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Emerald Garden
Pining for her lost love within the confines of fairy-tale Emerald Manor, Lady Brandice Townsend is reunited with Lord Quentin Steel when the latter returns from the military to investigate the murders of his parents
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Andrea Kane
48 books861 followersComing in March 2019 from Andrea Kane: DEAD IN A WEEK.
Andrea Kane is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-nine novels, including fifteen psychological thrillers and fourteen historical romantic suspense titles. With her signature style, Kane creates unforgettable characters and confronts them with life-threatening danger. As a master of suspense, she weaves them into exciting, carefully-researched stories, pushing them to the edge—and keeping her readers up all night.
Kane’s first contemporary suspense thriller, Run for Your Life, became an instant New York Times bestseller. She followed with a string of bestselling psychological thrillers including No Way Out, Twisted, and Drawn in Blood.
Her latest in the highly successful Forensic Instincts series, Dead in a Week, adds the Zermatt Group into the mix—a covert team of former military and spy agency operatives. With a week to save a young woman from ruthless kidnappers, this globe-spanning chase, from the beerhalls of Germany, to the tech gardens of California, to the skyscrapers of China, and finally the farmlands of Croatia will keep readers guessing until the very end. The first showcase of Forensic Instincts’ talents came with the New York Times bestseller, The Girl Who Disappeared Twice, followed by The Line Between Here and Gone, The Stranger You Know, The Silence that Speaks, The Murder That Never Was, and A Face to Die For.
Kane’s beloved historical romantic suspense novels include My Heart’s Desire, Samantha, Echoes in the Mist, and Wishes in the Wind.
With a worldwide following of passionate readers, her books have been published in more than twenty languages.
Kane lives in New Jersey with her husband and family. She’s an avid crossword puzzle solver and a diehard Yankees fan. Otherwise, she’s either writing or playing with her Pomeranian, Mischief, who does his best to keep her from writing.
Andrea Kane is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-nine novels, including fifteen psychological thrillers and fourteen historical romantic suspense titles. With her signature style, Kane creates unforgettable characters and confronts them with life-threatening danger. As a master of suspense, she weaves them into exciting, carefully-researched stories, pushing them to the edge—and keeping her readers up all night.
Kane’s first contemporary suspense thriller, Run for Your Life, became an instant New York Times bestseller. She followed with a string of bestselling psychological thrillers including No Way Out, Twisted, and Drawn in Blood.
Her latest in the highly successful Forensic Instincts series, Dead in a Week, adds the Zermatt Group into the mix—a covert team of former military and spy agency operatives. With a week to save a young woman from ruthless kidnappers, this globe-spanning chase, from the beerhalls of Germany, to the tech gardens of California, to the skyscrapers of China, and finally the farmlands of Croatia will keep readers guessing until the very end. The first showcase of Forensic Instincts’ talents came with the New York Times bestseller, The Girl Who Disappeared Twice, followed by The Line Between Here and Gone, The Stranger You Know, The Silence that Speaks, The Murder That Never Was, and A Face to Die For.
Kane’s beloved historical romantic suspense novels include My Heart’s Desire, Samantha, Echoes in the Mist, and Wishes in the Wind.
With a worldwide following of passionate readers, her books have been published in more than twenty languages.
Kane lives in New Jersey with her husband and family. She’s an avid crossword puzzle solver and a diehard Yankees fan. Otherwise, she’s either writing or playing with her Pomeranian, Mischief, who does his best to keep her from writing.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Did Not Finish
April 1, 2013The informality everywhere in the book really bothered me. Everyone called everyone else by their first name and not by their title, including the solicitor calling Lord Quentin just Quentin. Not going to happen. And everyone acted on super familiar terms with the butler and other servants- in fact, the only one who treated them realistically (that is, like a servant, rather than an old family friend or even a poor relation), was the somewhat villainous brother. And everyone, including the servants, acted like the brother was completely in the wrong to act this way. Dukes, duchesses, viscounts, and their children are not friends with their servants.
The dialogue was pretty awful, too. The characters spoke in paragraphs full of long words that sounded very awkward, but not even in a kind-of-historical-ish way.
And it seems like the whole plot revolves around something completely impossible, that is, passing a title on to a second son while the first is still alive. At least, that was the impression I got from the first couple of chapters. And, well, that's just such a ridiculous mistake to make and then base an entire plot on.
So I got to page 124, but I can't bring myself to read anymore. The mistakes are glaring, the villain is obvious, and I just don't care about the story at all.
The dialogue was pretty awful, too. The characters spoke in paragraphs full of long words that sounded very awkward, but not even in a kind-of-historical-ish way.
And it seems like the whole plot revolves around something completely impossible, that is, passing a title on to a second son while the first is still alive. At least, that was the impression I got from the first couple of chapters. And, well, that's just such a ridiculous mistake to make and then base an entire plot on.
So I got to page 124, but I can't bring myself to read anymore. The mistakes are glaring, the villain is obvious, and I just don't care about the story at all.
November 14, 2016
I have read several books by this author, and I've really enjoyed most of them. However, I don't know if this was her first book, or what the problem was, but there were so many problems with this book I simply could not finish it. Lord Rose's excellent review really sums up my problems with this book, so I refer you to her review.
March 23, 2019
A fun romance with a dash of suspense and mystery. Brandi is energetic and fiesty and everything that society says a lady of the ton shouldn't be. But her friend Quentin appreciates and encourages her independent spirit. When both their parents are killed in a carriage accident, they turn to each other for comfort, support, and answers . . . and quickly realize that their friendship has grown into so much more.
November 25, 2022
Love Andrea Kane's books - she is a fantastic author who puts the reader right in the mix. Lady Townsend has always loved Lord Steel and had to wait for him while he went away to war. When he arrives back home Brandi is back at Emerald Manor and had grown up. Very good read!
March 4, 2017
This book actually ends up being somewhat boring. The plot, regarding the murders of the H and h's parents and that suspense is pretty well constructed, although it is easy to figure out who the bad guy is, so we have to sit back and watch the H/h try to figure it out. It was basically what kept me reading the book. The romance held no interest for me whatsoever. Quentin is bland and Brandi is a little too Mary Sue for my tastes. They apparently grew up together and when Quentin comes back from the war he realizes how much he loves Brandi. The only struggle to their being together is Quentin's brother Desmond who never really creates that much angst for them and Quentin's own honor (and he's pretty quick to solve that problem). There's no angst...and in a very good suspense story I can sometimes appreciate that because my focus is where it should be: the suspense. But this is a romance. So the focus should be the romance.
And nobody in this book acts like they should - Quentin breaches all kinds of propriety by moving in with Brandi, Bentley and Herbert are servants who basically become best friends with Quentin and Brandi, despite the total difference in class...Bentley even offers unsolicited advice to Quentin on occasion and Brandi is completely unconcerned for anyone else's opinions, basically just flaunting herself in front of Quentin. It requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. I don't read these things for historical accuracy, but I was still disturbed by nobody acting like they lived in their actual time period. It's not an awful book, it just doesn't excite me.
And nobody in this book acts like they should - Quentin breaches all kinds of propriety by moving in with Brandi, Bentley and Herbert are servants who basically become best friends with Quentin and Brandi, despite the total difference in class...Bentley even offers unsolicited advice to Quentin on occasion and Brandi is completely unconcerned for anyone else's opinions, basically just flaunting herself in front of Quentin. It requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. I don't read these things for historical accuracy, but I was still disturbed by nobody acting like they lived in their actual time period. It's not an awful book, it just doesn't excite me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2013
It's a nice read. Well, it's predictable. I can deduce who's the villain at once. I hate the solicitor so much that if Quentin didn't already killed him, I'd kill him myself!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2013
I can think of nothing I didn't like about this book. It took me a month to read it though. I just couldn't really get into it. However, the second half was much more engaging.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews