Tag: De Piaget series

Item: Stars in You Eyes
Rating: 3
Author: Tracy

Guest Review: Stars in Your Eyes by Lynn Kurland

Posted November 27, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Reviewer: Tracy
Stars in You Eyes by Lynn Kurland
Series: de Piaget series #14
Also in this series: Dreams of Lilacs
Publisher: Jove, Penguin
Publication Date: November 24, 2015
Format: eARC
Genres: Historical Romance, Time Travel
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:

Imogen Maxwell is on a hunt for rare, antique items to use on a period movie set. The last thing she expects to discover in the peaceful Scottish countryside is a pristine medieval sword...or to suddenly find herself facing its very vintage owner in a far too authentic castle.

Phillip de Piaget has run out of patience with his recalcitrant Scottish betrothed and is determined that she will join him, once and for all, in front of the altar. Only the lass he captures fleeing his would-be keep seems more interested in running away from him than talking to him. In fact, she seems to have no idea who he is.

Imogen finally gets to Scotland after an incredibly long journey from America. She is in Scotland to try and find inexpensive yet authentic looking medieval antiques for use in a movie that she’s a part of. She heads into one store and is approached by a woman who she learns is named Heather. Heather invites her to her castle which she says is chock full of authentic medieval antiques. Imogen is excited and takes her up on her offer to visit. At one point in the tour of the castle Heather invites Imogen to touch a sword that’s been stuck in the floor of the great hall since (supposedly) the 13th century. Imogen again takes Heather up on her offer and ends up being knocked over.

Imogen has been transported to a different time but her brain can’t even think that way. She thinks, for a bit too long imho, that she’s on a movie set and that eveyone is method acting and not breaking character. The other possibility is that her evil siblings have once again played a trick on her and their filming the prank. She finally has to come to realize that she’s been transported in time but it’s almost too much for her mind to contemplate.

Phillip de Piaget is the eldest son of Robin and Anne de Piaget and has been engaged to Heather of Haemesburgh for the past seven years. He made the contracts with her father and without even meeting Heather in person. Phillip is interested in the Haemesburgh castle and it’s position long the border of Scotland and England more than anything else. He has tried to see Heather over the years but he’s gotten nothing but flack and even how dung thrown at him. He’s ready to marry and he’s not taking no for an answer this time.

When Phillip arrives at Haemesburgh right when a woman, who he at first thinks is Heather, hanging from the drawbridge that is going up. He saves the woman, who is Imogen, and ends up watching over her. Phillip is mystified by everything he finds at Haemesburgh – including the absence of Heather – and then even more mystified when he heads to his uncle’s house and finds out that the “paranormal oddities” that he’s heard about most of his life are much more involved in his family than he ever would have thought possible.

This was a cute book. With Imogen and Phillip falling in love pretty quickly I found it to be more about Phillip’s discovery of time travel and what that meant for his family than I would have expected. Yes, the romance was sweet and I loved Phillip to death but I didn’t feel it as strongly as I have in past de Piaget books.

Imogen was an interesting woman. She thought non-stop about being in a movie (as that’s what she thought happened when she time-traveled) but she did it for so long I found it to get a little old after a while. I was happy when she finally started accepting the facts and seeing the incredible opportunity for what it was – a chance to see medieval life in person.

Overall it was pleasant read but I definitely had my issues with the blending of the romance with the rest of the story.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Tagged: 3.0 Reviews, Contemporary, De Piaget series, Guest Reviews, Historical, Jove, Lynn Kurland, Medieval, Reviews, Time Travel, Tracy's Reviews

Guest Review: Roses in Moonlight by Lynn Kurland

Posted April 30, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Tracy’s review of Roses in Moonlight (de Piaget #15) by Lynn Kurland

ESCAPING INTO THE PAST…

Derrick Cameron, antiquities dealer and adventurer, is furious when the priceless piece of Elizabethan lace he’s been pursuing slips right by him, in the improbable custody of a mousy textile historian! But he will retrieve it, even if it means dragging a very skeptical, albeit adorable, Samantha back in time with him. After all, he is used to living dangerously—in whatever century he finds himself.

Conscientious Samantha Drummond never dreamed the package her British employer gave her would lead her into places an ordinary gal should never go—like Elizabethan England!—or throw her into the company of one extremely attractive, but highly suspect Highlander who not only thinks she’s a thief, but insists on involving her in his mad schemes to retrieve his stolen treasure.

CAN LEAD YOU STRAIGHT INTO YOUR FUTURE…

Trapped first in Elizabethan England, then caught in a web of modern-day intrigues, Samantha and Derrick are forced into an unlikely alliance by peril, never imagining that what they’re forging is a timeless love….

Samantha Drummond is twenty six years old and is still having her parents run her life. She doesn’t actually like it that way but that’s the way it is. She’s finally put her foot down and taken a job house-sitting in Newcastle on Tyne, England. The Cooke’s are a very nice family and when she’s asked by the wife to make a delivery for them in London she agrees – why would she not? She takes her time getting down to London and does some sight seeing. Little does she know that not only does she have Derrick Cameron on her tail but a couple of sets of thugs as well.

Derrick is hunting down a piece of Elizabethan lace that was stolen from one of his clients. He tracked it down to the Cooke’s in Newcastle. When he sees Samantha making a trip he follows her just knowing that she has the lace and that she is one of the thieves. He eventually corrals her in London but as she’s trying to get away from him inadvertently goes through a time travel gate and ends up in Elizabethan England! Derrick follows and defends her honor and then gets her the hell out of there. Back in current time he basically kidnaps her and they end up at the Ritz. After much discussion Derrick finally believes that he has misjudged Samantha and gets that she’s just an innocent in the whole scheme.

Things are worked out satisfactorily with the lace but Samantha still has thugs on her tail. Derrick comes to the rescue and between smashing chairs over heads, trips to Scotland and yet another trip to 1602 to save an ancestor the pair find that they’ve each found their love in each other.

In this one I just loved Samantha and Derrick together. He’s a sarcastic man who can be a complete ass but even when he’s being an ass he to his family and friends you know he has love in his heart for them. He was brave and kind and for me a really great hero.

Samantha started off as a mouse and got pretty near being a lion by the end of the book. She wanted so desperately to be out on her own and make her own decisions and while that took time, Derrick was there for her helping her in ways she didn’t even know she needed.

This the 15th book in the de Piaget series – yes the 15th! I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I opened the book but I was so please with the story. Even though Kurland’s romances are PG, they are just so wonderfully sweet (not sickeningly sweet) that I can’t help but enjoy them. There were so many things about this book that I liked I can’t possibly name them all. There was friendship, romance, intrigue, humor, time travel, sarcasm and great cars – how could I not love it? lol

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

The series in chronological order:

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Jove Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

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Tagged: 4.25 Reviews, Contemporary, De Piaget series, Guest Reviews, Jove, Lynn Kurland, Reviews, Time Travel, Tracy's Reviews

Guest Review: One Magic Moment by Lynn Kurland

Posted July 11, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Tracy’s review of One Magic Moment by Lynn Kurland (De Piaget #13) by Lynn Kurland

Medieval studies scholar Tess Alexander is thrilled for the chance to live in a medieval castle. But then a trip to the village brings her face-to-face with the owner of the local garage, who looks a great deal like the man who married her sister…800 years in the past. She’s determined to remain objective about magic and destiny, but she can’t help wondering about that mysterious, sword-wielding mechanic.

Tess is quite shocked when she runs into the new owner of the garage in the village she lives in and discovers that he’s the spitting image of her brother-in-law. She knows that he has to be closely related to Montgomery, who her sister Pippa married not two months earlier, but she’s hesitant to tell John that she knows where he came from because she’s afraid he’ll bolt.

John is immediately taken with Tess’s looks and when he gets to know her he likes her even more. But John is afraid to get to close to Tess for fear that she’ll figure out something is amiss with him. She is, after all, an expert in medieval times. John, however, can’t seem to keep himself away from Tess, though, especially after he begins to believe that someone is stalking both of them. He’s determined to protect Tess, his feelings for Tess as well as his secret no matter what it takes.

This one started off really great for me. The budding romance between John and Tess was so great – very sweet and a bit hesitant but it really made my romantic heart go pitter-patter. John was not afraid to speak his mind to Tess and let her know that he wasn’t sure it was a good idea for them to be together but he couldn’t stop himself from coming by her castle, calling her and saying some of the sweetest darned things to her. He was really wonderful and they were a good couple.

My problem started when the pair accidentally went back in time to the 13th century. The romance was kind of put on hold for the sake of John’s family reunion and while that was all right for a while and the reunions were touching it was just disappointing that the wonderfulness of the first part of the book didn’t continue. Oh, sure, there were a few times that the couple escaped the family to steal a few moments together but with the boundaries of propriety that they were now thrust in to those moments were few and far between.

So while I loved the first part of the book the second half wasn’t as good for me, unfortunately. Still a good book and an enjoyable read.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The series: