Customer Reviews

The Parlor House Daughter (Five Star Expressions)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just finished this book and loved it! It had the perfect blend of romance and history. I found the storyline fascinating and all the characters full of depth. Rebecca Rose, Morgan, Fanny, etc...you really get to know and feel for each of them. Their individual struggles and hardships are felt from the opening pages and keep you interested until the very end.
I am a huge fan of historical romances as well and found this book extremely well written. I highly recommend this book and promise you won't be disappointed.

I actually enjoyed this book. It wasn't a book I was dying to pick back up every time I put it down, but it was a decent story and the characters, given the length of the novel, were well developed enough to be believable.

The love story is good and the "twist" at the end was entertaining, although, I have to say I expected it. If you're looking for a decent love story western, without too much cheese, this is a good way to kill an afternoon.

Rebecca Rose (Becca) is the daughter of a prostitute in Nevada City, Colorado Territory. Five year old Becca sees the man who just murdered her mother and never forgets his crippled hand and distinctive ring. Her mother's friend and fellow crib-prostitute cannot care for Becca and she sends her to be raised by Jenny Clayton who owns The Palace, one of Denver's grander brothels. As Becca matures and prepares to enter "the life" she meets Morgan Larkspur, son of one of Denver's wealthy business magnates. Morgan is smitten and not wanting to share her with other clients makes her an offer to be his mistress, even though he's just become engaged to snotty socialite Lavinia Eagleton. As Morgan is off in Leadville dealing with potentially violent labor unrest at the mines, Becca "feels" her mother telling her that her killer is close by and she risks everything to find the man who murdered her mother.

Well, it all kind of sounds promising for an historical romance - however this one is much too light on both history and romance to cut it - at least for this reader. It drove me to distraction where all the prostitutes in the book constantly referred to themselves as whores and it was repeated over and over and over again to the point I felt I was being clubbed over the head with it all. Morgan, who just became engaged sets up his mistress in the grandest hotel in town instead of a discreet little apartment somewhere? I don't think so. All in all it was a very bland, predictable book - it was pretty easy to figure out who the bad guy was by the start of chapter two, the rest of the characters were cardboard cutout - everyone is either very very good or very very bad. Get it from the library first and then buy it if you love it. A very generous two stars.

In 1863 in Nevada City, Colorado Territory, an assailant murders prostitute Ruby Rose. Her five years old daughter Rebecca moves into a brothel, Jenny Clayton's Palace, where she is raised by the ladies with tenderness and kindness. Madame Jenny even offers to send her east for schooling when she became a teen, but Becca is obsessed with one day finding out who killed her mom and why.

When Becca turns seventeen, customer Morgan Larkspur notices her and is willing to pay top dollar to have her; none of Madam Jenny's other girls would do. Becca accepts being Morgan's mistress as she feels that arrangement might help her make progress on her cold case investigation. However, as she begins to fall in love, a crisis threatens to overwhelm them. He must deal with a miner's strike and she with the unknown culprit trying to kill her. Besides which, Morgan is engaged to another woman.

This Reconstruction Era romance stars two solid lead characters and a strong cast, especially the prostitutes as the story line contains a deep look into the plight of females. The plot is fast-paced even the opening scene in which Ruby is bleeding to death and never slows down as Becca forces her mother's killer to confront her and propels Morgan to confront his feelings and desires. Historical fans will enjoy this fine 1870s Americana tale.

Harriet Klausner

Wow, what a wonderful read!!! This book had me on the edge of my seat from page 1. The writing is as elegant as the cover.

Very predictable, I knew the ending from the start.
Don't recommend it ....
Sorry, but not a great book.

This book promised a lot and delivered nothing. I'm a big fan of well written historical romance, and the beautiful cover and polished look of this book said "novel" more than trashy dime-store. However, it was poorly written, the plot was extremely predictable (like another reviewer said, I figured it out from like, the second chapter), and the characters were wooden and frankly, a pain in the butt. Rebecca Rose was the worst sniveling, whining, do-gooder (yet a whore, of course) character I've ever seen, and Morgan was boring, poorly spoken, and inconsistent. All in all, this book was an insult to all readers. Stay away!