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Jane Rosemoor is terrified of having children, because the women in her family develop some strange mental disorder after childbirth. Jane’s grandmother is affected by the disorder and her aunt committed suicide after childbirth. Jane decided long ago that she would not have children and therefore refuses to marry. In order to ease her curiosity, Jane decides to spend some time with her cousin, Emily, so she can get information about her aunt and visit her grandmother who is completely debilitated. Upon her arrival, she finds Emily’s husband, Cecil Tolland talking with the devilishly handsome Hayden Moreland – Earl of Westfield.
Hayden has had his share of disappointments in life. He needs a wife to help
care for his young niece, who is in his custody, but he wants a marriage
that doesn’t include love. Hayden gave up on love along time ago. He
lost his mother when he was very young and his fiancé was killed in a
tragic accident just before their wedding. He finds Jane attractive, but
thinks something must be wrong with her since she’s still single at
twenty-six. When Cecil suggests Jane as a possible wife, Hayden says he
not interested. Jane overhears the conversation between Hayden and Cecil
and takes an immediate dislike to Hayden. When circumstances continue to
throw them together, Jane and Hayden begin to feel an attraction for
each other.
I really liked UNVEILED and thought the characters were well developed. Jane and Hayden had their problems, but fate intervenes when they least expect it. The main characters from UNLACED are back and we get to see how happy Lucy and Henry are ten or so years down the road. Lucy also plays a pivotal part in Jane and Hayden’s impending romance. Emily has a key role in bringing Hayden’s past to light, while he supports her during marriage problems and other emotional issues. The close friendship between these two is an added bonus to the story and allows us to see Hayden’s sensitive side.
Kristina Cook’s sophomore historical, UNVEILED, is an outstanding follow-up to UNLACED. I had the opportunity to read and review UNLACED and after eagerly awaiting the release of UNVEILED, I am not disappointed. The next book in the series is story of Jane’s brother Colin. I loved Colin in UNLACED and think his story will be worth the wait. UNVEILED is a book that is very capable of standing alone, but I highly recommend reading both books.
Reviewed by Jennifer Ray
for The Road to Romance
March 25, 2005
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A mysterious postpartum illness plagues the women of Jane Rosemoor’s family. To protect herself and to avoid harming any future children, she decides the only thing to do is to remain a spinster. Her decision is tested when Hayden Moreland, the Earl of Westfield, decides Jane is the perfect person to become his convenient countess. Her rejection of his proposal only serves to intrigue him. Neither of them wants romance, but they can’t seem to stop their growing feelings for each other, despite their best efforts.
With the exception of some flaws in character development, I found this story to be a fairly solid regency period historical romance. The writing quality is smooth and easy to read. The book has some nice Jane Austen-inspired touches, such as the scene where Jane sees Hayden’s property and home for the first time. Jane is a fairly well-developed character, with a well-thought out back story and a plausible reason as to why she’s afraid to fall in love.
The majority of the problems I had with this book are with the character of the Earl. For the first half of the book, it seemed to me that Hayden had a split personality; in one moment he could be ice cold and formal, then suddenly in the same scene he becomes a charming Don Juan. Not until a later scene at Vauxhall does his personalities seem to blend. I also thought his reason for avoiding love was rather unbelievable. It’s not introduced into the story early enough, and the reader thinks he’s just a bachelor who wants a convenient wife. Until half-way through the book, I didn’t realize that Hayden has emotionally scarring reasons as to why he’s avoiding love. Hayden shows a lot of affection and care for his niece, yet no one, especially Jane, protests when he claims that he cannot love anyone, including the child.
I found these faults to take away from my pleasure in the book. With a better developed hero, this story could have been quite good, instead of “not bad.”
Reviewed by S. Khaw
for The Road to Romance
April 2, 2005
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