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Lonely Lords #4
Beckman: Lord of Sins
Beckman Haddonfield is ready to live again...
Beckman finally emerges from the shadow of his wife's death by agreeing to restore a family estate...and embarking on a dalliance with the quiet, mysterious housekeeper who resides there. But she is not who she seems...
Beckman finally emerges from the shadow of his wife's death by agreeing to restore a family estate...and embarking on a dalliance with the quiet, mysterious housekeeper who resides there. But she is not who she seems...
304 pages, ebook
First published July 2, 2013
236 people are currently reading
811 people want to read
About the author
Grace Burrowes
190 books2,918 followersGrace Burrowes started writing as an antidote to empty nest and soon found it an antidote to life in general. She is the sixth out of seven children, raised in the rural surrounds of central Pennsylvania. Early in life she spent a lot of time reading romance novels and practicing the piano. Her first career was as a technical writer and editor in the Washington, DC, area, a busy job that nonetheless left enough time to read a lot of romance novels.
It also left enough time to grab a law degree through an evening program, produce Beloved Offspring (only one, but she is a lion), and eventually move to the lovely Maryland countryside.
While reading yet still more romance novels, Grace opened her own law practice, acquired a master's degree in Conflict Transformation (she had a teenage daughter by then) and started thinking about writing.... romance novels. This aim was realized when Beloved Offspring struck out into the Big World a few years ago. ("Mom, why doesn't anybody tell you being a grown-up is hard?")
Grace eventually got up the courage to start pitching her manuscripts to agents and editors. The query letter that resulted in "the call" started out: "I am the buffoon in the bar at the RWA retreat who could not keep her heroines straight, could not look you in the eye, and could not stop blushing--and if that doesn't narrow down the possibilities, your job is even harder than I thought." (The dear lady bought the book anyway.)
To contact Grace, email her at graceburrowes@yahoo.com.
It also left enough time to grab a law degree through an evening program, produce Beloved Offspring (only one, but she is a lion), and eventually move to the lovely Maryland countryside.
While reading yet still more romance novels, Grace opened her own law practice, acquired a master's degree in Conflict Transformation (she had a teenage daughter by then) and started thinking about writing.... romance novels. This aim was realized when Beloved Offspring struck out into the Big World a few years ago. ("Mom, why doesn't anybody tell you being a grown-up is hard?")
Grace eventually got up the courage to start pitching her manuscripts to agents and editors. The query letter that resulted in "the call" started out: "I am the buffoon in the bar at the RWA retreat who could not keep her heroines straight, could not look you in the eye, and could not stop blushing--and if that doesn't narrow down the possibilities, your job is even harder than I thought." (The dear lady bought the book anyway.)
To contact Grace, email her at graceburrowes@yahoo.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
November 20, 2013
Another Burrowes' winner!
Beckman Haddonfield, Earl of Bellefonte, is to put an estate of his grandmother's to rights. His farewell to his dying father is a poignant moment that brought forth if not a tear, a deep heartfelt sigh.
He is a man with a past, and a future to be determined.
A curious menagerie of persons inhabit his grandmother's property, Three Springs. There's Sara, Polly and Allie. All artistic, with Allie seemingly a child prodigy. (Burrowes makes some interesting comments on child prodigies in these times in her notes.)
Then there's the mysterious Gabriel North who reads French and dresses in the best labels, even if they are all well worn.
As Beck labours alongside this complex group of people he's found, all with dark secrets, but somehow becoming almost a family, he reflects on his companions, 'Here...he was not amongst strangers. He was with the same people day and night, he was becoming familiar with them...He was, in short, growing attached.'
Beck's soliloquies are rather wonderful, thoughtful, and show a character of depth and feeling. I am falling in love with his gentleness of spirit. He wanted what tormented North solved 'because it plagued North's soul.' Just a wonderful reading moment that stopped me in my tracks as I contemplated this increasingly sensitive character that Burrowes has created.
It does seem to me that as Burrowes writes this series, each story is amplified by and draws strength from the previous book. Her main characters portray more fully developed personas, from Darius whom I didn't much like, to now Beckman, who is far more thoughtfully rounded. Scarred from his past he is a quietly compelling character. He is very much a considerate listening soul. He is the Prodigal returned, and renewed.
Ah Yes! the story is at once complicated, simple and I loved it!
A NetGalley ARC
Beckman Haddonfield, Earl of Bellefonte, is to put an estate of his grandmother's to rights. His farewell to his dying father is a poignant moment that brought forth if not a tear, a deep heartfelt sigh.
He is a man with a past, and a future to be determined.
A curious menagerie of persons inhabit his grandmother's property, Three Springs. There's Sara, Polly and Allie. All artistic, with Allie seemingly a child prodigy. (Burrowes makes some interesting comments on child prodigies in these times in her notes.)
Then there's the mysterious Gabriel North who reads French and dresses in the best labels, even if they are all well worn.
As Beck labours alongside this complex group of people he's found, all with dark secrets, but somehow becoming almost a family, he reflects on his companions, 'Here...he was not amongst strangers. He was with the same people day and night, he was becoming familiar with them...He was, in short, growing attached.'
Beck's soliloquies are rather wonderful, thoughtful, and show a character of depth and feeling. I am falling in love with his gentleness of spirit. He wanted what tormented North solved 'because it plagued North's soul.' Just a wonderful reading moment that stopped me in my tracks as I contemplated this increasingly sensitive character that Burrowes has created.
It does seem to me that as Burrowes writes this series, each story is amplified by and draws strength from the previous book. Her main characters portray more fully developed personas, from Darius whom I didn't much like, to now Beckman, who is far more thoughtfully rounded. Scarred from his past he is a quietly compelling character. He is very much a considerate listening soul. He is the Prodigal returned, and renewed.
Ah Yes! the story is at once complicated, simple and I loved it!
A NetGalley ARC
November 18, 2014
Grace Burrowes' "Beckman, Lord of Sins" - #4 in the Lonely Lords series
(Reaction after first reading) Even though I'm giving this one 4 stars, it's not quite as enjoyable as the previous two stories about the Haddonfield brothers (Nicholas and Ethan) in this series. I saw a pattern emerging in the stories with the little scenes showing the possible villain gradually closing in on his prey. In the end, though, the villain/evildoer parts of this story were not very satisfactory or even exciting. There were quite a few surprises right at the end that I was not expecting and even now, a day later, they don't really make sense. The author could have let us in on those surprises much earlier in the story. Of course, if she *had* brought up one of those items earlier in the story, I might have thrown the book at the wall ...
The next book in the series is about Gareth and Polly who are both secondary characters in this story. I really look forward to reading Gareth's story, not so much Polly's story because a couple of the surprises revealed at the end of this book turned her into a character I could not like very much.
(After second reading) The book is a much better read the second time, when one knows the secrets that are kept from the first-time reader until the final pages of the book. The main characters - Beckman, Sara and Polly - are much more sympathetic and their actions make much more sense when their secrets don't obstruct the reader's understanding. But even though I enjoyed the book even more after the second reading, I won't change my rating - I still think those secrets should have been elucidated sooner in the story than they were.
(Reaction after first reading) Even though I'm giving this one 4 stars, it's not quite as enjoyable as the previous two stories about the Haddonfield brothers (Nicholas and Ethan) in this series. I saw a pattern emerging in the stories with the little scenes showing the possible villain gradually closing in on his prey. In the end, though, the villain/evildoer parts of this story were not very satisfactory or even exciting. There were quite a few surprises right at the end that I was not expecting and even now, a day later, they don't really make sense. The author could have let us in on those surprises much earlier in the story. Of course, if she *had* brought up one of those items earlier in the story, I might have thrown the book at the wall ...
The next book in the series is about Gareth and Polly who are both secondary characters in this story. I really look forward to reading Gareth's story, not so much Polly's story because a couple of the surprises revealed at the end of this book turned her into a character I could not like very much.
(After second reading) The book is a much better read the second time, when one knows the secrets that are kept from the first-time reader until the final pages of the book. The main characters - Beckman, Sara and Polly - are much more sympathetic and their actions make much more sense when their secrets don't obstruct the reader's understanding. But even though I enjoyed the book even more after the second reading, I won't change my rating - I still think those secrets should have been elucidated sooner in the story than they were.
October 20, 2013
4.5 stars
I’m gradually catching up with the Lonely Lords and have now reached the fourth book, which is the story of Beckman Haddonfield, one of the younger brothers of Nicholas, Viscount Reston and Ethan Grey.
The events in this book run parallel to events that take place in Nicholas: Lord of Secrets, and there are several references throughout as to what Nick is up to, rattling around in London, as well as to the cautious rapprochement that is taking place between Ethan and his half-brothers.
This book opens with the dying earl seeing Beckman off as the latter departs for Three Springs, one of the family properties which is in desperate need of attention. Lady Warne, Beckman’s grandmother, owns the place, although she does not live there, and she is not altogether happy with the responses she is receiving to her letters and enquiries.
We learn as the novel progresses, that Beckman is the “fixer” in the family, and that he has travelled extensively in this role, surveying the family’s holdings at home and abroad, and doing what needs to be done in order to maintain them and keep them profitable.
The thing that struck me immediately was the depth of feeling in the relationship between Beckman and his father – a thing rarely seen in historical romances. Normally, fathers and sons are at loggerheads or estranged, but here, Beckman is loath to leave; knowing his father is dying, he wants to stay, but also knows the earl is despatching him because he doesn’t want his family to see him in his decline. It’s also clear that Beck is something of a favourite –
and that the earl is concerned about Nick’s suitability to inherit the earldom.
Arriving at Three Springs, Beckman makes the acquaintance of the women who run the house, the taciturn land steward and slovenly servants. The house and lands are in a bad way, but there has not been enough money forthcoming to do much other than to keep the house running in a very basic manner. The ladies – Sara Hunt, the housekeeper and her sister Polly, the cook – are helped by the mysterious Gabriel North, a man Beck immediately suspects is much more than a simple land steward, and hindered by a couple of lazy farmhands who Beck very quickly gets rid of.
I found this to be a very gently moving story about people finding their place and their purpose. Beckman has been a wanderer for years, a situation that came about when his father realised that Beck needed something to divert him from the course towards self-destruction on which he’d set himself after the death of his young wife and unborn child. But he’s become weary and a little bit resentful of being continually sent away for “his own good” and wants to put down some roots.
Sara is surprised to discover that this son of an earl isn’t above getting his hands dirty. He and Gabriel work all the hours God sends in order to set the estate to rights, something which takes its toll particularly on Gabriel because of a recent injury.
Like Beckman, Sara (whose full name is Sarabande) has her own secrets and inner demons. A hugely talented violinist, she married a man who subsequently exploited her and her talent, hawking her all over Europe, from concert halls to drawing rooms, and spending all the money she made on drink, gambling and other women. The Hunts were clearly a talented family as Polly (or Polonaise) is an incredible artist, a talent that appears to have been passed to Sara’s daughter Allie.
Although Sara’s cruel, wastrel husband is long dead, she and Polly live in fear of his relatives discovering Allie’s whereabouts and taking her away to exploit her talent as an artist. This means that they are reluctant to let the girl paint as they don’t want her to immerse herself completely in her gift to the extent that they had done in the past and in a way that left them open to the machinations of an unscrupulous man.
The thing that stopped me rating the book more highly, because the romance is by turns beautiful and scorching, was the fact that Sara’s secrets turned out to be so… well, insignificant.
I admit I’d expected Sara’s deep secret to be something a little more scandalous, but in the grand scheme of things, that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book. As I’ve said, the central romance is utterly beautiful, and Beckman is an absolute joy of a hero; kind, caring and insightful, and I never cease to be amazed by the amount of romantic and sexual tension that this author can bring to the merest touch of a hand or a kiss.
In Beckman, like the books that precede it, Ms Burrowes has also written a superb male friendship. I’m finding these to be among the highlights of the books in this series that I’ve read so far – in Nicholas: Lord of Secretsand Ethan: Lord of Scandals, the eponymous characters resurrect and repair a relationship destroyed years earlier and in this book, Beckman and Gabriel North strike up a friendship that I’m convinced will last for years. There were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments in their banter, there were times they may not have liked each other much, but it’s clear there was a lot of mutual respect and understanding between them; and in fact, their parting was almost as painful as the one that took place when Beck had to leave Three Springs after his father’s death.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book despite the misgivings I’ve mentioned about certain aspects of the plot. But Ms Burrowes is one of those writers whose characters are so compelling and whose handling of the emotional content of her stories keeps me coming back for more, despite some minor inconsistencies.
I’m gradually catching up with the Lonely Lords and have now reached the fourth book, which is the story of Beckman Haddonfield, one of the younger brothers of Nicholas, Viscount Reston and Ethan Grey.
The events in this book run parallel to events that take place in Nicholas: Lord of Secrets, and there are several references throughout as to what Nick is up to, rattling around in London, as well as to the cautious rapprochement that is taking place between Ethan and his half-brothers.
This book opens with the dying earl seeing Beckman off as the latter departs for Three Springs, one of the family properties which is in desperate need of attention. Lady Warne, Beckman’s grandmother, owns the place, although she does not live there, and she is not altogether happy with the responses she is receiving to her letters and enquiries.
We learn as the novel progresses, that Beckman is the “fixer” in the family, and that he has travelled extensively in this role, surveying the family’s holdings at home and abroad, and doing what needs to be done in order to maintain them and keep them profitable.
The thing that struck me immediately was the depth of feeling in the relationship between Beckman and his father – a thing rarely seen in historical romances. Normally, fathers and sons are at loggerheads or estranged, but here, Beckman is loath to leave; knowing his father is dying, he wants to stay, but also knows the earl is despatching him because he doesn’t want his family to see him in his decline. It’s also clear that Beck is something of a favourite –
Nicholas is a good time. You are a good man.
and that the earl is concerned about Nick’s suitability to inherit the earldom.
Arriving at Three Springs, Beckman makes the acquaintance of the women who run the house, the taciturn land steward and slovenly servants. The house and lands are in a bad way, but there has not been enough money forthcoming to do much other than to keep the house running in a very basic manner. The ladies – Sara Hunt, the housekeeper and her sister Polly, the cook – are helped by the mysterious Gabriel North, a man Beck immediately suspects is much more than a simple land steward, and hindered by a couple of lazy farmhands who Beck very quickly gets rid of.
I found this to be a very gently moving story about people finding their place and their purpose. Beckman has been a wanderer for years, a situation that came about when his father realised that Beck needed something to divert him from the course towards self-destruction on which he’d set himself after the death of his young wife and unborn child. But he’s become weary and a little bit resentful of being continually sent away for “his own good” and wants to put down some roots.
Sara is surprised to discover that this son of an earl isn’t above getting his hands dirty. He and Gabriel work all the hours God sends in order to set the estate to rights, something which takes its toll particularly on Gabriel because of a recent injury.
Like Beckman, Sara (whose full name is Sarabande) has her own secrets and inner demons. A hugely talented violinist, she married a man who subsequently exploited her and her talent, hawking her all over Europe, from concert halls to drawing rooms, and spending all the money she made on drink, gambling and other women. The Hunts were clearly a talented family as Polly (or Polonaise) is an incredible artist, a talent that appears to have been passed to Sara’s daughter Allie.
Although Sara’s cruel, wastrel husband is long dead, she and Polly live in fear of his relatives discovering Allie’s whereabouts and taking her away to exploit her talent as an artist. This means that they are reluctant to let the girl paint as they don’t want her to immerse herself completely in her gift to the extent that they had done in the past and in a way that left them open to the machinations of an unscrupulous man.
The thing that stopped me rating the book more highly, because the romance is by turns beautiful and scorching, was the fact that Sara’s secrets turned out to be so… well, insignificant.
I admit I’d expected Sara’s deep secret to be something a little more scandalous, but in the grand scheme of things, that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book. As I’ve said, the central romance is utterly beautiful, and Beckman is an absolute joy of a hero; kind, caring and insightful, and I never cease to be amazed by the amount of romantic and sexual tension that this author can bring to the merest touch of a hand or a kiss.
In Beckman, like the books that precede it, Ms Burrowes has also written a superb male friendship. I’m finding these to be among the highlights of the books in this series that I’ve read so far – in Nicholas: Lord of Secretsand Ethan: Lord of Scandals, the eponymous characters resurrect and repair a relationship destroyed years earlier and in this book, Beckman and Gabriel North strike up a friendship that I’m convinced will last for years. There were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments in their banter, there were times they may not have liked each other much, but it’s clear there was a lot of mutual respect and understanding between them; and in fact, their parting was almost as painful as the one that took place when Beck had to leave Three Springs after his father’s death.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book despite the misgivings I’ve mentioned about certain aspects of the plot. But Ms Burrowes is one of those writers whose characters are so compelling and whose handling of the emotional content of her stories keeps me coming back for more, despite some minor inconsistencies.
June 28, 2025
Another winner in this series about Regency Era gentlemen searching for love’s first. Beckman is the third son of an Earl and thus destined to be “the spare.” He’s also handsome, intelligent, and a romantic at heart. Sent to manage a struggling estate by his dying father, he encounters a housekeeper who is much more. I fell in love with Beckman as he fell in love with Sara, a young woman haunted by a tragic decision made when she was just a teenager looking for a career in music. Their slow burn romance was steady and sweet and kept me glued to my reading chair.
As with the previous books in this series, I found the characters and back stories intriguing and entertaining. I plan to continue reading them all.
As with the previous books in this series, I found the characters and back stories intriguing and entertaining. I plan to continue reading them all.
January 25, 2021
My first two or three Burrowes were what I would deem 🙌Great 🙌Reading🙌 Experiences🙌... Great, I tell you. I was like: wow, what a refreshing take on HR! Emotionally sensitive men? Yes please. Sexually liberated women? Check! Then.... well, then I started to power through her books, and I rapidly became aware of a few repetitive themes and events.
More than a few.
In fact, after reading Benedict in her Lonely Lords series it became clear to me that Grace Burrowes is a tired writer and has been leached of her creative mind. Note: yes, I am aware that is uncommonly harsh. But it is either that or she is very dedicated to her dream that lurking beneath every man is a tender patient lover, committed to the following things:
1) “A Good Man Holds His Women In Bed But Doesn’t Want to Smash”; and 2) of course, one cannot have a perfect man unless he asks—frequently—to brush and braid her hair. But, which shoulder does she prefer her braid over? And, she shouldn’t brush it when it is wet!; and 3) “All Good Men Know Everything About Menstrution” and 4)“Worthy Men Must Know How To Time Love Making To Avoid Pregnancy"
Those are only a few of her Man Mottos (as I’ve come to think of them) which I swear she applies to ever single one of her heroes. Her heroes reek of passive man-splaining, that men know more about women then a woman ever could and because it is all cloaked in gentleness, it must be okay, right?
I have come to realize that I find that a difficult pill to swallow, and frankly, I’ve stopped falling for the deception.
Another indicator of GB’s fall from Grace (bad pun?) was that she never forgets: 1) there has to be a child to make all our ovaries explode and overlook inherent flaws in MC arcs; and 2) a dog, or a cat, or a horse must be present just in case one of us isn’t overtly maternal but enjoys men loving on furry creatures.
I mean really. Every. Single. Book... has a mixture of these elements!
Hell, I like trope like the next romance reader, but where good writers use these as devices to propel character development and human connection, Grace Burrowes uses them to distract.
In the instance of Benedict, we have all our hair and bedtime elements, and a child and horses. She also adds in a very unnecessary twist concerning the child—which at my count is her third or fourth time doing the exact same thing as in other books.
When you look closely, her heroine is strangely inconstant. Benedict, himself, is dedicated but pointlessly indecisive. Most of the characters are moody and/or selfish and very little happens in the course of the story that propels the primary and secondary characters on the path to self-actualization and happiness. But that’s what the hair and bedtime elements, and the child and the horses are there for—what, our hero is being a dipshit? Well, look over there! Isn’t that grey gelding beautiful?
(Like....HOW are we all falling for her bad writing... I bought nine of her books!!!)
So yeahhhhhh, THAT is my rant on Grace Burrowes’ particular brand of HR and my bidding her adieu. I have a very strong aversion for laziness in writing, and the pumping out of books like Disney does Marvel movies. If everyone aspired to be the Studio Ghibli of HR, we’d all have our romantic souls satisfied more often and more thoroughly. Yes, trying to write with purpose is exhausting, but it is also more fulfilling to the writer and the reader. And with all of GB’s waxing about good men and needy women, children being loved and animals being petted, her work is not fulfilling: it is shallow and filled with artifice.
I hope others notice this about GB and review and maybe she might have a good think and prove me wrong. I hope so, but I doubt it.
More than a few.
In fact, after reading Benedict in her Lonely Lords series it became clear to me that Grace Burrowes is a tired writer and has been leached of her creative mind. Note: yes, I am aware that is uncommonly harsh. But it is either that or she is very dedicated to her dream that lurking beneath every man is a tender patient lover, committed to the following things:
1) “A Good Man Holds His Women In Bed But Doesn’t Want to Smash”; and 2) of course, one cannot have a perfect man unless he asks—frequently—to brush and braid her hair. But, which shoulder does she prefer her braid over? And, she shouldn’t brush it when it is wet!; and 3) “All Good Men Know Everything About Menstrution” and 4)“Worthy Men Must Know How To Time Love Making To Avoid Pregnancy"
Those are only a few of her Man Mottos (as I’ve come to think of them) which I swear she applies to ever single one of her heroes. Her heroes reek of passive man-splaining, that men know more about women then a woman ever could and because it is all cloaked in gentleness, it must be okay, right?
I have come to realize that I find that a difficult pill to swallow, and frankly, I’ve stopped falling for the deception.
Another indicator of GB’s fall from Grace (bad pun?) was that she never forgets: 1) there has to be a child to make all our ovaries explode and overlook inherent flaws in MC arcs; and 2) a dog, or a cat, or a horse must be present just in case one of us isn’t overtly maternal but enjoys men loving on furry creatures.
I mean really. Every. Single. Book... has a mixture of these elements!
Hell, I like trope like the next romance reader, but where good writers use these as devices to propel character development and human connection, Grace Burrowes uses them to distract.
In the instance of Benedict, we have all our hair and bedtime elements, and a child and horses. She also adds in a very unnecessary twist concerning the child—which at my count is her third or fourth time doing the exact same thing as in other books.
When you look closely, her heroine is strangely inconstant. Benedict, himself, is dedicated but pointlessly indecisive. Most of the characters are moody and/or selfish and very little happens in the course of the story that propels the primary and secondary characters on the path to self-actualization and happiness. But that’s what the hair and bedtime elements, and the child and the horses are there for—what, our hero is being a dipshit? Well, look over there! Isn’t that grey gelding beautiful?
(Like....HOW are we all falling for her bad writing... I bought nine of her books!!!)
So yeahhhhhh, THAT is my rant on Grace Burrowes’ particular brand of HR and my bidding her adieu. I have a very strong aversion for laziness in writing, and the pumping out of books like Disney does Marvel movies. If everyone aspired to be the Studio Ghibli of HR, we’d all have our romantic souls satisfied more often and more thoroughly. Yes, trying to write with purpose is exhausting, but it is also more fulfilling to the writer and the reader. And with all of GB’s waxing about good men and needy women, children being loved and animals being petted, her work is not fulfilling: it is shallow and filled with artifice.
I hope others notice this about GB and review and maybe she might have a good think and prove me wrong. I hope so, but I doubt it.
January 30, 2016
Originally Posted At Addicted To Romance
Beckman, has spent years trying to recover from past griefs, and with his father practically on his deathbed, he agrees to restore a family estate, that needs work and a helping hand. So despite his reluctance, he knows that he needs to do this. So when he heads down, he doesn't expect to be attracted to the housekeeper, but she holds secrets of her own. Sara Hunt, has had her own past and sorrows of her own. She was married young, and used for her talents by her greedy husband, now widowed, with a daughter and a sister to care for, she is determined to secure their future. When Beckman arrives to help with the estate, Sara just wants to pretend that everything is alright, when the estate is practically tumbling down on them, with little funds to support them all. Soon she can't resist Beckman, his sincere interest in her, or the desire she feels for him. But when her past comes to haunt her again, she might have to trust everything she is to Beckman, and trust in his devotion to her...
Beckman is the fourth book in the Lonely Lords and I have really been enjoying this series. After reading the first two books, I have been looking forward to reading Beckman's story. Grace Burrowes is a author that I am glad to have discovered. Her stories are witty, charming, and pure delightful fun, and Beckman was no different. I did have a difficult time at first getting into the story, but I think the problem was myself and current stresses in life, and not the actual wrting or even the story. Beckman is a story that shows a journey of two people that have both struggled, and have dark pasts, but still need to heal and focus on the future.
Beckman, has had quite a struggle in his life, but I loved him even more for it. He has such tremendous strength and compassion for others, and I found myself falling in love with him with every page. At first he seems like the usual regency rake, but as the story progresses further, you start to see that he carries so much depth with him, and suffers just as much as the other members in his family have. Sara is very stubborn and prideful, and refuses to ask for help, especially when she desperatley needs it. Sara has had to make decisions ever since she was married at a young age, and most of her freedoms taken away from her at a young age. You see how she is struggling to protect herself and her emotions from Beckman, but Beckman is just as stubborn as Sara, and won't let her go without a fight.
A uniquely written romance that is bound to create laughter and your immediate attention. Characters to steal your heart, a love story that is beyond riveting and will tie your heart up in knots. A WINNER OF A ROMANCE!!!
Beckman, has spent years trying to recover from past griefs, and with his father practically on his deathbed, he agrees to restore a family estate, that needs work and a helping hand. So despite his reluctance, he knows that he needs to do this. So when he heads down, he doesn't expect to be attracted to the housekeeper, but she holds secrets of her own. Sara Hunt, has had her own past and sorrows of her own. She was married young, and used for her talents by her greedy husband, now widowed, with a daughter and a sister to care for, she is determined to secure their future. When Beckman arrives to help with the estate, Sara just wants to pretend that everything is alright, when the estate is practically tumbling down on them, with little funds to support them all. Soon she can't resist Beckman, his sincere interest in her, or the desire she feels for him. But when her past comes to haunt her again, she might have to trust everything she is to Beckman, and trust in his devotion to her...
Beckman is the fourth book in the Lonely Lords and I have really been enjoying this series. After reading the first two books, I have been looking forward to reading Beckman's story. Grace Burrowes is a author that I am glad to have discovered. Her stories are witty, charming, and pure delightful fun, and Beckman was no different. I did have a difficult time at first getting into the story, but I think the problem was myself and current stresses in life, and not the actual wrting or even the story. Beckman is a story that shows a journey of two people that have both struggled, and have dark pasts, but still need to heal and focus on the future.
Beckman, has had quite a struggle in his life, but I loved him even more for it. He has such tremendous strength and compassion for others, and I found myself falling in love with him with every page. At first he seems like the usual regency rake, but as the story progresses further, you start to see that he carries so much depth with him, and suffers just as much as the other members in his family have. Sara is very stubborn and prideful, and refuses to ask for help, especially when she desperatley needs it. Sara has had to make decisions ever since she was married at a young age, and most of her freedoms taken away from her at a young age. You see how she is struggling to protect herself and her emotions from Beckman, but Beckman is just as stubborn as Sara, and won't let her go without a fight.
A uniquely written romance that is bound to create laughter and your immediate attention. Characters to steal your heart, a love story that is beyond riveting and will tie your heart up in knots. A WINNER OF A ROMANCE!!!
December 16, 2013
One of my favorite things about Grace Burrowes' writing is its gentleness. Not only is her prose relaxing and mellow, but also she presents in each of her characters a generosity and kindness of spirit. For example, there's a lot of hugging--and not just between the romantic leads. Fathers hug sons even when they seem to have a past hard to forgive. Brothers hug brothers even when there's resentment between them. And of course, the hero and heroine spend a lot of time locked in embraces that connect the characters emotionally through comfort and understanding rather than just incite passion. Indeed, even the passion mostly has a gentleness where sex is secondary to the characters' (usually soft and open) emotional state.
Is this a complaint? Not really--it's a feature that characterizes Burrowes' fictional world. But for this particular novel, the external threats to the characters' happiness didn't quite work for me, which is related to the idea of "gentleness" because those threats feel forced and undeveloped since the kindness of the main characters does not. [There might be spoilers from this point.] In _Beckman_, the threats came in the form of three people: two footmen of all-work who had been fired but make a cameo appearance late in the novel, bent on some sort of financially-motivated but otherwise unclear revenge on the heroine, Sara, and her sister Polly. The footmen's appearance was unconvincing and served only to point up the fact that some sort of external threat was necessary to the plot (you know, funny happenings on the estate, like broken axels on plows that threaten the safety of the workers, and such). The third person was more interesting and was admittedly the foil for the dismissed footmen: the heroine's erstwhile brother-in-law who has a couple of POV scenes in which he is established as a character with enough of a motive to hurt/control Sara and Polly, but we just aren't sure. Is he the one causing the odd happenings around the estate? Indeed, because the footmen disappear early in the novel, the brother-in-law seems to be our only culprit. Yet, when he appears on the estate, he turns out not to be a threat at all.
Ultimately, these external threats were a distraction from the more important business of secret holding and mining that occupies Beck and Sara. I liked the role of the brother-in-law to the extent that his appearance is one reason for Sara's honesty with Beck. But the footmen were a deus ex machina of the wrong kind ...
I hated giving this novel only 3 stars. I generally like Burrowes' novels much better, and would suggest you read the Windham series (_Heir_, _Soldier_, etc.). I'll get around to reviewing them, perhaps. But in the meantime, check them out.
Is this a complaint? Not really--it's a feature that characterizes Burrowes' fictional world. But for this particular novel, the external threats to the characters' happiness didn't quite work for me, which is related to the idea of "gentleness" because those threats feel forced and undeveloped since the kindness of the main characters does not. [There might be spoilers from this point.] In _Beckman_, the threats came in the form of three people: two footmen of all-work who had been fired but make a cameo appearance late in the novel, bent on some sort of financially-motivated but otherwise unclear revenge on the heroine, Sara, and her sister Polly. The footmen's appearance was unconvincing and served only to point up the fact that some sort of external threat was necessary to the plot (you know, funny happenings on the estate, like broken axels on plows that threaten the safety of the workers, and such). The third person was more interesting and was admittedly the foil for the dismissed footmen: the heroine's erstwhile brother-in-law who has a couple of POV scenes in which he is established as a character with enough of a motive to hurt/control Sara and Polly, but we just aren't sure. Is he the one causing the odd happenings around the estate? Indeed, because the footmen disappear early in the novel, the brother-in-law seems to be our only culprit. Yet, when he appears on the estate, he turns out not to be a threat at all.
Ultimately, these external threats were a distraction from the more important business of secret holding and mining that occupies Beck and Sara. I liked the role of the brother-in-law to the extent that his appearance is one reason for Sara's honesty with Beck. But the footmen were a deus ex machina of the wrong kind ...
I hated giving this novel only 3 stars. I generally like Burrowes' novels much better, and would suggest you read the Windham series (_Heir_, _Soldier_, etc.). I'll get around to reviewing them, perhaps. But in the meantime, check them out.
August 13, 2013
Ah, Beckman...just like the rest of Grace Burrowes' Lonely Lords, I love him. He's the younger brother to Nicholas, the Earl of Bellefonte. This is the fourth book in the series. You can read these alone, but it's such a joy to see characters from the earlier books wander through.
Beckman's wife has been dead for several years. During those years, he's tried several ways to rid the earth of his existence. He harbors some guilt for her death. Not that it was his fault, but he holds onto the guilt anyway. We meet him as his father, who is fading rapidly, sends him away from the family seat to deal with the neglected property of a relative. This hurts Beckman as he feels he's been sent away for his misdeeds. His guilt causes him to think that he deserves his banishment. Not that he's a bad fellow, not at all. But on some level he thinks he really does deserve to not be with his father as he dies. If you've read any of the other Lonely Lords books, you know that dear papa is just trying to hold onto his dignity and spare his family.
When Beckman arrives at the dilapidated manor, he meets the housekeeper, Sara Hunt, her daughter and her sister. The three of them, and Gabriel North, have been working their fingers to the bone to try and keep the manor, and property, up.
When he first sees Sara, Beckman feels like he's met her before. He can tell she has secrets, but he has his own and doesn't pry. These two sad souls find they have a lot in common. And a there's a pull they can't deny.
I enjoyed the romance between these two and the supporting characters, Polly and Gabriel kept things interesting. Their story is in the next book, Gabriel: Lord of Regrets. I loved the friendship that arose between the two men. Nicholas made an appearance, and that was fun, too.
There's some skulduggery going on throughout the book. One tends to wonder just who is the good guy and who is the bad. There are a couple characters that I was really glad were already dead, too.
My review of this Lonely Lord can be summed up this way:
LOVED IT!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
FIVE BOOKMARKS!
*Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks ~ Casablanca, for the opportunity to read Beckman.
Beckman's wife has been dead for several years. During those years, he's tried several ways to rid the earth of his existence. He harbors some guilt for her death. Not that it was his fault, but he holds onto the guilt anyway. We meet him as his father, who is fading rapidly, sends him away from the family seat to deal with the neglected property of a relative. This hurts Beckman as he feels he's been sent away for his misdeeds. His guilt causes him to think that he deserves his banishment. Not that he's a bad fellow, not at all. But on some level he thinks he really does deserve to not be with his father as he dies. If you've read any of the other Lonely Lords books, you know that dear papa is just trying to hold onto his dignity and spare his family.
When Beckman arrives at the dilapidated manor, he meets the housekeeper, Sara Hunt, her daughter and her sister. The three of them, and Gabriel North, have been working their fingers to the bone to try and keep the manor, and property, up.
When he first sees Sara, Beckman feels like he's met her before. He can tell she has secrets, but he has his own and doesn't pry. These two sad souls find they have a lot in common. And a there's a pull they can't deny.
I enjoyed the romance between these two and the supporting characters, Polly and Gabriel kept things interesting. Their story is in the next book, Gabriel: Lord of Regrets. I loved the friendship that arose between the two men. Nicholas made an appearance, and that was fun, too.
There's some skulduggery going on throughout the book. One tends to wonder just who is the good guy and who is the bad. There are a couple characters that I was really glad were already dead, too.
My review of this Lonely Lord can be summed up this way:
LOVED IT!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
FIVE BOOKMARKS!
*Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks ~ Casablanca, for the opportunity to read Beckman.
October 20, 2022
H is grieving and wallowing in shame and self doubt. His dying father tries to help him by sending him to rescue a property from ruin. The hope being he will save the property and himself. He discovers the housekeeper's family lives in poverty and shame, greater than his own. It was difficult to like the self sacrificing h, but she had been manipulated by her evil husband when she was very young. The author does OTT angst well and this time, I really liked this story.
January 29, 2014
Beckman: Lords of sins is a sweet story of the couple whom had each unhappy marriages before. It is a nice family story with dark secrets and miserable past. Beckman is a wonderful and sweet Hero. Sara is strong and protective heroine.It is nice to see how the Hero and heroine come to love and trust each other.
October 8, 2019
Reviewed by Rachel
Book provided by NetGalley
Grace Burrowes just keeps getting better and better with her Lonely Lords series. I was blown away by how different she was able to make each male lead in this series.
Beckman Haddonfield has always been a fixer. When one of his family estates is said to be in need of repairs, he's sent to bring it to rights again. Immediately, he meets housekeeper Sara. She doesn't seem the typical housekeeper. After all, she's beautiful, has a daughter, and hides her beauty. But slowly, Beckman is able to bring down her walls and decides to offer her the only thing he can--his bed and his companionship.
Sara seems to be afraid of everything. She wants Beck, but there's a dark secret she's hiding and it effects not only her daughter but her sister, Polly, who also works at the estate.
I LOVED Beckman's character. His sense of humor was HILARIOUS. So many times, I found myself laughing at his antics with North, another beautifully written secondary character. I wanted to root for Beck, he wasn't one of those heroes that you were disappointed in for his bad choices. Instead, he was just good. I mean he had a past, but everything about him was so ridiculously refreshing. He was a new type of hero and for that I loved him to pieces!
The love scenes were very tastefully written and what I found interesting--they were so realistic. The relationship between Sara and Beck was endearing because it wasn't just lustful, it was about their relationship, he always wanted Sara to talk to him. It was so beautiful and I loved it. I loved loved loved it. Can you tell? I think so often authors get caught up in the sex and forget about the before and after. It's refreshing that Miss Burrowes wrote such hot scenes, but didn't leave out the emotional tie.
MY ONLY complaint about this book is that I got really attached to North as a character and we never find out what happens to him or to Polly. No epilogue. Nothing. I'm thinking there will be another book. I'm hoping for it.
All in all a fantastic read.
Book provided by NetGalley
Grace Burrowes just keeps getting better and better with her Lonely Lords series. I was blown away by how different she was able to make each male lead in this series.
Beckman Haddonfield has always been a fixer. When one of his family estates is said to be in need of repairs, he's sent to bring it to rights again. Immediately, he meets housekeeper Sara. She doesn't seem the typical housekeeper. After all, she's beautiful, has a daughter, and hides her beauty. But slowly, Beckman is able to bring down her walls and decides to offer her the only thing he can--his bed and his companionship.
Sara seems to be afraid of everything. She wants Beck, but there's a dark secret she's hiding and it effects not only her daughter but her sister, Polly, who also works at the estate.
I LOVED Beckman's character. His sense of humor was HILARIOUS. So many times, I found myself laughing at his antics with North, another beautifully written secondary character. I wanted to root for Beck, he wasn't one of those heroes that you were disappointed in for his bad choices. Instead, he was just good. I mean he had a past, but everything about him was so ridiculously refreshing. He was a new type of hero and for that I loved him to pieces!
The love scenes were very tastefully written and what I found interesting--they were so realistic. The relationship between Sara and Beck was endearing because it wasn't just lustful, it was about their relationship, he always wanted Sara to talk to him. It was so beautiful and I loved it. I loved loved loved it. Can you tell? I think so often authors get caught up in the sex and forget about the before and after. It's refreshing that Miss Burrowes wrote such hot scenes, but didn't leave out the emotional tie.
MY ONLY complaint about this book is that I got really attached to North as a character and we never find out what happens to him or to Polly. No epilogue. Nothing. I'm thinking there will be another book. I'm hoping for it.
All in all a fantastic read.
November 19, 2015
Lonely Lords #4.
I really liked Beckman -- he is such a sweet and gentle man. That is the nice thing about all of these books -- especially the Haddonfield men. I wonder how a jerk like the earl managed to sire and raise such caring sons. MUST have come from their mothers.
Beck is 'the spare' and the heir (Nick) refuses to have children. You'll have to read his story to find out why. So, Beck married at 21 in order to provide that heir. However, his bride was in love with someone else and was already carrying that man's child and therefore she and Beckman never consumated their marriage. She sounds like a real ditz -- anyway -- when Nick catches her with her lover, he tells her that her non-Haddonfield child would be in line to inherit the Earldom. So, she tries to lose the child and ends up with both of them dying. So -- that is Beckman's big sorrow. He didn't love her, but he went off the deep end.
Beckman gets sent all over the world 'tending' to Haddonfield interests. He gets sent to his step-grandmother's estate to restore it because it has fallen into disrepair (somebody wasn't doing their job). When he arrives, he meets Sara Hunt who is the housekeeper.
Sara has a boatload of secrets and I'll not share those because it would spare part of the story. Sarah has a daughter who lives there with them and Sara's sister (Poly) who lives there as well.
It is sweet to watch how sweet, kind, considerate and loving Beckman is -- you'll have to read it to see how he works Sara around to being his.
This book introduces us to two characters to be featured in other books. Gabriel North (not his real last name) is the steward of the property and his book is #5 I think. Tremaine St. Michael's book is Book #2 (Tremaine's True Love) in the True Gentlemen Series.
An excellent read.
I really liked Beckman -- he is such a sweet and gentle man. That is the nice thing about all of these books -- especially the Haddonfield men. I wonder how a jerk like the earl managed to sire and raise such caring sons. MUST have come from their mothers.
Beck is 'the spare' and the heir (Nick) refuses to have children. You'll have to read his story to find out why. So, Beck married at 21 in order to provide that heir. However, his bride was in love with someone else and was already carrying that man's child and therefore she and Beckman never consumated their marriage. She sounds like a real ditz -- anyway -- when Nick catches her with her lover, he tells her that her non-Haddonfield child would be in line to inherit the Earldom. So, she tries to lose the child and ends up with both of them dying. So -- that is Beckman's big sorrow. He didn't love her, but he went off the deep end.
Beckman gets sent all over the world 'tending' to Haddonfield interests. He gets sent to his step-grandmother's estate to restore it because it has fallen into disrepair (somebody wasn't doing their job). When he arrives, he meets Sara Hunt who is the housekeeper.
Sara has a boatload of secrets and I'll not share those because it would spare part of the story. Sarah has a daughter who lives there with them and Sara's sister (Poly) who lives there as well.
It is sweet to watch how sweet, kind, considerate and loving Beckman is -- you'll have to read it to see how he works Sara around to being his.
This book introduces us to two characters to be featured in other books. Gabriel North (not his real last name) is the steward of the property and his book is #5 I think. Tremaine St. Michael's book is Book #2 (Tremaine's True Love) in the True Gentlemen Series.
An excellent read.
February 25, 2020
The interconnected-ness of this book with Nicholas and Ethan is sooooo good. I love (and am also saddened ---which is saying something because we only meet this man in small glimpses) that I'm able to see how the death of their father (ugh, it's sad, and I feel the feels when I read each one of them go through that loss, and that's just a talented writer right there) plays a roll in each of their lives. GB does a great job connecting the stories but keeping them working very much on their own. Time moves on, but it's not blatantly stated, just understood.
I didn't realize that these were all connected stories before and read, Tremaine's True Love first...so it was nice to see Tremaine's introduction and get an even better feel for his story.
Just a good read all around. The relationships between the characters and the very easy affection between the men in the stories is probably a high point for me. I love good brotherhoods and found family stories but I also love just seeing very realistic and wonderful relationships between family members and friends. GB does it well.
I didn't realize that these were all connected stories before and read, Tremaine's True Love first...so it was nice to see Tremaine's introduction and get an even better feel for his story.
Just a good read all around. The relationships between the characters and the very easy affection between the men in the stories is probably a high point for me. I love good brotherhoods and found family stories but I also love just seeing very realistic and wonderful relationships between family members and friends. GB does it well.
February 21, 2014
Note: page references refer to an ePUB version of the book.
Grace Burrowes is on my auto-read list which is funny considering how I first came to her writing. She has cast a spell of truly beautiful writing, memorable characters, and realistic romance.
My thoughts:
At first, I was worried this was going to be a love story between a domestic and a peer (as it first seemed in The Heir), something that rubs me the wrong way as I see that as completely improbable. But, as always, things are not what they seem and Burrowes is accurate with her time period and its strictures.
The musical names of the heroine and her family were both a surprise and a bit much, but also creative and clever: Sarabande, Allemande, Polonaise.
For my full review on my historical romance and history blog: http://bit.ly/1mxVWEV
Grace Burrowes is on my auto-read list which is funny considering how I first came to her writing. She has cast a spell of truly beautiful writing, memorable characters, and realistic romance.
My thoughts:
At first, I was worried this was going to be a love story between a domestic and a peer (as it first seemed in The Heir), something that rubs me the wrong way as I see that as completely improbable. But, as always, things are not what they seem and Burrowes is accurate with her time period and its strictures.
The musical names of the heroine and her family were both a surprise and a bit much, but also creative and clever: Sarabande, Allemande, Polonaise.
For my full review on my historical romance and history blog: http://bit.ly/1mxVWEV
March 23, 2023
I liked this one a lot. Lots of angst-- possibly a tad too much, but as is beginning to seem standard in this series, the secrets were held a bit too tightly and too long, which may have made it only seem too angsty. I do like the angst. The love scenes were Very well done. Meaning, I read them. Not just the first one, but all of them, because they fit in with the story and the characters.
This is the one about the traveling brother and the housekeeper who used to be a violinist with the name of a dance and a music speed: Sarabande Adagio...
This is the one about the traveling brother and the housekeeper who used to be a violinist with the name of a dance and a music speed: Sarabande Adagio...
July 26, 2019
Beckman is brother to Nicholas, who is about 15 feet tall, so we did spend a lot of time talking about his beautiful shining hulking mass. I did appreciate how self-possessed he is, and Sara is the housekeeper, so there was lots of attention on how clean rooms are or are not and how nice they smell. I love a good cleaning montage. So that was nice. But I am taking a break from this series because there IS a limit to how many times I can read about Sexy Dumdum Hunk and Breathtakingly Beautiful Dumdum With a Secret in a row.
March 3, 2022
I seriously do not understand why I read this whole book to the end. The writing was wonky and the way they talked was too hoity toity for the situations they were in. The main characters didn’t excite me or show a mutual passion for one another. I mean they got into bed but the flowery words just didn’t work in those situations.
And the ending!!! Oh man what a waste of hours reading this for the ending of everything to boil down to perfect harmony in a page? Totally not worth it.
And the ending!!! Oh man what a waste of hours reading this for the ending of everything to boil down to perfect harmony in a page? Totally not worth it.
April 10, 2020
I’m enjoying this series. At a glance, you’d expect it to be your typical Regency Romance series: milk the readers pockets with book after book all the same. That definitely isn’t true here.
Firstly, I love the fact that we get a lot of the main male POV. So we’re seeing a whole slew of different motivations, concerns and interests. When it shifts to the female, it’s more reactive. The plot focus is usually the male.
Also, each story pursues a totally different motivation towards marriage, children and sex. Family, family structure and position in the family become a focus, allowing the author to explore different mindsets. The geography, politics and economy of the time is explored. The stories each have their own niche, setting, atmosphere.
For example in this one, sex is initiated more for comfort and to ease loneliness between consenting adults in privacy. That sets a totally different tone. There are similarities, their conflicted pasts often stemmed from betrayal and the outside forces are usually sinister. Yet the author doesn’t resort to cock blocking or push/pull to create tension. Interactions are more often stages on the journey. Slow seductions.
What really builds as the series progresses is seeing main characters through different perspectives. Take Nick for example. He’s portrayed as the ultimate boudoir bachelor. The Beserker of the Bedroom. Bedding anything he can. This is dealt with in his book but also affects the plot in Ethan’s. But to balance that, we see Nick’s love for and ability to relate to children in Ethan’s book, even if they aren’t his. And in this book, his persistent love and loyalty to his little brother, Beck, shines through, redeeming him for other flaws in his character. In fact the interaction and affection between siblings is as important as the love between the matched pair of the title.
Even peripheral characters we’ve met before, grow and play an integral part. And the animals have their own roles to play. For example it took me a while in this book to work out who/what Hildegard is as they are treated as one of the family.
The parallel timelines make the series interesting too. There are spoilers galore in the text. We know Leah and Nick end up together from Darius’s book. The death of the Earl happens in each book. So while you don’t have to read them all or in order, you miss bits if you don’t.
As an author myself, I admire how this has been done. Writing parallel timelines is not easy. See Red+Blue as an example. You have to include enough to give context, show how the incident appears to a different character, but not bore the reader by repetition.
In many series, you get regurgitated passages to bring you up to date in case it’s a while since you last read the previous book or never read it. In this case there is none of that. Amazing. But true. Instead the reader, can, if they wish, pause for a bit and recall how this scene fits in to what they’ve read before. They can also extrapolate for themselves what’s happening at the same time in another part of the country. But if they’ve never read the other book, it doesn’t really matter.
Because of that, it’s a series that bears rereading once it’s finished. I expect there may be a few blurred edges where things don’t quite fit. (The only way to avoid that would be to re-edit previous ones and tweak bits to make them fit better).
Firstly, I love the fact that we get a lot of the main male POV. So we’re seeing a whole slew of different motivations, concerns and interests. When it shifts to the female, it’s more reactive. The plot focus is usually the male.
Also, each story pursues a totally different motivation towards marriage, children and sex. Family, family structure and position in the family become a focus, allowing the author to explore different mindsets. The geography, politics and economy of the time is explored. The stories each have their own niche, setting, atmosphere.
For example in this one, sex is initiated more for comfort and to ease loneliness between consenting adults in privacy. That sets a totally different tone. There are similarities, their conflicted pasts often stemmed from betrayal and the outside forces are usually sinister. Yet the author doesn’t resort to cock blocking or push/pull to create tension. Interactions are more often stages on the journey. Slow seductions.
What really builds as the series progresses is seeing main characters through different perspectives. Take Nick for example. He’s portrayed as the ultimate boudoir bachelor. The Beserker of the Bedroom. Bedding anything he can. This is dealt with in his book but also affects the plot in Ethan’s. But to balance that, we see Nick’s love for and ability to relate to children in Ethan’s book, even if they aren’t his. And in this book, his persistent love and loyalty to his little brother, Beck, shines through, redeeming him for other flaws in his character. In fact the interaction and affection between siblings is as important as the love between the matched pair of the title.
Even peripheral characters we’ve met before, grow and play an integral part. And the animals have their own roles to play. For example it took me a while in this book to work out who/what Hildegard is as they are treated as one of the family.
The parallel timelines make the series interesting too. There are spoilers galore in the text. We know Leah and Nick end up together from Darius’s book. The death of the Earl happens in each book. So while you don’t have to read them all or in order, you miss bits if you don’t.
As an author myself, I admire how this has been done. Writing parallel timelines is not easy. See Red+Blue as an example. You have to include enough to give context, show how the incident appears to a different character, but not bore the reader by repetition.
In many series, you get regurgitated passages to bring you up to date in case it’s a while since you last read the previous book or never read it. In this case there is none of that. Amazing. But true. Instead the reader, can, if they wish, pause for a bit and recall how this scene fits in to what they’ve read before. They can also extrapolate for themselves what’s happening at the same time in another part of the country. But if they’ve never read the other book, it doesn’t really matter.
Because of that, it’s a series that bears rereading once it’s finished. I expect there may be a few blurred edges where things don’t quite fit. (The only way to avoid that would be to re-edit previous ones and tweak bits to make them fit better).
August 28, 2021
Heroine: Sarabande Adadio Hunt, about 29. Nickname: Sara. Housekeeper at Three Springs. She is a widow with a 10-year-old daughter. Her marriage was a miserable one.
Hero: Beckman Sylvanus Haddonfield, about 28. Nickname: Beck. Son of the Earl of Bellefonte, later the brother of the Earl of Bellefonte. He is a widower, having been married only a few, unhappy months.
Date: 18??
How they meet: Beck is commanded by his dying father to travel to one of his step-grandmother’s neglected estates (Three Springs) to get it into shape. He and Sara, the estate’s housekeeper, encounter each other unexpectedly in the barn when he first arrives.
What happens: Beck and Sara get to know one another as Beck settles in at the estate. He is attracted to her and she to him. When he makes advances and proposes an affair, she is wary, but
Verdict: The employer-employee aspect is softened somewhat by his constant insistence that he will respect her wishes. The experiences in Beck’s and Sara’s backgrounds are very sad and lead to some weighty discussions near the end of the novel. Definitely not a light and fluffy read. I debated between 3 and 4 stars for the rating.
Related books: Overlaps in characters and timeline with Nicholas: Lord of Secrets and Ethan: Lord of Scandals.
Steam-level: Frequent intimate scenes; moderately steamy and explicit.
Rating: 4-stars.
Hero: Beckman Sylvanus Haddonfield, about 28. Nickname: Beck. Son of the Earl of Bellefonte, later the brother of the Earl of Bellefonte. He is a widower, having been married only a few, unhappy months.
Date: 18??
How they meet: Beck is commanded by his dying father to travel to one of his step-grandmother’s neglected estates (Three Springs) to get it into shape. He and Sara, the estate’s housekeeper, encounter each other unexpectedly in the barn when he first arrives.
What happens: Beck and Sara get to know one another as Beck settles in at the estate. He is attracted to her and she to him. When he makes advances and proposes an affair, she is wary, but
Verdict: The employer-employee aspect is softened somewhat by his constant insistence that he will respect her wishes. The experiences in Beck’s and Sara’s backgrounds are very sad and lead to some weighty discussions near the end of the novel. Definitely not a light and fluffy read. I debated between 3 and 4 stars for the rating.
Related books: Overlaps in characters and timeline with Nicholas: Lord of Secrets and Ethan: Lord of Scandals.
Steam-level: Frequent intimate scenes; moderately steamy and explicit.
Rating: 4-stars.
September 6, 2020
The story of Beckman could have been better.
I 've read most the novels in the different Lord's series and enjoyed them all. Some of those books outstanding. By comparison, I never felt I knew Beckman or Sara. If their characters had been more developed, the love scene would have been more convincing as would their goodbye scenes.
The same thing applied to the mysterious damage that someone was doing to Three Stings and putting people in danger. The choices about "who done it", were pretty obvious but that part of the story line didn't grab me. It felt like that party of the story was just plugged into the book rather than being Integral to the story line.
The characters of the little girl Allie was believable as was Gabriel. In spite of his mysteries he was an interesting and fairly well developed character.
The use of the natural springs was an effective backdrop to the relationship between the male characters in the book. The most moving part of the novel came at the very beginning, when Beckman says goodbye to his father, the earl.
Grace Burrowed is a dazzling writer and among my very authors in historical romance. I didn't this novel was up to her usual standards.
I 've read most the novels in the different Lord's series and enjoyed them all. Some of those books outstanding. By comparison, I never felt I knew Beckman or Sara. If their characters had been more developed, the love scene would have been more convincing as would their goodbye scenes.
The same thing applied to the mysterious damage that someone was doing to Three Stings and putting people in danger. The choices about "who done it", were pretty obvious but that part of the story line didn't grab me. It felt like that party of the story was just plugged into the book rather than being Integral to the story line.
The characters of the little girl Allie was believable as was Gabriel. In spite of his mysteries he was an interesting and fairly well developed character.
The use of the natural springs was an effective backdrop to the relationship between the male characters in the book. The most moving part of the novel came at the very beginning, when Beckman says goodbye to his father, the earl.
Grace Burrowed is a dazzling writer and among my very authors in historical romance. I didn't this novel was up to her usual standards.
April 4, 2021
This was cute, pretty much exactly what I've come to expect from Burrowes. We've got great characters who are good people just stuck on hard times who happen to find a little love with each other despite either of their best intentions.
Beck is a second son who's made a lot of mistakes in his time. After being sent to Three Springs to turn the property around, he meets Sara, the housekeeper with more secrets than she knows what to do with. Both of them are hard to trust and quick to shut everyone out. But Beck is patient, caring, and careful. He's a good person to lean on, as Sara slowly discovers.
This book didn't feel like it had a plot so much as it was a snapshot of their lives. Yes, there is actually a plot, but most of the story is so character-driven that it doesn't feel like we're necessarily waiting for something else to happen--it's all about how the relationships are moving forward.
I liked it, but I'm not going to lie, I am definitely looking forward to the next book more.
Beck is a second son who's made a lot of mistakes in his time. After being sent to Three Springs to turn the property around, he meets Sara, the housekeeper with more secrets than she knows what to do with. Both of them are hard to trust and quick to shut everyone out. But Beck is patient, caring, and careful. He's a good person to lean on, as Sara slowly discovers.
This book didn't feel like it had a plot so much as it was a snapshot of their lives. Yes, there is actually a plot, but most of the story is so character-driven that it doesn't feel like we're necessarily waiting for something else to happen--it's all about how the relationships are moving forward.
I liked it, but I'm not going to lie, I am definitely looking forward to the next book more.
April 23, 2016
Just when I was about to take a break from the Lonely Lords, I get drawn back in with Beckman's story. Beckman Haddonfield is spare to Nicholas's heir, and he lived his entire life trying to live up to the expectations of being the spare. He married young to secure the succession, and to please his family -- but that didn't end well. He tried to be his older brother's companion, but Nicholas always preferred Ethan over his younger siblings, and the ladies of London preferred Nicholas over Beckman, so that didn't work out too well for him either.
His father could not figure out a space for Beckman, and so he became the Haddonfield messenger: asked to travel to distant places to oversee to such and such business, and Beckman was content to stay rootless and wandering. With his father ill, and Nicholas busy looking for his future countess, it comes as no surprise to Beckman to have to be sent away again. This time to Three Springs, one of Lady Warne's estates.
Considering Lady Warne's wealth and generosity, it is both a surprise and mystery for Beckman to discover that Three Springs is in utter disrepair, and that staff has dwindled to a housekeeper, her daughter, her sister, the cook, and a steward --
I love how Grace Burrowes tells stories: there's a sense of a linear timeline to it, and it's very easy to follow -- but you also get the sense of non-linearity. Of things implied, and never spoken of out loud: such is the case of the Hunt women, who have worked at Three Springs, but whose manners and conversation hint at a greater pedigree. The same could also be said of Gabriel North, who struggles to provide Three Springs with all its needs.
Sara Hunt is housekeeper at Three Springs, but Sara didn't start out in service -- in a different life, she was Sarabande Adagio, a skilled violinist who traveled through Europe, but her late husband was a petty tyrant who micro-managed her career and overspent her earnings, leaving Sara disillusioned, and disenchanted with her talent. When her husband died, she escaped the life and did a complete 360 -- eschewing the world of art, for the quiet, domestic life at Three Springs, bringing with her her sister Polly and daughter, Allie.
There isn't a great conflict in Beckman's story, but I loved his story for the study of human aspirations -- Sara and Polly had great artistic talents, but they were females and had to find a way to explore and develop their talents. They followed their dreams (blindly) to the point of forgetting all else (even their own selves), and were consumed by it. But, like the phoenix rising from the ashes, they regrouped and recovered ... but were never the same. Allie also possesses the same artistic gift as her aunt, Polly, but Sara is conflicted whether to allow her daughter to continue pursuing art, or to nip it in the bud.
Beckman is a golden boy: all blonde and beautiful, and, when he arrived in Three Springs, he seems to possess a magical cure-all for all that ails the disintegrating estate. But Beckman is tarnished as well: when he lost his wife, he also lost his way -- and, for a while, he was content to be told where to go -- he turned to drink, to women, to drugs -- and nearly died if not for his brother Nicholas, who found and rescued him from an opium den.
There isn't one defining scene that shows how or when Beckman became attracted to Sara and vise versa -- but, perhaps, the numerous encounters and conversations, and perhaps it's the recognition of the brokenness inside them that drew them to one another, and I loved them together: in Beckman's words, "they fit." There's a lot of cuddling in Beckman (and in Gabriel's story, which I'm reading right now) and it's a great privilege that Burrowes allows us such an intimate peek into the lives of her characters. When the day is done, and the lights are out, and our hero and heroine are both stripped down to bare skin, she reveals all.
Beyond the housekeeper/titled lord social class issue, there loomed a much larger problem: Beckman's time is not his own -- his father is near-death, which would cause a change in his status from spare to heir (with Nicholas taking over the earldom), and he would be called back home. In that I appreciated Sara and Polly's unusual upbringing, because they had very realistic limitations and expectations. Sara and Polly (and Allie) also lived with one foot out the door, ready to leave if the things in their past threaten to overtake their present lives. Tremaine St. Michael, her late husband's half-brother, poses a threat to Sara. She knows he possesses some of her personal effects, and wonders what Tremaine would do with them. Would he act like his brother and take advantage of her family? Would he be different from Reynard and do the honorable thing?
I don't know how Burrowes does it, but she does it well: she succeeds in telling the main story and does a good job of intriguing you about the secondary characters. (Yes, Gabriel's book is next, and, yes, I'm reading it right now.) On the surface, Gabriel North and Polly Hunt didn't seem to have the same problem as Sara and Beckman: they are both free from entanglements and, as cook and steward, are not bound by the same social rules as the aristocracy. But Gabriel isn't really just a steward, and there's more to Polly as well.
The one thing I loved above all in this story is how Burrowes celebrates the Truth (yes, capital T) found in art. Art is honest and bares all. I had to stifle a laugh at how honestly Sara and Polly assessed Beckman and Gabriel, and how Allie spoke of the world with such unfiltered sincerity.
His father could not figure out a space for Beckman, and so he became the Haddonfield messenger: asked to travel to distant places to oversee to such and such business, and Beckman was content to stay rootless and wandering. With his father ill, and Nicholas busy looking for his future countess, it comes as no surprise to Beckman to have to be sent away again. This time to Three Springs, one of Lady Warne's estates.
Considering Lady Warne's wealth and generosity, it is both a surprise and mystery for Beckman to discover that Three Springs is in utter disrepair, and that staff has dwindled to a housekeeper, her daughter, her sister, the cook, and a steward --
I love how Grace Burrowes tells stories: there's a sense of a linear timeline to it, and it's very easy to follow -- but you also get the sense of non-linearity. Of things implied, and never spoken of out loud: such is the case of the Hunt women, who have worked at Three Springs, but whose manners and conversation hint at a greater pedigree. The same could also be said of Gabriel North, who struggles to provide Three Springs with all its needs.
Sara Hunt is housekeeper at Three Springs, but Sara didn't start out in service -- in a different life, she was Sarabande Adagio, a skilled violinist who traveled through Europe, but her late husband was a petty tyrant who micro-managed her career and overspent her earnings, leaving Sara disillusioned, and disenchanted with her talent. When her husband died, she escaped the life and did a complete 360 -- eschewing the world of art, for the quiet, domestic life at Three Springs, bringing with her her sister Polly and daughter, Allie.
There isn't a great conflict in Beckman's story, but I loved his story for the study of human aspirations -- Sara and Polly had great artistic talents, but they were females and had to find a way to explore and develop their talents. They followed their dreams (blindly) to the point of forgetting all else (even their own selves), and were consumed by it. But, like the phoenix rising from the ashes, they regrouped and recovered ... but were never the same. Allie also possesses the same artistic gift as her aunt, Polly, but Sara is conflicted whether to allow her daughter to continue pursuing art, or to nip it in the bud.
Beckman is a golden boy: all blonde and beautiful, and, when he arrived in Three Springs, he seems to possess a magical cure-all for all that ails the disintegrating estate. But Beckman is tarnished as well: when he lost his wife, he also lost his way -- and, for a while, he was content to be told where to go -- he turned to drink, to women, to drugs -- and nearly died if not for his brother Nicholas, who found and rescued him from an opium den.
There isn't one defining scene that shows how or when Beckman became attracted to Sara and vise versa -- but, perhaps, the numerous encounters and conversations, and perhaps it's the recognition of the brokenness inside them that drew them to one another, and I loved them together: in Beckman's words, "they fit." There's a lot of cuddling in Beckman (and in Gabriel's story, which I'm reading right now) and it's a great privilege that Burrowes allows us such an intimate peek into the lives of her characters. When the day is done, and the lights are out, and our hero and heroine are both stripped down to bare skin, she reveals all.
Beyond the housekeeper/titled lord social class issue, there loomed a much larger problem: Beckman's time is not his own -- his father is near-death, which would cause a change in his status from spare to heir (with Nicholas taking over the earldom), and he would be called back home. In that I appreciated Sara and Polly's unusual upbringing, because they had very realistic limitations and expectations. Sara and Polly (and Allie) also lived with one foot out the door, ready to leave if the things in their past threaten to overtake their present lives. Tremaine St. Michael, her late husband's half-brother, poses a threat to Sara. She knows he possesses some of her personal effects, and wonders what Tremaine would do with them. Would he act like his brother and take advantage of her family? Would he be different from Reynard and do the honorable thing?
I don't know how Burrowes does it, but she does it well: she succeeds in telling the main story and does a good job of intriguing you about the secondary characters. (Yes, Gabriel's book is next, and, yes, I'm reading it right now.) On the surface, Gabriel North and Polly Hunt didn't seem to have the same problem as Sara and Beckman: they are both free from entanglements and, as cook and steward, are not bound by the same social rules as the aristocracy. But Gabriel isn't really just a steward, and there's more to Polly as well.
The one thing I loved above all in this story is how Burrowes celebrates the Truth (yes, capital T) found in art. Art is honest and bares all. I had to stifle a laugh at how honestly Sara and Polly assessed Beckman and Gabriel, and how Allie spoke of the world with such unfiltered sincerity.
October 5, 2022
Loved the interactions between Beck and Gabriel, which is primarily the reason I rated this book five stars. There’s nothing wrong with the rest of it, but after reading a couple dozen Grace Burrowes novels, I find myself being bothered more and more by the fact that a question or a discussion that anyone would have doesn’t happen because one character “senses” that it wouldn’t be the right time for unspecified reasons and so the secrets and misunderstandings plod on. Both Beck and Sara have legitimate reasons for being damaged and careful with their emotions, but why can’t the story sometimes be about the way the characters deal with the damage instead of always being about the way they hide it?
April 23, 2020
For a while there, I wasn't sure I would finish this one but the end was worth it.
Even though his name is ridiculous, I loved Beck - perfect blend of take-charge Alpha and gentle Beta for me. Sara was a decent heroine as well.
Took off 1 star because Beck's constant bids for consent were blatant and thus, distracting. Also, because Sara was quite passive at times where she should've ay least tried to be active, and because I'm tired of the whole "I'm not good enough for him" excuse for not getting married.
Even though his name is ridiculous, I loved Beck - perfect blend of take-charge Alpha and gentle Beta for me. Sara was a decent heroine as well.
Took off 1 star because Beck's constant bids for consent were blatant and thus, distracting. Also, because Sara was quite passive at times where she should've ay least tried to be active, and because I'm tired of the whole "I'm not good enough for him" excuse for not getting married.
March 19, 2023
Normally my issue with Grace Burrowes is that the ending drags on for way too long, but this one was the opposite for me. It felt abrupt and not all that satisfying, but maybe that's just because I was enjoying it more than previous ones so it went by faster.
There's a lot going on in this novel but it all somehow ties together and works okay. I love the setting - I don't know why but recently I've discovered the crumbling-destitute-manor-barely-clinging-to-life is one of my favorites. I also really really liked Sara, and I loved slowly learning her story and making my own guesses.
There's a lot going on in this novel but it all somehow ties together and works okay. I love the setting - I don't know why but recently I've discovered the crumbling-destitute-manor-barely-clinging-to-life is one of my favorites. I also really really liked Sara, and I loved slowly learning her story and making my own guesses.
September 9, 2017
I loved Beckman. Sara? Meh. She and Polly annoyed me. However, I still loved this book due to two of Beckman's relationships - the one with his father (oh, I cried!) and the one with North. Ms. Burrowes writes beautifully about male relationships: paternal, fraternal and friendship. I loved watching Beckman truly come into his own.
I have a million things to do around here. But I can't put this damn series down!
I have a million things to do around here. But I can't put this damn series down!
June 26, 2020
I liked this book a lot. It is # 4 in the Lonely Lords series.
Beckman is finding his way back to living. He has had a very though time coping. His father sends him to a family estate to help restore it. There he meets a reclusive housekeeper who has secrets of her own. She also needs to get back to living again.
For me, this was a refreshing love story of two people finding each other and making a great life together.
Beckman is finding his way back to living. He has had a very though time coping. His father sends him to a family estate to help restore it. There he meets a reclusive housekeeper who has secrets of her own. She also needs to get back to living again.
For me, this was a refreshing love story of two people finding each other and making a great life together.
October 7, 2024
this story reminded me of the story of Clara Schumann, a piano virtuoso who supported her birth family and later her mentally ill composer husband with her concerts all over Europe. I was happy that Sara got her happily ever after, and that she found a kind husband. The role of her parents is only sketched in, which is a little disturbing. But all in all an enjoyable read, with a lot of emotional depth.
March 2, 2017
Grace Burrowes' books are just like chocolates. You think you are taking just one, because they aren't good for you and they aren't even very good. However before you know it, you have taken a dozen or read eight books in so many days. Sorry not sorry. I blame hormones. Fortunately I can resist chocolates. GB's books not so much.
December 21, 2017
Since I've been reading the Lonely Lords series out of order, I've met Beckman before. It was nice to read his story and fill in all those parts I didn't know. Once again a wonderful story, elegant writing. The only "down" part would be that the bit with the twins feels a bit contrived. Even so, I enjoyed this very much.
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