Someone to Love: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Jude Deveraux (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2007

It's been three years since his fiancée's mysterious suicide, and Jace Montgomery still hungers for answers. Stacy was kind, funny, and in love -- why, on a trip to England, would she end her life in a room above a village pub? Then Jace stumbles upon a photo of a rambling estate tucked inside one of Stacy's books -- and a cryptic note dated one day before her death: "Ours again. Together forever. See you there...."

Drawing on his family's vast wealth, Jace returns to England to purchase the unsightly Priory House -- and soon discovers it is haunted by the headstrong ghost of Ann Stuart. Unraveling the ties between past and present with the help of a beautiful local journalist, Jace must at last reconcile his heartwrenching loss and his own hopeful future.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Deveraux's familiar latest, Jace Montgomery's fiancée, Stacy, commits suicide while they're vacationing in England—or so, three years after her death, everybody but Jace believes. The chance discovery of a letter Stacy received days before she died and a photo of Priory House in Margate, England—the village where Stacy committed suicide—prompt Jace to investigate. Finding Priory House for sale, Jace buys it despite its ugliness and expense. Dwelling in the house is the ghost of young Ann Stuart, who lived there in the 1870s and committed suicide just before her wedding. A local journalist, the beautiful and confrontational Nightingale Smythe, joins man and spirit in the search for the truth about Stacy and Ann's deaths. Deveraux never raises the pitch very high, and harmonizes the whole satisfactorily. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Three years after wealthy Jace Montgomery's fiancée, Stacy, committed suicide, he discovers a postcard of Priory House, a British estate, with an enigmatic love note. Although Stacy's family blamed Jace, saying she wanted to end the engagement, he knows their love was mutual, and has never believed it was suicide. Certain that Priory House holds the key, he buys the estate. He detests the rambling house on sight; however, he is intrigued by the Victorian ghost of Ann Stuart because, like Stacy, she supposedly committed suicide before her wedding to escape from marrying her intended groom. Jace knows that if he can untangle Ann's mystery, he can find out what really happened to Stacy. He gets help from his beautiful next-door neighbor, Nigh Smythe, a war correspondent on leave after a tragedy. Deveraux's wonderful addition to her romances about the Montgomery family will satisfy old fans and entice new ones. Engelmann, Patty --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (December 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743437179
• ISBN-13: 978-0743437172
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 0.9 x 4.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #491,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult > Ghosts & Haunted Houses
  • #36 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Deveraux, Jude

More About the Author

Jude Deveraux was once a fifth-grade teacher who loved to read. When her imagination began to be filled with her own stories to tell, her career as a writer began. Jude's novels have been set in both contemporary and historical periods. Her strong, lyrical writing style and ability to write stories with memorable characters, rich detail, and believable dialogue has garnered her many devoted readers.

Jude has had over thirty books on the New York Times bestsellers list, has over 60 million copies in print, and has been translated into 18 languages. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading murder mysteries, working in her garden, and in boxing class she likes to show much younger males that she can throw a mean right cross.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Weak Mystery, August 26, 2007

By 

LuvsLabs09 "Nunya" (Ca.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Someone to Love (Hardcover)

Deveraux, the early years, has always been a favorite author of mine. My all time favorite book is a "Knight In Shining Armor". It is well written and a great story. Many of her early books are very good as well.

In the last 5+ years her books have gone downhill. This one is at the bottom of that hill. This is not a romance. Its a mystery...but a weak one at that. The characters and story are so incredibly dull, you expect that something has got to happen. Yet, it doesn't. The story goes on and on, but never really goes anywhere. The characters are boring. The dialogue is boring. The book is boring.

Save your money!!!!!!!!!

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars OK but not gripping, July 22, 2007

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Someone to Love (Hardcover)

This is an odd style of romance book. It's set in modern times, but involves both the romance of a modern day couple as well as the love of a couple back in the 1870s. The hero is an American, while the heroine is an English woman. It's a blending of cultures and times. Oh yes, you have to be prepared to accept ghosts as well.

I don't mind ghosts, and I am an avid fan of English culture. I realize that it can be boring to write the same-old romances over and over again, and give Jude great credit for trying something quite off the wall. I can't imagine there are a great number of books involving this combination of situations.

I went into this really wanting to adore this oddball combination and to applaud Jude's venture into something out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to connect with all of the characters and their situations, it was very difficult.

First, the two main characters. Jase Montgomery is a wealthy American who does general business "stuff" despite his degree in history. His fiance - a legal secretary - commits suicide in England and he's been distraught for the past few years. He finally decides to go to England, buy the house she was interested in, and figure out why. On the other hand is Nightingale Smythe, a CNN-style reporter who first ridicules him and then is drawn into his quest.

Both are painted with very broad strokes, and it's not really believable that their instant connection is valid, or that they are drawn together so quickly. In fact, during the first scene or two, I felt that she was going to be a nemesis that would cause trouble for him and a woman he *really* would care for. No such luck.

The encounters with the ghosts are equally odd. It's very stuttering in style, hit or miss affairs that leave you wondering if he really cares at all about what they are doing.

The plot unfoldings really require you to suspend disbelief about what people would choose to hide from others - and what objects people would carry around with them. In some cases individuals' memories are incredibly accurate - and in other situations things people should remember easily have been completely forgotten. I realize that romance stories expect you to take things with a grain of salt - but again, I was really trying to love this story. It just became too much.

I read the book in a few hours, and it was an OK way to pass the time, but to be honest, I would much rather have re-read several other books I own rather than have gone through this. It's not that it was bad - but it just didn't draw me in.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Long-time fan losing interest, July 28, 2007

By 

E. Kidd (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Someone to Love (Hardcover)

I picked this up out of nostalgia for Deveraux's early work... and was hugely disappointed. Boring characters, wandering plot, and a tepid conclusion. I thought maybe I'd get to at least enjoy a tender & passionate love scene as the main characters channeled two of ghosts, but apparently that happened between one chapter and the next.

I give it two stars because I can't quite bring myself to give it the one star it deserves. Time to go back and re-read Velvet Promise.