Rating: 
Summary: Very Entertaining!
Review: I had read Deadly Affairs first, then Deadly Love, but I am glad because I know why Rick Bragg just wanted to be friends with Francesca Cahill. If I had read this book first, I would of felt it just left you hanging there, and there would be no completion to the story, like some other readers did. Everything made sense. There is really no character development or interaction, but do remember that they have just met and it is a beginning of a series. I had a problem with Montrose's attitude toward his infidility. He felt that he did nothing wrong because adultery is very wrong, even though it was legal to keep a mistress back then. Overall, it was more of a mystery than romance, but still had you hanging on the edge of the pages.
Rating: 
Summary: More Please
Review: I have found the Francesca Cahill series a joy to read. I must correct reviewer Shawna, the college is in Manhatten, not England. The story is set in "early' Manhatten. There are enough twists & turns in the plot to keep me reading & enjoying. Again, more please.
Rating: 
Summary: Great beginnings, poor finish
Review: I loved this book when I started reading it. I love the strong female character, the time setting and her family. It made for a very interesting story. But then it all fell apart. She became a sappy female, learning of family and friends secrets page after page after page after page. While the author sets the stage for more books, I don't think I will buy it.
Rating:
Summary: an engrossing read
Review: I really enjoyed this first book in a series featuring Francesca Cahill, aspiring private investigator. Seldom have I read a book that is brimming with the same kind of raw energy as that of the main character, Francesca. I was so caught with the enthusiasm and energy that this novel possessed that time passed without me realising it until the book was finished. This novel definitely makes for engrossing reading!Francesca Cahill believes in doing something worthwhile with her life. An ardent reformer, her current ambition is to be the first female newspaper reporter in New York. However, Francesca is also the member of a prominent New York family, where the daughters marry well, have children and partake in the social functions -- they do not attend college and get jobs! At one of her mothers social dos, Francesca meets the new police commissiomer, Rick Bragg, and is immediately drawn to him. Unfortunately, she also finds herself, to her chagrin, behaving quite awkwardly. Later that same night, she discovers a cryptic unsigned missive, which she dismisses as some kind of prank while she tries to work out her uncharacteristic response to Bragg. The next morning however, the Cahills are shocked to discover that while the party was going on, someone had kidnapped one of their neighbour's sons. Francesca immediately realises the significance of the note and rushes off to inform Bragg. And even though Bragg warns her not to get involved and to leave the matter to the police, Francesca cannot help but become involved. The search for the truth and the little boy is too important to Francesca to give up. And soon she is knee deep in the race to find the missing boy who seems to be in the hands of a mad man bent on revenge rather than a ransome. Francesca's investigations will lead her to the seamier side of New York City, through the slums and into danger; her search will also lead her to discover some rather uncomfortable truths about her own family, truths she may have prefered not to know at all. This is probably going to be the last book I read this year, and I'm glad that I closed out the year on a high note. Brenda Joyce has created a wonderful protagonist in Francesca Cahill, who is brave and passionate and simply brimming with energy. It is obvious that this charcater is young and a little naive -- in fact her naivety lands her in danger more than once! But we not only overlook this but root for Francesca to somehow come out on top and go on. The plot is clever one and the pacing of the sequence of events is flawless: the tension is palpable as page after page one wonders at what new horror will be uncovered and if the unfortuante little boy will be found alive. A masterfully written novel. I look forward to the next Francesca Cahill novel eagerly.
Rating:
Summary: Deadly Love
Review: I throughly enjoyed this book, but beware it is NOT a typical Brenda Joyce. This is the first in what I hope will be a new historical Mystery series. The review I read in Romantic Times explained what Deadly Love was all about, so I was not expecting a hot, light romance. Book lovers hate to admit that marketing has so much impact on our favorite books, but a few of the low reviews proves it to be so. If you enjoy mysteries, with a little romance thrown in, take a chance on this and enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely terrible
Review: I was horribly disappointed by this book. When I bought it I though it would be a romance mystery. Unfortunately,its not a romance. The most romance in this book is a kiss between two main characters who can never get togeather, in this book or any other in the seiries. unexpressable unrequited love that is not overcome is not my idea of a romance. In addition to this, the myster part of the story is a major let down, boring and predictable from a mile away. If you want a romance or a mystery get a different book about the only thing this book is a waste of time. And for all of you who think that this may only be the case in the first book of the series i'm sorry to disappoint, none of the others in this series change this situation.
Rating:
Summary: A not to miss cannot put down book!
Review: If anyone likes Brenda Joyce then they will love this book. You will swept away in amzing sexual tension, a complex mystery, and drop dead gorgeous brothers who persue Francesca, the heroine.
Rating:
Summary: Best new series of the year
Review: If I could give Brenda Joyce's novel "Deadly Love" a sixth star on the amazon scale I would. This is the best new beginning of a historical series romance that I have ever read. The book itself reads like old fashioned chapter novels and has left me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment in this fantastic, yet disturbing book. I say that it is disturbing because it has its characters be human, with the same kind of human foibles that we all have. In "Deadly Love" however, Joyce somehow allows her characters to be heroic and larger then life, despite their humanity, in the way that we want our romance novel characters to be. Francesca is a woman ahead of her time who wants to both be her own woman (she is attending the first women's college in England) and she wants to keep her family happy so she keeps her endeavor from her mother. Even though it means attending balls to the wee hours of the morning, attending classes a scant few hours after falling asleep, and studying every spare moment. Of course, it would not be a romance without the flawed hero, a.k.a. Rick Bragg, the head of the police, Francesca's love interest, and her almost nemesis. He is sexy, brooding and mad bad and 'dangerous to know." At the end of the book there are serious personal problems in the love lives of both her brother and her sister, a new mystery for the amateur sleuth, Francesca to solve and budding love for Rick and our heroine. This is both a great ending and a fantastic beginning of a new book and a new series for Brenda Joyce.
Rating:
Summary: The WORST Brenda Joyce novel I've ever read...
Review: If I could have given this book no stars I would have! I absolutely HATED this book. I've read Brenda Joyce before and really enjoyed her novels. This book has very little to do with romance. I didn't feel as if Rick even liked Francesca through about 90% of the book. She comes across as more of a pest. There's one steamy scene between Francesca and Rick, and that's pretty much it. The only other sexually explicit scene is between Francesca's brother-in-law and another woman as Francesca watches him commit adultery. I couldn't believe that was included in this story! There was way too much focus on Francesca's sister's marriage problems. If that storyline (Connie & Neil's relationship) is to be included in a future book, the author could have been more subtle about the problems in their relationship. After reading this book, I don't think that I could forget the mental picture I had when reading about him cheating to ever like his character in a future book. I also disliked the ending. It seemed incomplete - I felt as if I was left hanging.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the best in mystery and romance
Review: In 1902 New York City, even her family believes that kindhearted, social issues advocate Francesca Cahill is an eccentric. Francesca belongs to every known society trying to reform the ills of the universe. However, her family knows only the tip of the iceberg of Francesca's efforts. The do-gooder attends college with no one the wiser and belongs to many more organizations that help the needy than either her parents or sister Connie even know. While attending a ball, in which she meets police commissioner Rick Bragg, Francesca finds a ransom note making demands for the return of her neighbor's little boy abducted from his bed. Unable to let it go, the do-gooder begins making inquiries. Rick, vowing to remain clean, tries to stop the enchanting, but obstinate Francesca from continuing with her investigation. When that fails, he joins her efforts mostly to keep her safe, not yet knowing the danger that awaits them. DEADLY LOVE is a superb merging of an amateur sleuth novel with a historical police procedural mystery. It turns into a fabulous reading experience for genre fans. The story line works on several levels. The investigation is filled with a sexual tension between the fully developed lead characters and the infusion of historical tidbits makes the Big Apple at the turn of the century seem very much alive. Romance readers already know that B.D. Joyce by any other name (Brenda Joyce) means a fabulous well-crafted novel and now mystery fans will know likewise. Harriet Klausner
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