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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Highwayman takes a Bride!!!, June 28, 2005
This review is from: A Perfect Hero (Mass Market Paperback)
Lady Juliana Sterling is scorned by love. A beautiful woman who is firmly on the shelf. She resolves to live her life alone, to never feel a child in her arms, and to spend the remainder of her days shielding her heart from that devestating emotion.
Viscount Dane Granville is posing as a highwayman called the Magpie while conducting an investigation for the Home Office. Robbing Lady Juliana's carriage was just part of the role. He didn't mean for Lady Juliana to get injured. Guilt and duty required that he take Lady Juliana to his hideout in the woods.
While ensconced in that quite hideaway a delicate struggle between captor and captive begin. Their attraction to each other is fierce. They both fight emotions they know are inappropriate...will they ever work it out?
I do recommend this novel for it's quick delivery and good writing style. The characters are easily likeable and the drama is good. Also it practically smoulders off the page. A great way to spend an afternoon.
Why not 5 stars...well it's preference really. I didn't need the highwayman to be a Viscount. He really didn't need to have higher purposes. He could have remained a criminal and somehow that would have made him more sexy. Also the type is so big it's about 5-8 words per line. It really could be a 100 page novella. Another great book to buy would be Samantha Saxon's The Lady Lies.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Failed to Stand and Deliver the Ultimate Punch., July 28, 2005
This review is from: A Perfect Hero (Mass Market Paperback)
The Sterling family is now complete! Samantha James offers the final chapter in her Sterling Trilogy and although A PERFECT HERO is a pleasant enough read, somehow it doesn't satisfy! Sadly, Lady Julianna's tale slips away.
Julianna Sterling is getting on with her life. Four years earlier, on her wedding day, Lady Julianna was abandoned by her fiancé. Humiliated and embarrassed, Julianna promised herself she would never again allow a man to enter her heart. Unfortunately, such a defiant direction means Julianna Sterling will never know a man's touch or have a child of her own.
Dane, Viscount Granville, works undercover for the Crown. He is the notorious highwayman 'The Magpie' and he is very good at his job. He is always cool and collected - always - well until he is forced to take Julianna Sterling captive, forced to take her to his cottage in the woods. Then suddenly Viscount Granville is simply a man.
OK such a plot does sound promising! Such a plot lays the necessary groundwork for a great romantic adventure, so what caused the story to slip away? The primary evil was the heroine's demeanor. It shouts childlike! Although, Julianna Sterling's age is twenty-seven, she radiates ten, she behaves ten, and the reader thinks ten. Whereupon, identifying romance, with a lead female character assigned to childish behavior, is extraordinary hard. The second crime is the blatant lack of the stringent social rules of the Regency period. Whenever did it become acceptable for a strange man to carry a disheveled lady into her own house, past her servants, to her bedroom, undress her, spend the night, and have NOT one person raise an eyebrow? And when did it become socially A-OK for a virtual stranger to announce to a lady's brothers (one a Marquess) that he is going to marry their sister. Not ask, just state! The consequences? The lady's brothers swap a humorous glance! Unquestionably, a historical romance must follow the rules of the era; the story CANNOT be altered to garnish the author's perception.
Yes, this is the third and final book of the Sterling family trilogy and although it does have some major problems the story remains pleasant and the fairytale epilogue did bring a smile. And it is not necessary to read A PERFECT BRIDE featuring Sebastian Sterling, the Marquess of Thurston, or A PERFECT GROOM, the Justin Sterling story, to understand and follow the Sterling family history! That feature is always an added bonus.
Grade: B-
MaryGrace Meloche.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Perfect End, July 5, 2005
This review is from: A Perfect Hero (Mass Market Paperback)
The third and final installment in the Sterling Family trilogy (A Perfect Bride & A Perfect Groom), A Perfect Hero was the strongest of the three books. We find not only resolution and closure for the Julianna Sterling (the heroine), but also for her brothers (the heros) from the previous books.
After being left at the altar, Julianna Sterling vows she will never marry without being in love, but most likely never. She wants a little excitement in her life and gets exactly that when one night her coach is accosted by the infamous highwayman, Magpie (Viscount Dane Granville--undercover). Julianna is injured in the heist and awakens to find herself in a cottage (in the middle of nowher) with only Magpie and a cat for company. Angry & resentful towards Dane initially, after a turn of events, Julianna finds herself opening up and being drawn to Dane. The two begin to fall in love, but are ripped apart when Julianna refuses to watch Dane (Magpie)--whom she knows has a secret--throw his life away. Julianna goes on with her life trying to put her experience with Dane behind her. That is...until she is "introduced" one evening to the Viscount Granville, Dane (Magpie).
The two are then thrown into a suspense-filled love affair as Dane tries to capture a villain and Julianna tries to hold it all together (a puzzle from her past, her feelings for Dane, and hoping Dane isn't harmed). In the end, it is Julianna's bravery and proactive attitude that secures she and Dane's future. Though a little different from your typical Regency romance, the romance between Julianna and Dane is an absolute delight!!!
Readers of the previous novels will be pleased to see Justin and Sebastian reappear, as the three siblings reveal secrets(to each other) regarding their past suffering at the hands of their abusive father. The three finally put their past to rest and renew their love and commitment to each other. This was not at all redundant and was a most-fitting end to the trilogy, as we were able to see how the abuse of their father and abandonment of their mother, impacted Julianna (for the first time).
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