A Delicate Balance [Paperback]

Roberta Gellis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1993

Heiress Linda Hepler wished to learn something of real life and hired as companion to elderly Mrs. Bates on her trip to Corfu. But accidents threatened her employer’s life, and Linda had to determine whether it was Mrs. Bates’ smooth-talking nephew Donald, or her heir, hot-tempered Peter, who was behind the mischief. Both men professed interest in Linda—and she struggled for a balance between duty and desire. Contemporary Romantic Suspense by Roberta Gellis; originally published by Leisure

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Leisure Books (Mm) (March 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843934255
• ISBN-13: 978-0843934250
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,388,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roberta Gellis has a varied educational background--a master's degree in biochemistry and another in medieval literature--and working history--10 years as a research chemist, many years as a free-lance editor of scientific manuscripts, and more than 40 years as a writer. She is married--to the same man for over 60 years (no mean feat in these days) and lives in Lafayette, Indiana, with her husband Charles and a lively Scottish terrier called Zoe. She has one child, Mark, who teaches Rhetoric (a fancy name for expository writing) at Kettering University in Michigan. Mark is married to Sandra and they have a lovely daughter, Elizabeth.

Gellis has been a successful writer of historical fiction, publishing over 25 meticulously researched historical novels since 1964. The best known of these are The Roselynde Chronicles (ROSELYNDE, ALINOR, JOANNA, GILLIANE, RHIANNON, and SYBELLE). The series has been reprinted many times since its first appearance in 1979, most recently in 2006. Gellis has also been the recipient of many awards, including the Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books, the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur, The Romantic Times Award for Best Novel in the Medieval Period (more than once) and Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy, as well as Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Acheivement Award.

More recently Gellis has ventured into other genres, starting with mythological fantasy (DAZZLING BRIGHTNESS, SHIMMERING SPLENDOR, ENCHANTED FIRE, BULL GOD, and THRICE BOUND). Most recently she has written historical fantasy, with a series of book coauthored by Mercedes Lackey set in Elizabethan times (THIS SCEPTER'D ISLE, ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT, BY SLANDEROUS TONGUES, and AND LESS THAN KIND). Before that she was writing historical mysteries, a four-book series set in London and Oxford in 1139 (A MORTAL BANE, A PERSONAL DEVIL, BONE OF CONTENTION and CHAINS OF FOLLY) and one set in the Italian Renaissance in Ferrara (LUCREZIA BORGIA and the MOTHER OF POISONS).

Since Gellis is one of the early addicts to electronic readers---she purchased a RocketeBook way back in 1999---it is no surprise that she was eager to get her own out of print historical romances into electronic format. Cerridwen Press (http://www.cerridwenpress.com) has published the Heiress Series (THE ENGLISH HEIRESS, THE CORNISH HEIRESS, THE KENT HEIRESS, FORTUNE'S BRIDE, and A WOMAN'S ESTATE) as well as the Royal Dynasty Series (don't ask me about that, there isn't a royal or a dynasty in any of the four books---it was a notion of a long-ago agent) SIREN SONG, WINTER SONG, FIRE SONG, and A SILVER MIRROR. Cerridwen offers a variety of formats, one of which can be read by the Kindle and for those too firmly addicted to paper, the books are also available in a very nice Trade edition (but those are rather expensive).

I'm sorry I don't have any amusing anecdotes to relate, as recommended by the Profile, but a writer's life is really very quiet. Sometimes my neighbors ask my husband what has happened to me because they haven't seen me in such a long time. Depending on his humor of the moment, sometimes Charles tells them that I can't come outside because he keeps me chained to my computer---but that isn't true. He lets me get up once in a while.

Roberta Gellis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Indelicately Balanced, December 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Delicate Balance (Paperback)

"A Delicate Balance" violates several romance genre conventions. The financially and emotionally secure heroine is not a virginal victim of extorsion or coercion. The likable hero is not suave, sardonic, or saturnine. If the mystery subplot and characters weren't completely cliched, the story would have been shockingly original. Even though the premature conclusions and red herrings expected in a pot-boiler mystery are present, the novelty of the romance makes this book a swift, pleasant read.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Waste Your Time, October 13, 2001

By 

Diana F. Von Behren "reneofc" (Kenner, LA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Delicate Balance (Paperback)

This is a silly story of a poor little rich girl, Linda, who wants to see life from "a worm's view". She checks herself out of London's Claridge Hotel and into the life of Mrs. Bates as her paid companion. However Linda manages to adjust to her new role, she does so with the precise motions of an automaton and with as little emotion. Even her love affair with one of the nephews of the house, abeit meant to be humorous, is so pristine it rankles. The two-fold plot revolves around Linda's said fork in the road and the mysterious undercurrent of unease that revolves around the household.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one; it is a dissatisfying waste of time.