My Fair Lord

Rating:
Summary: Pygmalion with a supernatural twist... utterly delightful!
Review: As the saying goes, desperate situations call for desperate measures... And Caroline Wainwright was desperate. Very very desperate. She had one week til her 25 birthday to get married and find a husband. Otherwise, she would lose her beloved home, Fallingate, to her greedy brother and sister-in-law. As a last resort, Caroline seeks help from her father's best friend, Uncle Teddy, who finds her a common thief to marry! She has no choice but to marry Lucas Davin. You see, every suitor who has come to court her and her wealth has been chased out by the ghost of Fallingate. It seems that the legend of her haunted house is keeping her from getting married.

Lucas Davin is a common thief caught for stealing a horse, supposedly a dangerous and cunning rogue, if not charming to the bone. Although, he may be crude on the outside... the antics of Uncle Teddy, Caroline and her governess try to change him into a "fair lord". With the help of ghost of Lord Barrett Hamilton and some African potion Uncle Teddy conjured up... things go smoothly... sort of.

This book was far more entertaining than I had hoped. I could not put this book down! Ms. Beard's writing is superb and the reader was easily able to see the heart and the soul of the hero and the heroine. The suspense surrounding the ghost and Lucas' past was well done and had me glued to the pages. It was a wonderful book and I highly recommend this exciting novel with a supernatural twist.

Julianne

Rating:
Summary: A terrific read with a couple of surprises
Review: Caroline and Lucas may be the lead characters in this wonderful romance, but it's Lord Barrett and his love interest Rachel who will haunt the readers once they turn the last page. I have read many ghostly romances, but this one had a way of haunting me without the constant presences of ghosts. As I read along, I tried to take in everything just as I would a mystery. I didn't want to miss one clue about Lord Barrett or Rachel or what was going on in Caroline's family home... well, I'm getting ahead of myself so let me explain.

Lady Caroline needs to marry before a certain time or she loses her family home and wealth to her brother and his cold, greedy wife. Since it's during the 1700's in England, there is always a Dandy to spare looking for a chance to marry for money, but as the reader will find out, there is a reason Caroline can't get a man to stay at her family home long enough to marry. She becomes desperate and reaches into the lowest place available to save her inheritance.

The Prologue begins the tale, and reading through will introduce you to some rich, substantial characters, but you won't know the truth until the last page.

Rating:
Summary: My Fair Lord---Fair being the operative word
Review: Caroline must marry by her 25th birthday or lose the estate of father left her. It seems that ever since her 18th birthday and a prank she pulled alleging a ghost at the house, all her prospects for marriage have fled. If she does not marry, the house goes to her nasty brother George and his even nastier wife. So, with the help of her Uncle Teddy and her campanion, Amanda, she had delivered to her a horse thief from the goal and decides to marry him. She figures with the help of Teddy and Amanda, they can turn him from a seven dial thief to a gentleman. Along the way, she falls in love with him and he learns the role of a gentleman in surprising time. I know one must suspend belief in order to enjoy some stories, but this was tooooooo far fetched. Then he turns out to be an Earl? And his grandmother goes along with his return, after all those years of snobbery, just like that? Lucas was a cutie, Caroline naturally pretty, but there was a lack of sexual tension between them. Rather mudane, I would say.

Rating:
Summary: Enticing, Compelling, Enchanting
Review: It is a week before her 25th birthday and Miss Caroline Wainwright still has not found a husband. If she doesn't marry by her birthday, she will lose her precious home; Fallingate, her inheritance, her very life! What's a girl to do when every sutior who comes to court her is scared away by Lord Barrett Hamilton, her 300 year old resident ghost? She recruits the help of her fathers best friend, Uncle Teddy and he searches about to find a suitable man whom he can manage to pull off as a member of the ton. Where to find a man of this ilk, why the jail of course! Enter Lucas Davin, a thief from one of London's most notorious cutpurse gangs. He's in the local jail for stealing a horse when Uncle Teddy finds him, gains his release, and talks him into conducting an 'experiment', to change a common thief into 'quality', and if they don't pull it off, all that Caroline loves will go to her greedy brother and sister-in-law. Lucas' training comes fast and sure, he takes to being a gentleman like he was born to it. Too fast for Caroline's senses, she comes to believe that her ghost has posessed Lucas into becoming the 'lord' they need him to be. Can they all pull off the charade in time to convince; without a doubt, that Caroline and Lucas' marriage is what it seems, a match made of equal rank in the ton's eyes, or will they fail and lose everything, including themselves?

Anything with Julie Beard on the cover is worth reading. Her style flows and it's so hard to put one of her books down. I read this in a single sitting and was still thinking about it when I finally went to bed. Try it, you'll be glad you did!

Rating:
Summary: Supernatural Prince Charming
Review: Miss Caroline Wainwright is in desperate need of a husband, but her haunted manor house has frightened away all her prospects. If she does not find a husband by her 25th birthday, she will lose her home and her fortune. Enter one Lucas Davin, king of one of the worst criminal districts in London. As Caroline begins to fall for her thief, a strange personality change begins to overtake Lucas. The falls into a predictable conclusion, however which detracts from the chatacters' development. the ending appears rushed as if the author was hurrying to meet a deadline.

Rating:
Summary: My Fair Lord---Fair being the operative word
Review: My Fair Lord is a good book, a quick enjoyable read, but very predictable. I know, I know, historical romances only have so many places they can go-but this just didn't work for me. The first half of the book was really good-a different direction. I would have enjoyed the book more if it had developed more of a poor street thug with a heart of gold rather than an earl with a memory loss-this was just a little too predictable (not to mention convenient). It is a nice quick read, but not anything I would re-read.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful romance
Review: This is the first book of Julie Beard's that I have read.I picked it up at the store because it sounded interesting, and I had never read anything by her.Once I opened it I couldn't put it down.It has a good storyline.Actually more than one.The way Beard ties Mrs.Plumshaw's and Uncle Teddy's romance in right along with Caroline's and Lucas's is wonderful.The ghost of Barrett Hamilton is a good twist to it.It was fun to watch Lucas be transformed from a criminal to a Lord.And the fact that it takes place in medieval times makes it more intriguing and mysterious.It's as if you can feel the characters come to life right in front of you.A job well done on Mrs. Beard's part.Keep the novels coming!

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Read
Review: This is the second of Julie's books I have read . . . it was great!!! Just did catch myself before laughing out loud a few of times on the subway (Damme!) The story line was very imaginative, if somewhat farfetched; a couple of revelations came to me very early in the book (ie: Germaine house and Barrett's connection), but the characters and Lucas' lessons kept me reading. Like Caroline, I must admit I was more drawn to Lucas BEFORE "Barrett" conked him on the head; it was a little frustrating to follow his "recovering self." I think the GHOST versus PLACEBO ELIXIR had great, great potential, but it needed more thought and development to really contribute to the book. It kind of left me with the feeling of the PROMISE of an entertaining conundrum (you know, that makes you say hhmmm??) that never really delivered. On the whole, I enjoyed the book, read it in one day. I'm looking forward to the contuining story. What?? . . . of course you'll tell us what happened to Amanda's child . . .