Tea for Two [Mass Market Paperback]

Cathy Maxwell (Author), Liz Carlyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2002

One of the hottest romance writers today, Cathy Maxwell joins forces with rising star Liz Carlyle to serve up an irresistible treat -- two deliciously sensual Regency novellas. IN A MOONLIT GARDEN "CATHY MAXWELL" Posing as a tea merchant, Colonel Michael Sanson inAltrates an eccentric chemist's household in search of a stolen formula. But as soon as he lays eyes on the thief's niece, Lady Jocelyn, he is sidetracked into doing the fair lady's bidding. Little does Michael know that assisting in Jocelyn's scheme to make her former suitor jealous will send him into a tailspin of love and white-hot passion. HUNTING SEASON "LIZ CARLYLE" Christian Villiers, the Marquis of Grayston, returns to England determined to ruin the man responsible for his beloved sister's suicide. Seducing the cad's intended, Lady Elise Middleton, would be a bonus. But during an elaborate house party, Christian realizes he has met his match in the Aery and passionate Elise...and soon he must decide whether a moment of vengeance is worth risking a lifetime of love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While Carlyle (A Woman of Virtue) delivers a fast-moving, vibrant romance in Hunting Season, the second of two Regency-era novellas in this volume, Maxwell's (The Wedding Wager) trite offering, In a Moonlit Garden, lacks inspiration and originality. In the latter, Colonel Michael Sanson, naive about the woman he thinks he loves, allows himself to be pressured by her father into retrieving a scientific formula that has ostensibly been stolen from him. However, immediately upon meeting the supposed thief's niece, Jocelyn, Michael's affections shift, and he agrees to be a part of her plan to make her former beau jealous. Maxwell's protagonists are engaging in a familiar way, but her formulaic plot and transparent secondary characters make this a difficult draught to swallow. In contrast, readers will drink their fill of Carlyle's aptly titled Hunting Season, which is a play on the time of year as well as the Marquis of Grayston's pursuit of Lady Elise Middleton. Grayston is determined to destroy Denys Roth, the fortune-hunter who ruined his sister and led her to commit suicide, but Roth's new quarry, the beautiful Elise, may tempt Grayston to choose love over vengeance. Although both entries nicely convey the flavor of the period, it is Carlyle's heady and highly sensual romance that will slake the reader's thirst.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Although, linked by the taste of tea, heroes with ulterior motives, and Regency settings, this pair of novellas by two of the genre's more popular writers are diverse enough to treat readers to two quite different, but equally enjoyable, experiences. In Maxwell's "In a Moonlit Garden," the lighter and more sensual of the two stories, a young man agrees to pose as a tea peddler and retrieve a stolen formula in order to win the woman he thinks he loves but instead falls in love with another. A tale of suicide and vengence, Carlyle's engrossing "Hunting Season," is a darker, more sexually graphic, but no less romantically satisfying read. Running a bit on the long side, these novellas read more like short historicals and may appeal to those readers who generally avoid anthologies.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (April 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743445813
• ISBN-13: 978-0743445818
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,060,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like your tea HOT!, September 3, 2002

By 

M. Rondeau (West Springfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tea for Two (Mass Market Paperback)

You can't miss with either of these exceptional authors!

IN A MOONLIT GARDEN - Cathy Maxwell
Charming - Colonel Michael Stanson had been in love with Ivy for so long that when her father asked him to pose as a tea merchant to search an eccentric scientists house for a formula supposedly stolen from him, and the prize being Ivy's hand in marriage - he reluctantly agrees. He is an honorable sort, but he'd do anything to gain the very beautiful Ivy for his wife.
As soon as he laid eyes on the scientists niece Lady Jocelyn, he is soon quite taken with her goodness and charm, so much so that he agrees to help Jocelyn make her former beau jealous. (There are a lot of undercurrents in this short story) Why does Michael have trouble remembering what Ivy looks like? Too many schemes and too many lies, as both Michael and Jocelyn find their way to both confess the real truths to one another. Both the parties find they needed to reexamine their motives for what they once thought was love - thought provoking. Absolutely delightful secondary characters! You have to love Uncle Geoffrey!

HUNTING SEASON - Liz Carlyle
All I can say is `the kiss' - how can anyone make a thank you kiss so absolutely sensually sizzling! Wow! And mind you, this is in the first 18 pages! This glorious rake - the Marquis of Grayston is one BAD boy and I would dearly love to meet him! Alas, he is the figment (?) of the very talented wordsmith Liz Carlyle. Before he knows who she is, Christian, Marquis of Grayston is entranced with the lovely widow Lady Elise Middleton and she - in spite of all her lady like tendencies and upbringing is oh so tempted to just take him up on his offer of a `night of passion'. Eventually, he must come to terms with what is most important to him the revenge of his sister's death, or the love of a good woman. On the sensual scale of one to ten - this rates a 10!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two strong novellas, May 5, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tea for Two (Mass Market Paperback)

"In a Moonlit Garden" by Cathy Maxwell. To prove his worth to his beloved, Colonel Michael Sanson pretends to be a tea merchant to get inside the home of a scientist considered to have stolen a formula. However, Michael soon finds himself enlisted to a different masquerade after meeting the niece of his target. He begins to wonder how fickle can one get as he finds himself falling in love with Lady Jocelyn, but her intended is whom he is supposed to make jealous, not push aside. This is an engaging historical romance that stars wonderful characters.

"Hunting Season" by Liz Carlyle. Marquis Christian Villiers is obsessed with ruining Roth who caused his sister Lenora to commit suicide. He finds the perfect plan when he meets the intended bride of the dastardly villain. However, Christian's plans radically change when he begins to fall in love with the kind Lady Elise Middleton. This also is a charming historical romance that contains beguiling protagonists.

Both stories are strong novellas that readers will enjoy. Cathy Maxwell and Liz Carlyle provide strong tales with wonderful casts that testify to the talents of the writers to entertain sub-genre troops.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Two authors, two stories, two different verdicts, August 31, 2005

By 

TheSchemer "Scheme" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tea for Two (Mass Market Paperback)

In Cathy Maxwell's IN A MOONLIT GARDEN, Colonel Michael Sanson has distinguished himself on the field of battle for the past five years, all to prove himself worthy of the beautiful Ivy Lewin. However, before Sir William Lewin will give approval to the match, he wants Michael to "retrieve" a scientific formula he claims his rival, Geoffrey Kenyon, has stolen. Disguised as a traveling tea merchant, Michael sets off on his unorthodox quest. Almost immediately he meets Kenyon's niece, Jocelyn, who enlists him in yet another masquerade. Even as Michael works towards attaining his goal of Ivy's hand, he finds himself falling under Jocelyn's spell. Soon Michael is knee deep in lies, plots and tea leaves.

Liz Carlyle's HUNTING SEASON introduces us to the charismatic Christian Villiers, the Marquis of Grayston. Newly returned from exile in the Continent, Christian has come to England to destroy Denys Roth, the man responsible for his sister's suicide. To that end, Christian is attending a house party where he plans to seduce the woman Roth plans on marrying. However, instead of the worldly widow he had expected, Christian discovers Elise Middleton to be beautiful, virtuous and the stepmother of a little girl. Every stolen moment with her becomes heaven and hell for the haunted marquis. Somehow Elise becomes his hope of salvation even as he uses her to force a confrontation that will ruin any chance of happiness. When his machinations finally bring about a confrontation, Christian must look deep inside and make a final decision.

Two authors, two stories, two totally different heroes. While all the elements for a great story were in place for Cathy Maxwell's novella, the main characters never fully grabbed this reader's attention. Both hero and heroine have been in love with other people for years yet their instant attraction to each other is supposed to excuse the rather fast shift in their affections. While most of the other characters appear one-dimensional and clichéd, the quaint English village does provide a cozy setting for all the plots being hatched. Perhaps if this had been a longer length story rather than a novella, Ms. Maxwell would have had a better chance at creating more sympathetic characters in this tepid tale. In direct contrast, Liz Carlyle's story of a marquis torn between finding salvation and delivering retribution is a poignant treat. Readers will empathize with this heroine torn between temptation and virtue and this hero struggling with demons from his past. Other guests at the house party provide interesting secondary stories. Ms. Carlyle's tale moves at a brisk pace, powered by an unforgettable pair of lead characters and a love affair that will leave you reaching for a tissue or two.

TheSchemer