Customer Reviews

A Gentleman By Any Other Name (Romney Marsh Trilogy)

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Thirty-year-old Chance Becket remembers his horrid beginning. He has spent most of his life trying to forget. He married well in Society, had a daughter, and even landed a prestigious position with the War Office. Now chance is a widow, as of six months ago. Alice, his five-year-old daughter, needs the attention Chance does not believe he can give. Therefore, he quickly hires a nanny, Julia, and off they go to Romney Marsh on the coast. Chance full expected to simply drop Alice and Julia off at Becket Hall, when his large, motley collection of adopted family members reside. However, the War Office, charged Chance with looking into the smuggling situation and other possible problems within the Romney Marsh area. So Chance's plans to escape back to London are no null and void. Chance will have to face his past, smooth over all rough family matters, and help the family deal with a serious gang problem.

Julia Carruthers knows all about smugglers. She may be a vicar's daughter, but neither she, nor her father, condemned the people in their village for how they survived. They even helped a bit. When Julia finds herself alone in the world, she is relieved to be hired as Alice's nanny. She is also happy that they are leaving London for the coast. However, even before they reach Becket Hall, Julia has seen too much, heard too much, and she is just too smart for her own good. So even if Julia wanted to leave the marsh, Chance and his family would not, could not, allow her to. Besides, before Julia was fully hired by Chance, they were arguing, and the clashing of wills is just as passionate in the bedroom. Still, Julia is the outsider. She will have to earn the Becket family's trust.

Everything better get settled quickly. The family will soon deal with the Red Men Gang. It is a large, well-controlled, strongly led, and generously financed organization that now controls all the smuggling for miles of the coast. The only section left for the Red Men to seize is Romney Marsh.

***** OMG! Non-stop action from start to finish! It seems that author Kasey Michaels does nothing half way. Many could have made a dozen novels out of the characters and plots within this single book. Yet it looks as though this will only be a trilogy, with the next two books being released within the next two months. Of course, each book will be a stand alone story. You do not HAVE to read them all. But I pity anyone who misses them! I wonder, if enough fans write the publisher, perhaps the author can be persuaded to create even more novels about the Becket family. How easily I came to care for every single member of this odd family, even the voodoo priestess. (Yes, she is part of the family too.) A fabulous story that I hated to see end. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I am a big fan of Ms Michaels. She usually writes spunky heroines, dapper heroes, and has a flair for humor that adds so much depth to the romance genre. I was disappointed by A Gentleman by Any Other Name, however.

In retrospect, I figure she was trying to write some sort of gothic romance, with windswept moors and brooding, complicated characters. A mass market Wuthering Heights. This story of Chance Becket, the eldest of Ainsely Becket's children (some adopted, some not) was melodramatic and oftentimes boring. Julia Carruthers, who happens to hail from nearby Chance's ancestral home, applies for and gets the job as Chance's daughter's nanny in London. But then they go back to the Marsh where Julia shows everyone how well she fits into the culture and goings on of this somewhat isolated village. Julia is nosy and annoying and has a tendency to be overbearing without having any of the other qualities in a heroine, such as humor, self depreciating or otherwise, which make the annoying traits bearable. The attraction between her and Chance is forced, and the book is quite frankly way too long. It's also obvious this will be one in a long line of books for every orphan, maybe with one or two of them pairing up with each other (ew, just because they aren't blood related, doesn't mean they aren't siblings!). I picked up another one at the same time, and just finished skimming it. Pretty much the same thing.

What saves this book is the host of secondary characters, including a cast of retired privateers, who make the story more interesting and fun. I won't be getting of the others in the series, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who enjoys the whimsical regency Ms Michaels often treats us too. This book, and it seems this series, are for readers who prefer long passages with no action, dark and brooding characters (seriously, most of them are), and irritating main characters.

Chance's wife died six months ago and he is currently looking for a
nanny for his daughter Alice. So far, every candidate he has seen has
been unsuitable. Until Julia arrives. Chance thinks Julia is
beautiful and head strong, and since she is the last woman interviewing
for the position, he is desperate, so he hires her.

Julia thinks Chance is an intriguing and maddening man, but she finds
his daughter Alice delightful. Chance intends to take Julia and Alice
to Becket Hall, his family home in Kent. There Julia and Alice will
stay with his father and his large and slightly odd family. He planned
to come back to London to continue work with the War Office but
coincidentally he now has work to do in Kent so he is staying. Chance
is needed to investigate the smuggling that is taking place there.

Chance's family appears to be involved in the secret activities and
Julia is quick to discover what is going on. To assure her silence and
protect his family, Chance seduces Julia. He was not counting on his
feelings growing for her in the process though. As the Beckets try to
solve the problems of gangs and smuggling while keeping their family
safe, Chance comes to realize that he wants Julia forever and so he has
the added task of keeping her safe and by his side.

A Gentleman By Any Other Name is delightful. Chance and Julia are very
likeable
characters. I was drawn to their witty banter and their passion. I
felt they were very well suited to each other. The entire Becket
family is a colorful mix of characters, each having their own
fascinating story to tell. Drama, intrigue and romance combine
creating a really enjoyable story, A Gentleman By Any Other Name is the
first book in what promises to be a fantastic series!

Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This book was not fast paced enough for me, it just lagged 'on and on and on'. I did not like Julia at all, she was just nosy, snoopy and asked 'question, after question after question', until I felt like telling her put a sock in it, already. There was nothing about her that was endearing.
Chance was just,'there'... rather colorless! And how he fell in love with Julia's personality, I will never know!
He would have been better off buying a Parrot, at least he could have put a cover over it's cage to shut it up!

And the story... as with 'ALL' the too many Characters... fell flat. Library maybe, buy it no.

Kasey Michaels has done it again and fabulously so with the most endearing characters you could hope to find peopling Becket House on Romney Marsh! The dialogs are brilliant, the characters are mesmerizing, the sensuality inspiring, and the chuckles are endless! I predict the unconventional Beckets of Romney Marsh are going to wheedle their way into the readers' hearts as they have certainly done in mine.

Chance Becket and Julia Carruthers are fabulous protagonists that were simply made for one another. Julia having come to London to find work as a nanny for Chance's motherless daughter Alice, was hired and found herself heading back to Chances' family home in Romney Marsh the very next day. Though somewhat intimidated by his unconventional family, Julia didn't seem intimidated by Chance.

Julia's outspokenness and contrary ways seemed to amuse and totally confound Chase who had never met anyone quite like her. The fact that Julia's sincere devotion to his beloved daughter Alice was definitely a point in her favor, and the fact that she was attractive certainly helped him to overlook her cheeky barbs. When it appeared that Julia stumbled upon some Becket family skeletons, she wondered if Chances' passionate advances were based on attraction, or simply to keep her quiet and protect his family and the secrets of a past he so desperately wanted to forget.

*** Along with her clever writing, Kasey Michaels draws the reader in with memorable characters, witty and intelligent banters, and a delightfully woven plot. The love scenes are sensual and overflow with tantalizing emotion. Readers should be delighted and more than satisfied with this latest effort, and I for one will be anxiously awaiting the next story featuring Chance's sister Morgan and the rest of the Becket family members!

I'm on the 3rd book, Beware of Virtuous Women, and I'm still not entirely sure if I like this series. Usually, I can tell if it's a good book based on how easily I can put it down. There are very few narrative hooks compared to some of her other romances and I found ample moments to put the first 2 books down without really missing anything. In fact, it took me almost a week to finish the first one (almost unheard of for me; usually 2 days max per book). I liked the family and I liked Julie and Chance but I didn't LOVE anything. And I'm sorry but you would think a preachers daughter would try to stay pure longer than the 5 days or so that she does. The passion she tried to evoke between the 2 that would make me believe they just HAD to have each other just wasn't there.

Ms. Michaels tries to hook you with leaving little hints as to what happened on the island before they came to England and that kept me mildy intrigued but then I was thoroughly disappointed when I reached the end and nothing was revealed. Is she really going to keep this going for another 6 books (each sibling)?! I don't know if I can make it through that many.
I made it through the 2nd one with a little more enthusiasm because I thought Morgan was a little bit more interesting than Julie. At least she tried to do a little more character depth with Morgan, but I don't feel like I ever got to know Ethan.

I am enjoying the 3rd book so far, but I'm only into the first 2 chapters and once again I have set it down to do this and feel only a mild inclining to get back to it. To me, the writing seems forced. Like maybe Ms. Michaels had a great story idea, a new series of siblings to write about, and then was told she had to do so in half the time she normally takes to write a book. The writing seems rushed, the characters have less depth, and the plot seems to continue in one straight line with little or no twists to keep the reader intrigued. I think the books had potential and never quite reached it.

This is the first book in the series. It introduced you to the Becket's of Romney Marsh and their extended family. It was a good read.

In 1811 England, widower Chance Beckett hires Julia Carruthers as a nanny to his five years old daughter Alice though she no experience; he simply liked her spunk championing his child. A couple of days later they travel to Romney Marsh, the home of his adopted father, where he plans to leave Julia and Alice while he went back to work for the War Office. However, his superior wants him to rusticate and uncover who is leading major smuggling operations in the area that abet the French.

Ainsley is elated to see his oldest son Chance, who has not visited in several years as they are estranged. He and his other adopted children and the only one of his seed assume that Julia is Chance's lover. As Julia adjusts to the strange household, she and her employer fall in love. However, Chance refuses to take a chance on this flimsy emotion while seeking to capture the head smuggler.

The zany Beckett extended family turn A GENTLEMAN BY ANY OTHER NAME into a delightful Regency romance. The War Office smuggling subplot comes late into the tale as readers meet the enchanting and often amusing cast, wonderful Ainsley and his seven orphans, some of his sailing cronies, Chance's daughter and Julia. The story line is fast-paced as matchmakers galore interfere with the relationship between the wharf rat and the lady. Kasey Michaels is at her historical make that hysterical best with this fine you can go home if the heart is in it romance.

Harriet Klausner

This is my first review I have ever written. I am really enjoying this series. I am just starting on the 3rd book The Virtuous Woman! I could hardly put down the first two down. It has lost of fun twist & turns. It keeps you laughing! If you like this book you will LOVE # 2 The Dangerous Debutante! The wild child Morgan! It is even better!

The is great. I came quickly and was in great shape.