Customer Reviews

Deeply, Desperately: A Lucy Valentine Novel

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
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When I found out that Heather Webber was not continuing the Nina Quinn series I wanted to cry. It was one of the first cozy books I had read, and I loved the entire series. I was sad to see it end. BUT, luckily for me, and the rest of her fans, she has since brought us Lucy Valentine. And boy, do I love Lucy!

While Lucy does not possess the same talents as her father in being able to read people's auras and know who they will best match with romantically, she does have her own special gift. She is able to find lost things, simply by holding the hand of the person that has lost them. She has turned her gift of finding lost items into finding Lost Loves, a new department for the family's matchmaking business Valentine, Inc. Will Lucy be able to find the lost loves of her first two clients? Clients who could not be more different. First is Faye the distraught mother, brought to her via the police, who is looking for her daughter that went missing two years ago, presumed dead at the hands of her cop husband. Then there is the ever so adorable elderly gentleman Leo, who is looking for the love of his life, the woman he lost so many years ago. As if these two cases aren't enough to keep Lucy busy, she's also dealing with a father who has started acting very peculiarly, harassing/threatening letters she has begun to receive in the mail, a mother and grandmother who have exposed more than they should, a budding (gasp) friendship with reporter Preston Bailey, and Marisol's quest to turn them into PI's to prove that Em's fiancé is no good for her. Then there is her new escalating relationship with Sean. A relationship, that while she wants to take it to the next level, is afraid to because she fears it will fall prey to Cupid's Curse (well that and they can't seem to "get together.")

One of the things I love best about this book is that fact that it's set in Boston, and that I can picture myself in each and every setting. For me, it helps me feel even more a part of the book, as if I'm taking each step with the characters. However, even if this book had not been set in Boston, I would still have found myself deeply entrenched in it. While this is the second book in the series, see Truly, Madly: A Novel, it can be read as a stand alone (but you really shouldn't miss the first one). There is never a dull moment in Deeply, Desperately, nor is everything what it appears to be. Just when you think you've got something figured out, you should think again. This book has everything a great book should have ~ fun, romance, psychic ability, mystery, humor and a quirky cast of characters that you'll fall in love with immediately. The only problem I have with this book is that it ended and that I'm going to have to wait until February to find out what the Lovable Lucy gets herself into next in Absolutely, Positively: A Lucy Valentine Novel.

My love for Lucy Valentine seems to grow exponentially with each book. Truly, Madly was an amazing mix of romance, mystery and psychic ability and Deeply, Desperately is even more sexy and intriguing. Lucy's ability as a locater of lost objects has proven to be much more useful than she had originally thought and being publicly known for that ability has introduced tension and danger to the series.

Lucy has attracted the attention of a crazy person. She begins receiving scary letters accusing her of being evil. When she and Sean start having some relationship problems, she has double to worry about. With "the curse" on the Valentine love lives seeming all the more real and a stalker on the loose, Lucy still has the mental energy to get her new division "Lost Loves" up and running. A man lost the love of his live during World War II while he was a POW and Lucy has been hired to track her down. The police need Lucy's help on a missing person's case and she's dragged into doing recon on her best friend's fiance. With so much going on, Lucy's got her hands full uncovering the many truths revealed in this book.

I loved the matchmaking in Deeply, Desperately and wish it could have been more prevalent this book. We still get to see Lucy's dad use it on occasion, much to my delight. Speaking of Lucy's dad, he has his own batch of trouble to deal with which could change Lucy's family dynamic forever.

Deeply, Desperately is light and fun, full of mystery and love. This series is one of my new favorites and I can barely wait for the next installment to spend some more time with Lucy Valentine.

I fell in love with Lucy Valentine in the first book in this series, Truly, Madly, and I immediately ordered the second book. I note that the third one, Absolutely, Positively, is already scheduled to come out; it's time to add another item to my shopping cart. This series is just plain FUN.

Lucy Valentine comes from a family with a unique mystical attribute: the ability to spot someone's true soulmate. They have a successful matchmaking business in Boston (without anyone knowing exactly why they're so successful... who'd believe them?). Except for Lucy, who instead has the ability to find lost objects.

In the first book, Lucy learned to apply that ability pragmatically, and in this one we see her applying her skill. It's less of a straight-up paranormal cozy mystery than the earlier book, and more of the story is devoted to character development (such as her best friend's impending wedding, and Lucy's own romantic tension with Sean, the private eye). That's perfectly okay, really, even if you're primarily a mystery fan. The book is funny, the characters heartwarming (even the ostensibly annoying ones like that icky journalist), and the dialog snappy.

My only quibble is with the book titles in the series, which sounds as though it'll be a sappy romance novel. Ignore that, please. Instead, if you want a lighthearted paranormal who-knows-what-genre-this-is story to entertain yourself on a laid back weekend, order this book (and the initial novel if necessary). I recommend it.

How can you NOT love Lucy Valentine? The first book was awesome, so I was really looking forward to this one. But it surprised me even more! I loved the mystery of what could have happened to Sarah...Lucy is such a likeable character, you feel as if you have known her your whole life. Maybe even visited the cottage a time or two.

Lucy really likes Sean the PI guy renting the 3rd floor of the Valentine Inc building. But will they be able to break Cupid's Curse or will Lucy be destined to spend her life alone.

Add in Lucy's parents who have not lived with each other in many years but pretend to for the sake of the company. I mean who would go to a matchmaker if their own relationship didn't matter?

Added in the mix are Lucy's hilarious friends and maybe a new one that knows a huge secret!

This story had me thanking our wonderful author for such an entertaining read! I am sooo ready for Absolutely, Positively -- Roll on Feb!

If you like light romance with a bit of mystery, then I highly recommend this series. With two books to date, I can't help but love the main character Lucy, and the quirky cast that makes up this story. She's just as fun, smart, and witty in this one. I can see myself becoming a follower of this series for as long as remains true to the initial storyline (or she stops writing them).

I love how each story seems to include a mystery that involves the family business and a mystery the has Lucy using her powers. In this book, Lucy helps an older gentleman find his lost love from before he was sent off to war. I thought this story was very sweet and I loved the closure. Plus, the mystery that Lucy solves involving a missing person is interesting. Although, I don't think it brought quite the amount of danger that seemed to be in the first book.

The romance between Sean and Lucy makes some headway. Which is a relief, because I was afraid the author might choose to drag it out for a few books. I really enjoy how intense their attraction seems to be but has a basis of true feelings and not just lust. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Sure, that's a bit of a cliche but Lucy Valentine is one of those characters you just can't help loving. She's smart, fun, kind, compassionate but she's also a little self-conscious and a little hard headed. And that's what makes these books so special. Lucy has some crazy circumstances in her life but her very realness in the face of some unreal events keep the story relateable. The other characters are just as well drawn and become deeper and richer in this second book in the series.

Heather Webber has created situations to put those characters in that are exciting, suspenseful, interesting and touching. She really has done an excellent job of making you care about the characters and the storyline in this book and that is what good writing is all about.

I enjoy Heather's other series too so if you like her writing style definitely pick up her Nina Quinn series.

I could not put the book down this weekend! I read the whole book in one weekend which I don't do very often. The book was a great, fun adventure that I just could not stop reading! Everything was resolved in the end, but I can't wait to read the next one in the series. I already have it on my wish list :)

The novel pulls you in right way with Lucy's new adventure with Lost Love. Lucy cannot see peoples auras like the rest of her family. So she uses her physic ability, to find lost objects, to get into the family business by finding lost loves. But that isn't the only thing on her plate! She must juggle with the pestering Preston, Marsol getting her involved in destroying Em's relationship with her fiancee, threat letters, a missing person case and the cupids curse!

I loved the book, but there was one thing that did bother me. Sometimes, when Lucy would start a conversation with someone. The conversation would go half way through and then Lucy would daydream or start thinking a couple paragraphs. Then it would abruptly go back to the conversation like it never stopped. Because of the paragraphs in the middle I have already forgotten initially what the conversation was about and would have to back track to remember what the beginning of the conversation was about. But, that might be just me easily forgetting :P

Overall, I love the dialogue between the characters and the characters themselves. I really like the relationship between Grendel and Thoreau. She describes Grendel so well and it is so funny. The book has romance, adventure, funny parts and sad part. Overall a well rounded book.

I love, love, love this series. Lucy has a lot on her mind with trying to solve two lost-love cases, dealing with family situations, and dealing with her love life but somehow, things always work out for the best. This was a delightful and fun-paced read that captured my attention from the start to the last page.

I really liked the first novel in this series (Truly, Madly) and this one was even better. Lucy and the gang are all back. Lucy and Sean are working together with her "Find Old Loves" spin-off of the family match-making business plus helping the police on missing person cases. Their romance continues to grow but also suffer setbacks due to the family "curse". Intrepid reporter, Preston, is worming her way into everything that could possibly be a story and Lucy's dad is hiding something.

All in all it was nice to see many relationships grow around the crazy antics that happen and I look forward to the next installment.

A cozy and comic romance with a snowy Christmas in Boston setting and a heroine whose psychic abilities allow her to find missing people and reunite lost loves. It's a quick, light-hearted read with quirky characters you can't help but like, but it took me a while to get invested in this second of the Lucy Valentine series. By the end though, as several plot-lines all started coming to a crescendo at once, I was racing through the chapters to reach all the happy endings.