mix. But I've come to expect this from this series, and so was not really flabbergasted this time around! "Deadly Desire" also (finally) introduces us to Bragg's estranged wife, Leigh Anne, as she puts in an appearance and makes her bid to come between Francesca and Bragg, thus adding to the tension as we wonder what on earth will happen next. I can see only one way out of all of this. But that would still leave the complication of Calder Hart (Bragg's half-brother) and Francesca's confused feelings for him. And why are Bragg and Hart constantly at odds with each other anyway?

On the whole, I enjoyed "Deadly Desire" a lot more than the other books in the series. Either my approach has changed, or things finally 'gelled' with this book. However I was disappointed that the mystery for which I bought this book didn't really materialize. And that was a letdown. I rate this novel at a very strong 31/2 stars.

Just so much fun that it brings a smile to your face....Brenda Joyce defintely has hit the mark with this series. For those who would like to be invited into the lives of Fran, Hart, and Rick be prepared... The whole family will join in the fun by the time you get to Deadly Desire...Make sure you read them in sequence for it only makes it more enjoyable...I'm waiting for the next one and can't wait for the story line to explode...For romance and mysteries make great partners !

First I have to say to someone who wrote another review, Yes the book leavs you hanging because there is going to be a fifth book.
I think the book is excellent. I have read almost all Brenda Joyces books and have not been disappointed yet.
As for the Deadly Serious each books leave wanting more on the edge of your seat. You cant wait to see what happens next. I for one i'm dying to know what happens with Fran, Bragg, and Calder.
There are so many twist and turns and so much going on with the other characters.
Brendas books take you back in time like if your really there.
You really feel like you know the characters.
She describes every scene every dress every person so well you cant help but to feel like your really there.
YOU MUST READ THE BOOK !!