The Particulars: Historical Paranormal Romance, Sourcebooks, available in print and as e-book
The Source: Purchased at Smashwords ( I think)
The Grade: B
The Blurb:
Duke Harry of Sommersville indulged in a carefree, comfortable life— until a sudden inheritance leaves him plagued with a crumbling family manor and hungry debtors. What’s a desperate duke to do but marry the well-heeled woman betrothed to him for years?
Christina Malcolm Childe soon discovers the heavy demands of her new title and the dilapidated and haunted mansion that is her new home. To make matters worse, her magical gift of reading auras reveals that her laughing Harry has become a dark and bitter man. But this mischievous Malcolm has a plan of retaliation: to refuse to consummate their marriage until Harry learns to love her truly.
If only she can resist his raw masculinity long enough to determine the cause of his unhappiness and the mansion’s neglect. She must find her answers quickly, before the worm-eaten floors fall from beneath her very feet. That is, if Harry doesn’t sweep her off them first..
The Review:
I bought this when Patricia Rice re-issued the Magic series as e-books, but it is about to be released in print soon, I thought this was a good time to review it.
This is the fourth book in the Malcolm and Ives series, and it focus on Harry and Christina. I enjoyed following their romance, from a marriage of convenience to a marriage of love. They both mature a lot during the novel.Harry turns from an outgoing MP to a stern duke. His transformation is swift, overnight almost, but it makes sense. What I like is how he during the novel start to merge into a combination of his previous personality and his stern persona.
Christina was bubbly, and slightly tomboyish when the book started. But slowly she becomes more lady like.
The crumbling manor that Harry inherits felt believable, since a lot of nobles struggled with maintaining their estates. And Harry’s fathers wish to rebuild the manor was a part of that era. I liked the mix of old and new in the manor.
The plot was well crafted, and filled with unexpected twists. I loved how Christina’s gift of seeing ghosts and auras got her into trouble. And I loved Harry’s reactions since they made so much sense. What I liked was that they realised that they had to work together to solve the mystery, and save the estate.
That said, who the villain was felt a bit predicable to me, which pulls down the grade. ( That and the formatting errors. Which is fixed in the new edition.)