• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sugarbeat's Books

The Home of the Romance Novel

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • Review Policy
  • Review List
  • My Books

Maker trilogy

The Heartbreaker by Rexanne Becnel

By Barb Drozdowich

ISBN: 0-312-98312-3

Publisher: St Martin’s Paperbacks

The Heartbreaker is the fourth story in a series of 4 books written by Rexanne Becnel.  It tells the story of the relationship between James Lindford, Viscount Farley, a recovering rake and Phoebe Churchill, a country woman with a good heart.  Although this book has the above hero and heroine, they seem to play second fiddle to three little children.  In James’s attempt to mend his rakish ways, he hunts down his various illegitimate children and essentially buys them from their mothers.  When the story starts he has managed to acquire potty-mouthed Clarissa (Izzy), a 10 year old that he rescues from the stews and has seen the evil side of life, and Leya, a chubby, blue-eyed baby with dark skin whose mother died in India. James’s open acknowledgement of his illegitimate children causes his fiancee to break their engagement and therefore James’ hope of a political career.  Izzy’s shenanigans drive most of James’ London staff away and finally he escapes the gossips by decamping to his country estate.

Phoebe has spent the last eight years taking care of her mother and her sister’s illegitimate daughter, Helen, on the family farm.  They barely make ends meet and when things start disappearing, Phoebe is determined to catch the thief. When she discovers that her thief is the 10 year old daughter of the Viscount Farley, she marches Izzy to Farley Park to meet him.  Phoebe, who has never felt much attraction to men finally feels the lust her mother has always warned her about upon meeting James.  Over the next few days, Phoebe quickly finds the solution for Leya’s stomach upset and starts to show progress with Izzy’s behavior.  James is determined to have Phoebe as governess to his girls despite his growing attraction.  He is actually determined to make Phoebe his mistress as well as his girl’s governess.  At this point, I feel, the story falls apart.  Several reviewers comment on the fact that if James is indeed trying to mend his rakish ways and has learned his lesson, he wouldn’t even be considering trying to make Phoebe his mistress, he would be trying to find some way to marry her, despite the class differences.

To add insult to injury, Phoebe’s sister shows up and we find out that her daughter, Helen, whom Phoebe has been raising, is actually James’s 3rd illegitimate daughter.  Is there anyone James hasn’t slept with??  To make matters worse, his ex-fiancee shows up again wanting him back – or at least not wanting to marry the old man her father is pushing on her.  She doesn’t seem like much of a catch and doesn’t even seem to react  negatively to Phoebe being the object of James’ affections.

What starts out a wonderful, meaningful story about a rake trying to reform seems to be derailed about 2/3rds of the way through and even the inevitable happy ending doesn’t completely recapture the feeling at the beginning of the story!

The Romance Reader gives The Heartbreaker 3 stars and says the following: “As I was reading The Heartbreaker, I felt that this was a solid three-heart book –nothing particularly special or memorable about it but nothing really awful either. Three weeks later I can second the nothing particularly memorable part – I’d pretty much forgotten the details of the plot in that short length of time.“

Share this:

  • Share
  • Pocket
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Email
  • Reddit

The Bridemaker by Rexanne Becnel

By Barb Drozdowich

ISBN: 0-312-98311-5

Publisher: St Martin’s Paperbacks

I  LOVED The Bridemaker!  I actually read this book first of the four and it was this book that had me searching for the others of this “Maker” series.

We are introduced to “The Bridemaker” – Hester Poitevant (don’t like the name!) who earns her living by tutoring awkward young ladies of the ton to be sophisticated prize catches for the season’s marriage mart.  She has quite a history of finding just the right clothes, just the right advice, just the right tutoring to make ugly ducklings into swans!  She hides herself in plain sight as a widow, downplaying her beauty, hoping no one remembers her past.

When her latest charge, Dulcie, sets her sights on Adrian Hawke – the disreputable American merchant, Hester is forced to interact with Adrian to try to dissuade him from courting Dulcie.  We actually met Adrian Hawke in The Matchmaker.  He was the illegitimate son of the Neville Hawke’s deceased older brother.  At the end of The Troublemaker he goes to live with Marshall and Sarah in America.

Although Hester is successful at dissuading Adrian from pursuing Dulcie, he sets his sights on un-peeling the layers that make up the facade of Hester.  What results is a wonderfully endearing love story.  It has all the glam and glitter of Regency England, that I love, and a swashbuckling hero that sets my heart to pounding.  A must read!

“A complex romance with multi-dimensional characters who possess complicated and powerful emotions.  An intricate plot with surprising twists hold the reader’s attention. A powerful love story makes this tale exceptional.” Romantic Times

The Romance Reader gives The Bridemaker 4 stars and says: “It’s a great combination of humor, romance, secrets that must finally be revealed, selfishness, confusion, and a wonderful disregard for the pretentious propriety that is the essence of the ton, as the couples sort themselves out, revealing themselves to be wonderfully well-matched, and as lives change in ways that the reader sometimes doesn’t expect.“

Share this:

  • Share
  • Pocket
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Email
  • Reddit

The Matchmaker by Rexanne Becnel

By Barb Drozdowich

ISBN: 0-312-97699-2

Publisher: St Martin’s Paperbacks

I must admit, the first book I read in this series is The Bridemaker.  I liked it so much that I searched out the rest of the series.  The Matchmaker is the first book in Rexanne Becnel’s latest series -“Maker” books.  Rexanne Becnel has apparently been writing books for 14 years and has produced 19 novels.  This is the first time I have read any of her books and I was impressed.  Some books I read just to pass the time; other books require effort to read, with intricate plots and many characters.  This series of books fit somewhere in the middle.

Olivia, the heroine of the story, has kept a journal of all the men that she has encountered during her three years on the marriage mart.  She prides herself in arranging many matches for her friends, but has yet to meet someone who she considers even remotely suitable for herself.  Olivia’s mother has been married and widowed three times.  As a result Olivia has a half-brother and half-sister who have different fathers. Olivia’s less than stellar memories of her drunken rake of a father seem to color her views of the opposite sex.

Lord Neville Hawke is our tortured hero. He has lost many people in his life, from friends and fellow soldiers in the war, to his parents and his brother.  He escapes the nightmares of battle memories in alcohol, insomnia and fast women.  When he meets Olivia he mistakes her for a servant in the household and tries to seduce her.  This sets the scene for the beginning of their difficult relationship!  Neville flirts with and tries to charm Olivia, but he just succeeds in reminding Olivia of her devil-may-care father.  Gradually Olivia discovers that Neville’s scoundrel facade hides a sensitive and lonely man who, of course, is waiting for the right woman to take him in hand!

Upon reading the back of this novel, one would anticipate a light and breezy story, but this is not found to be true.  Neville is a tortured hero with problems that justifiably give Olivia pause, but the story ends in a “love conquers all ending”. I feel that the pacing of the story is good until the end where I feel that it is a bit rushed.  Overall, a nice, pure romance with enough meat to keep your mind busy and enough believability to keep you turning the pages and looking forward to the next book in the series.

“If you like your heroes dark and flawed, then run, don’t walk, to buy The Matchmaker….Becnel gives us true insight into the human spirit and does not stint on creating the ideal atmosphere and recreating the era to near perfection.  A powerful love story.” Romantic Times

The Romance Reader gives this book 4 hearts and says: “In Lord Neville Hawke, Rexanne Becnel has created the perfect tortured hero. She has also created a heroine who is strong enough and wise enough to provide the healing the hero needs.“

Share this:

  • Share
  • Pocket
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Follow Me

Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinrss

Subscribe to Blog on Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 16,653 other subscribers

Available Now on Amazon

Available Now on Amazon

Do you need a primer?

Do you need a primer?

Need help with your website?

Need help with your website?

Are you listed?

Book BLogger list 250

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

2021 Reading Challenge

2021 Reading Challenge
Barb has
read 0 books toward
her goal of
100 books.
hide

0 of 100 (0%)
view books

Archives

Footer

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023