Customer Reviews

Red Roses Mean Love

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book had everything....suspense....romance... I especially liked the tea parties...could picture grown men sitting in tiny chairs...drinking tea from miniscule cups...loved the pets also...loved the misplaced sailors filling in as housemen...the hero was great.,the heroine lovely...will save this book forever...and read it again ...

Someone had hired thugs to assassinate Lord Stephen Barrett. The second attempt almost succeeded. Hayley Albright finds Stephen close to dead in the woods and takes him to her home to recover. Stephen pretends to be a tutor. With the help of his brother-in-law, Stephen decides to lay low at the Albright house for awhile and recover in hopes the culprit can be found.

Hayley's parents were years dead. Her father had died without leaving the family with much funds. Hayley, being the oldest, took control. She had to take care of five siblings and a staff. As Stephen recovered, Hayley had unknowingly shown him all that was missing in his life. Hayley's love of her family showed in everything she did. The entire family treated Stephen as one of them, instead of as a stranger. But soon, Stephen would have to return to his own world and face a killer. Hayley had her own secret: how she paid the bills.

***Everyone simply HAS to read this one! I chuckled all the way through it! I laughed out loud several times and twice had to stop to wipe the tears out of my eyes from laughing so hard! This is Jacquie D'Alessandro's debut novel. Dell Publishing was wise enough to quickly snatch up the rights to this author's second novel. With this one book, she has hit my tiny list of authors which I automatically purchase without reading the back first. If it has the name Jacquie D'Alessandro on it, it's guaranteed to please!***

Red Roses Mean Love delivers what every romance reader wants: a spirited love story filled with characters so rich, they live beyond the final page. Jacquie d'Alessandro, in this debut novel, has bested many romance veterans with her witty characters, vivid descriptions, and laugh-out-loud scenes. Like real women,Hayley is passionate about more than just a man. She adores her family, her vocation, even the scraggly mongrels desparately in need of a bath. Stephen Barrett doesn't stand a chance--and he's all the better for it! Home life is hilarious and the love scenes are sensual and honest. A delightful read that offers the very best of romantic fiction. I can't wait for the next book!

I really loved this book. The plot and the characterization were both outstanding (The secondary players were hysterical!), and Hayley was someone I could definitely relate to. Even though the book takes place in 1820, Hayley still had the same problems all women have--juggling home, kids, and career--and falling in love. And Stephen was just wonderful--aloof on the outside, but the poor guy WAS thrust into a completely foreign environment with Hayley and her unusual family. Not to mention that there was a killer after him! Seeing Stephen change from a cold, unloved man into the sort of man we all dream about through the warmth and love of Hayley's family is something I will never forget. I wish there were more like him around! Bravo Ms. D'Alessandro on a fabulous debut. You've made it onto my very select list of must-buy authors.

What a wonderful book this is! I was going to give my sister my copy to read, but after finishing Red Roses (I stayed up all night to finish it!), I told my sister she'd have to buy her own because my copy was going right onto my keeper shelf. The characters were REAL people. No cardboard people in THIS book. Hayley was a strong, loving heroine, and Stephen was marvelous. The poor man, in spite of having every material advantage, had never known love in his entire life--until Hayley and her family came along. I loved how the author took a sad, lonely, cynical man and let him grow into someone I fell in love with. He had his flaws, but the strength of this family's love showed him a new way. It was wonderful from the first page to the last. It made me feel so good, I'm still smiling! If I could give it FIFTY stars I would!!

The heroine of this book is really great, she's writing "men's stories" in a "men's" magazine to support her family. Very cool. All the characters were funny and believably real. I was glad to see the 'hero' came around and turned out to be a good guy after all. I can hardly wait for Ms. D'Alessandro's next book in May "Kiss the Cook". The excerpt on her web site has made me impatient for the rest. Good Job Jacquie!

When I read "Red Roses Mean Love," I couldn't wait to email the author to tell her how much I loved it. When I heard this is a first book, I couldn't believe it. Ms. D'Alessandro writes as well or better than most of the veteran historical writers. The characters are vivid, the story is exceptionally satisfying, and the writing is stylish and fresh. Talk about a hero to die for! I've read tons of Regencies and other historicals and I have a short list of writers whose books I always buy. Jacquie D'Alessandro is now at the top of that list!

I can't say enough about this book with its' beautiful and different story line. I fell in love with Hayley's 2 "servants", her dear sweet Aunt and even the "Hellhounds". What a delightful book and I found the meanings to the flowers so interesting I have kept them. No depressing love, hate relationship. Thank you so much Jacquie and look forward to more books like this. You certainly have a lot of fans like me too.

Jacquie D'Alessandro has a winner with her first book. Red Roses Mean Love is a wonderful, charming love story.

In 1820 in the outskirts of London, Lord Stephen Barrett is shot and left for dead. He is found by Miss Hayley Albright, a spinster determined to take care of her family. When Stephen awakens afterward the first person he sees is Hayley and he believes she is an angel.

Determined to find the person who tried to kill him, Stephen pretends to be a tutor and stays with the Albright family until he has fully recovered. He finds that the Albright family is an intersting lot, servents that eat at the table, children that are outspoken and taught from home, a half-deaf aunt who's elevator doesn't go to the top. A wonderful family indeed. Stephen finds himself going to tea parties with 6 year old girls, going fishing, learning how to cook, shaving himself, and falling in love with Hayley. Hayley feels the same way about Stephen, but she believes that he is a tutor not a marquis, son of a duke. The two fall deeper and deeper in love, while Stephen is inventing more and more lies.

Would Hayley still love Stephen once she finds out the truth? What about the person trying to murder Stephen? This is a wonderful love story and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a great historical.

In 1820, Lord Stephen Barrett fleets London to escape the assailants trying to kill him. By the time he reaches the suburbs, he figures he and his few loved ones are safe. However, to his amazement, the hired goons catch up to him and shoot him. The hoodlums, watching Stephen plunge into the nearby freezing water, leave thinking their victim is dead.

While driving her gig, Haley Albright notices an unconscious person. With the help of a servant, she brings home the injured individual to help him heal from his wounds. As he recuperates, Stephen pretends to be a tutor. However, the open display of love and caring amidst the Albright household including servants stuns Stephen. He wants the same for his own family. Even more shocking, Stephen begins to care for the precocious Albright children. He also falls in love with his Haley, who runs the loving lunatic farm that he wants to join. However, Stephen concludes he is not worthy and leaves when he feels Haley is beginning to return his love. Stephen knows he must first deal with an unknown assailant before anyone he loves becomes a victim of a killer.

Regency romance fans will simply love RED ROSES MEAN LOVE because the jocular story line smoothly blends an entertaining mystery within a warm romance. The characters are an enjoyable lot as a new sub-genre force Jacquie D'Alessandro provides the audience with tidbits that bring the period to life. The myriad of wonderful often wacky relationships will remind the audience of a regency version of YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. Readers will ardently want Ms. D'Alessandro to provide sequels starring secondary characters who make this book an enjoyable reading experience. A prediction:In the years to come Jacquie D'Alessandro will become a household name for lovers of the romance genre.

Harriet Klausner