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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding New Regency Author--Captivating Voice and Story, May 20, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: A Secret Passion (Signet Regency Romance) (Paperback)
A SECRET PASSION is a book experience not to be missed by anyone who enjoys strong characters and a story that keeps your fingers quickly turning pages to discover what will happen next. This debut book certainly shows SOPHIA NASH'S star power, and I wager it is a harbinger for many more wonderful books to come. I can't wait. In this first book, Ms. Nash gradually and effectively builds on a battle of wills between her principal characters, Jane Lovering and the Earl of Graystock. It is a battle that both are determined to win until each is confronted by the cold light of truth about what really divides them. Fortunately for the reader, this emotional conflict allows Ms. Nash to entertain us with witty dialogue and sizzling sexual tension that all but lights up the pages, and she keeps that sensuality pulsating to the very end. I especially like the way she handled the initial coupling of Jane and Rolfe by using great emotion and explosive passion that, for me, deepened the journey of her characters as they struggle with their own individual desires and needs. Another fascinating character was Cornwall, where much of the action inside the story plays out, and Ms. Nash captures it beautifully. I loved how the rough coastline and countryside works against the rough edges of the story, before love enters to soften those edges. I highly recommend A SECRET PASSION and its author SOPHIA NASH. Her strong writer's voice, skillful use of history and character, and wonderful writing style should be experienced firsthand and savored. For me, it's a keeper and a great read, and I look forward to her next book with great anticipation!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous New Author, September 23, 2004
This review is from: A Secret Passion (Signet Regency Romance) (Paperback)
Setting - England, 1816 --- Mrs. Jane Lovering is a widow, not quite out of mourning when her father, unbeknownst to her arranged a betrothal to a tonnish fop, even going so far as to placing notice in the papers. Furious and refusing to be `sold' once again to bail her father out of debt - Jane is told to comply or leave taking nothing than the clothes on her back. She `borrows' her mare, and flees to Littlefield and her spinster aunt, Clarissa Fairchild.
Shortly after arriving in Littlefield, Jane chances upon a rider on a runaway stallion and assumes the rider to be a stable hand. Rolfe Fitzhugh St. James, Earl of Graystock, short-tempered and belligerent, didn't identify himself blaming her for trespassing thereby causing his mount to bolt. Upset, that a mere stable hand would rant at her, Jane further infuriates him by suggesting that she could train the temperamental stallion. He taunted her with an `I dare you' proposition to come back the next day to see if she could do better riding the stallion. An accomplished horsewoman, Jane takes on the dare. The price for losing was a kiss, a kiss that surprised them both - but just don't think `happily ever after' - forget about it! Jane's `secret passion' turned into a `secret' even she wasn't aware of until it was almost too late!
This debut had more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at with two extremely stubborn protagonists! Jane, forced to marry a man much older than herself, thought after his death she was finally free until her father tried to marry her off again to a ridiculous fop with more money than brains. She escaped by running off and being disowned in the process. With few options available she wrote to Harry, her childhood friend asking that he save her from her fathers scheming by marrying her. Before leaving to meet up with Harry, she was again thrown together with the infuriating Earl of Graystock, and does her best to fight the powerful physical attraction she felt towards him. When they both give into passion and he discovers her secret he then, without speaking to her, did the worst possible thing by traveling to London and arranging another betrothal behind her back with her only too eager father. In the meantime she and happy go lucky Harry, are busily planning an elopement. On top of all that, there is another romance taking place as her spinster aunt rediscovers, the Earl's houseguest is none other than the one suitor she'd allow her brother to chase off years ago and has now re-entered her life. Wow! Ms. Nash's fresh and effervescent voice shows great promise proving she's got what it takes. Frankly, I loved this story with all the twists and turns, and the very sensual `foreplay' between the protagonists. This was a really great read that I can highly recommend. --- Marilyn Rondeau, for www.historicalromancewriters.com ---
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Regency with Real Romance! Keeper!, May 17, 2004
This review is from: A Secret Passion (Signet Regency Romance) (Paperback)
Oh, what a delight! I brought this book along on a family vacation and ended up reading the book the first day. I could not put it down even when we were walking out to the beach. For the first time, in a very long while, I found an author who knows how to make a Regency sizzle. Break out your fans, ladies. This story heats up. The hero is positively to die for. He's a real man who knows what he wants, but knows how to respect a lady. But it is the intense chemistry between the hero and the heroine that makes this book a keeper. If you want a story that makes you laugh, sigh and want more, more, more, this book is for you. I am so glad there is another book (I just pre-ordered!) coming in August. Sophia Nash is off to a wonderful start for a long and brilliant career. I've just added this author to my automatic-buy list! You should too.
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