Customer Reviews

Yorkshire (Richard and Rose)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When Rose Golightly travels with her family to Hareton Abbey in a remote part of Yorkshire, she expects to witness the betrothal of her cousin. What she gets is something completely different. Within twenty-four hours of her arrival, her cousin is dead, her brother has been named the sixth Earl of Hareton, and Rose has fallen completely and inappropriately in love.

Rose is the older daughter and is considered somewhat off-the-shelf at the advanced age of twenty-five. She has lived perpetually in the shadow of her beautiful younger sister and has been content overall with her life. When she meets Richard Kerre, Lord Strang, she knows she's beneath his notice. The man is the picture of society, dressed and painted to the highest fashion and with a reputation for playing hard and fast. Rose is at first suspicious when Richard professes to have fallen for her at first sight, but he is apparently quite genuine in his feelings. There is one problem, however: Richard is already engaged to be married.

As Richard tries to determine who murdered the old Earl and therefore clear Rose's brother of any suspicion of wrongdoing, he also works to extricate himself from his commitment to another woman. Reputations and futures are at stake. If he breaks his marriage contract, it will not only ruin him financially but will also cause a scandal of epic proportions. Regardless of their feelings, Richard and Rose may be forced to turn away from a love that could only come once in a lifetime.

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"Yorkshire" is the first book in Lynne Connolly's Richard and Rose series. Set in the England of the mid-1700s, this novel will appeal to lovers of historical romance as well as to mystery buffs. It is very well-written, quickly paced, and intriguing, and once I picked it up to read, I had a very difficult time putting it down.

I'm not a fan of prologues in novels, nor is first-person narration my cup of tea. That said, Ms. Connolly pulls both of these literary devices off beautifully in this story. The prologue drops the reader in medias res and captures our attention very cleverly and concisely. After reading it, there is no way that the reader would not want to dive right in to the body of the work to find out exactly how Rose arrived in the situation she finds herself in. Likewise, the first person narration as told by Rose brings us close to her character, sharing her insights and her innermost feelings with us.

This story is filled with wonderful and colorful characters that are so full of life they almost spring from the pages. Of course we must love Rose. She is a practical and no-nonsense woman on the surface and professes to be content with her lot in life. But she's not, really. She yearns for beauty, the fine fashion of society, and the freedom to love whom she pleases. I found her to be a very "real" character, and by the end of the story, she felt like a friend to me. Richard as well is a pleasant surprise. When we first meet him, he is dressed like a peacock, bewigged, powdered and painted within an inch of his life, but we soon find out that under the gaudy surface lies a personality that shines. And equally fascinating are the secondary characters in this story: from Rose's younger sister Lizzie, whose practicality is at odds with her dazzling beauty, to the odious puritan minister who preaches Armageddon and self-denial while at the same time ensuring he lives in luxury.

The setting also comes to brilliant life in this book. Through Ms. Connolly's vivid imagery, I could almost see the crumbling disrepair of the house, feel the cold and damp within, and smell the dust and mold.

The book blurb on the Samhain Publishing website teases that this series is addicting. I can only agree. I enjoyed this book very much, indeed. Although "Yorkshire" is the only book of Ms. Connolly's that I have read to date, I have every intention of continuing with this series. And I shall be checking out what else this very talented author has to offer as well.

I wasn't sure what to expect - it was a free download for my ipod touch (kindle app). I found it to be a sweet story. I will actually pay to get book 2 in the series when it comes out. Sweet, suspenseful romance - the male hero is a little too much but many authors are getting into this over the top alpha.

Sensible, shy, overlooked Rose Golightly never expected to realize that she had met the man of her dreams while he was lying half dead on the side of the road in her arms. However, the man, whose head lay on her lap as she tried to stop the bleeding from his wound, was lucky. He would live. The destroyed coach had been carrying 3 peers of the realm, and 2 perished in the accident.

However, was it an accident, or murder? How did this start....

Rose and her family have traveled to attend the marriage of her cousin, The Honourable Edward Golightly, to the only daughter of the Earl of Hareton. Shocked at the condition of the once renowned show house of the county, Rose, her brother James, who was third in line for the Earl title, and their sister Lizzy all stood outside of the former glorious mansion. Whatever could have happened? While standing staring at the horror in front of them, another coach pulled up discharging two handsome men and a lady who joined them in staring at the disaster in front of them. The newest arrivals were Lord Strang, his twin brother Gervase, and Miss Cartwright, Lord Strang's affianced bride.

On their first morning the Earl and his son were killed in a carriage accident, leaving Rose the sister of an Earl. However it quickly became known that the "carriage accident" was not an accident. The bindings had been cut, and the carriage was deliberately crashed in hopes of killing the occupants. Lord Strang survived the terrible accident, but only barely, thanks to Rose's care of him. If Rose had not been present, Lord Strang would have bled to death. When she had held him in her arms she had felt overcome with a deep feeling of caring and passion for the man lying in her arms.

Who wanted to kill the Earl and his heir?

This is the first book in a series written by the esteemed Lynn Connolly. This story is very British with an Agatha Christie type murder mystery, but with sex:>). I have been waiting years to find stories as fabulous, scary, and sexy as this one with a really excellent mystery in which people are taken out of their personal comfort zones and have to survive in a strange new environment that has suddenly become theirs through tragedy. The suspense never lets up, and everyone involved in the mystery is interesting and well rounded characters. This is an amazing story. The late great Agatha Christie could not have written this any better than Lynn Connolly. This is the first story in a series, and I cannot wait to see what Rose and Richard get themselves involved with in the next book. Congratulations, Ms. Connolly, you have created an intriguing group of people that readers will care about and will look forward to reading about in the next book full of sexy new adventures, as will I.

Susiq2, reviewer, Cata Network Romance

I have become a big fan of Lynne Connolly. She has brought me back to the enjoyment of reading historical romance novels. Her stories are believable, exciting and very romantic but a different kind of romantic because there's a very well written story to go along with the romance.

by Susan Tam

Rose Golightly is traveling with her family to Hareton Abbey for the wedding of her cousin, Edward Golightly, to the daughter of the Earl of Southwood. Edward's brother is the Earl of Hareton. Hareton Abbey is a neglected estate and it is falling apart. The Earl of Hareton wishes to break the entailment of the earldom's properties, since he wants to give it to his minister. He no longer wishes to be known as an Earl but as a regular gentleman. Rose meets the Earl of Southwood's family, his daughter and twin sons. Gervase Kerre has just returned from exile and Richard Kerre (Lord Strang) is with his fiancée, Julia. The Earl of Southwood refuses to allow his daughter to marry Edward when he sees the disrepair of the estate, not to mention the lack of social standing if the Earl of Hareton renounces his title. The next day, the Earl of Hareton, Edward and Lord Strang leaves to get the minister and there is a carriage accident. The Earl is killed instantly and Edward succumbs to his injuries. Lord Strang is injured but recovers. Rose's brother, James, becomes the new Earl of Hareton. Rose finds the cut strap to the carriage. She and Richard set out to find the culprit. Rose is attracted to Richard and, to her surprise, he returns her feelings. Of course, there are problems ahead as Richard has signed the marriage contract to Julia!!!

This was a delightful book!!! Rose is correctly named as she literally blooms as the novel progresses. She is a wonderful heroine. She is intelligent, understated and strong. Her interaction with Richard is quite lovely to watch as their relationship slowly simmers and then comes to a boil. Richard is a fascinating character as there is so much more to him than the outward façade that is presented. The reader can understand why these two characters belong together as they naturally complement each other. The secondary characters were wonderful, from Gervase to James and Martha. The mystery of the whodunit is just an added bonus! This is the first book of what I can only hope is a very long series!!!! I have read the second book, Devonshire, and can wholeheartedly recommend both to you. I look forward to the next book in this series!

Lynne Connolly was a new to me author, but I found her first book, Yorkshire, completely satisfying. It is the very beginning of the Rose and Richard romance/mystery series and sets up the rest of the characters in and around these two people. Traveling to her cousin's for a wedding, Rose Golightly meets the man of her dreams there. However, the mansion, once a great house, has gone to ruin under the present Lord Hareton. Then both Lord Haretons die and the title, lands, etc. pass on to Rose's brother, James. Rose and Richard set off to learn the truth of their deaths. Very well researched. I couldn't wait to read Devonshire (Book #2) in this series.

I don't object to authors allowing some modern attitudes and language into their historical fiction, but when major plot points center on anachronisms, it gets to be too much. In the case of Yorkshire: Richard and Rose, which takes place in England in 1752, the major anachronisms are:

1) evidence of a murder can't be revealed to the authorities because if the press gets wind of it the heroine's family will be ruined in society, so the H & H have to "solve" the mystery themselves.
2) H & H fall in love at first sight and confess their love to each other about 48 hours after meeting, even though he's engaged to another woman, and much of the "plot" revolves around getting him free from his fiancee.

Excuse me, but what authorities and what press does the author think exist in 1752 (the first English police force was founded in London, not the shires, in 1829 and the first newspaper probably was in India in the 1760s)? Under what circumstances does she think 18th-century aristocrats, perhaps the most mannered society of the last 500 years, get to this level of intimacy so quickly? Why does Lynne Connolly set the story in 1752 if she has no interest in the historical realities of the period? Oh, maybe because the plot is so thin, characters are so simplistic, and tension is so lacking that it's too boring to be set in the modern era.

I found myself rolling my eyes and groaning in pain while reading this book. I didnt realize this was a heaving bosom misunderstood wealthy heartless male taker of her virginity while engulfed in waves of pleasure book. Oops I should have said spoiler alert because I just revealed the ENTIRE PLOT. I couldnt finish it........ it was just too painful.

Rose Golightly is a country girl is really who knows that there little chance of getting married. But a visit to Hareton Abbey, she meet Richard Kerre, Lord Strang. After a attemped on Lord Strang's life Rose realizes that she has meant the man that she wants to spend the rest of her life with. But Richard is to marry another and breaking agreement may cost him everything.
"Yorkshire" is the second book that I have read by Lynne Connolly and I didn't like as much as the first on. I really couldn't connect with characters and I didn't really like that fact that it was in the first person. I have gotten "Devonshire", the second book in the series with hope that it is better than "Yorkshire"

Rose Golightly and her family are invited to the grand home of the Earl of Hareton in Yorkshire. They are cousins to the present Earl with Rose's eldest brother James being third in line to the succession. But because the current Earl is young and married and has an equally youthful brother, the likelihood of James inheriting is almost nil. Also invited to the Hareton home in Yorkshire are the Kerres. The Kerre brothers, Richard (Lord Strang) and his brother Gervase are identical twins. And they are accompanied by Richard's fiancee, Julia. They are there because Hareton is hoping to finalize an arranged marriage between his brother and the Kerre's younger sister.

When the two parties arrive at the Hareton estate, however, instead of the grand palace and fun house party they expected, they find a crumbling, decaying mess of a house, the present Earl who is under the sway of a religious fanatic and other dark secrets permeating the house.

From there things go downhill. In the midst of the strange goings on in the house, The Kerres and the Golightlys get to know each other. Richard and Rose fall in love, there is attempted murder, various assaults and mystery to be solved.

I had no expectations about this book. I had never heard of the author before, the book was a free download for my Kindle. I figured I'd read a bit, decide if I like it and if not, simply delete it. But I loved it. I really enjoyed it mainly because it wasn't a predictable romance. It wasn't a romance that I had read a thousand times before.

First, there is the hero, Richard. The time period of the book is the Georgian period -- a time of hoops and wigs and powder and patch. A great credit to the author is that she actually uses the fashion of the time. Rose's first glimpse of Richard is when he is in full peacock glory -- maquillage, powered wig, scarlet embroidered waistcoat. He was super high fashion, all languid tones and graceful movements, lace cuffs and impeccable use of the snuff box. It very much brought to mind Heyer's Duke of Avon in These Old Shades. I adore the fact that she is allowing the hero be a man of his time. In the hands of a more conventional author, she may have been tempted to make him 'masculine' based on modern tropes of masculinity and played down the make-up and wigs or disdaining them. I am so glad she didn't and his make-up and wigs in no way detract from his authority, sexiness and masculinity. As a matter of fact, they are very much a mask in truth that he puts on for society and one that he takes great comfort in.

Second, Rose and Richard fall in love right away. I know some people really have a preference against this, feeling like it is not realistic, but I think the author does a very good job making them believable. It is love at first sight for him and a bit later for her. But they fall in love and acknowledge it. Again, in the hands of another writer, she may have taken the more conventional approach of making them hate each other on sight, or lust for each other but distrust each other or create the "grand misunderstanding." But Connolly does neither of these. Instead Richard and Rose's conflict comes from the convention of their times. He is contracted to marry another woman and he can't just break it off. They want each other and they can't have each other for a very real reason, not a contrived one. And the two of them must face and question the effect of Richard possibly breaching the contract would have on them, their reputations and their families' reputations and finances.

Third, the supporting characters are wonderful. Especially Lizzie and Gervase. Lizzie is Rose's younger more beautiful sister. Rose has always felt in Lizzie's shadow. But the sisters are close and affectionate. Lizzie is ambitious. She wants to go to London, have a season and make a great match. She wants beautiful clothes and she really wants to make a splash. The author could have stopped there and made Lizzie like so many other beautiful younger sisters that populate romance novels. But she didn't. She gave Lizzie quite a bit more depth. She's smart, incisive and is actually much more of a realist and pragmatist than even her pragmatic older sister Rose. Conolly doesn't allow the reader to dismiss Lizzie as just a beautiful younger sister. And likewise she gives Gervase, Richard's twin a compelling backstory and depth as well.

And finally the plot was great fun. At first it seemed almost like a gothic romance, but then the mystery kicks in and then the love story starts rolling and you just sit back and enjoy the ride.

I really, really enjoyed this book. And this free download prompted me to buy the other three books of the Richard & Rose series.

Highly recommend!