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Windswept
A terrible secret lurks in the papers of the Windswept Plantation, and its revelation will ruin the Jamison family name. To Barrett Browning, however, the collection of correspondence, ledgers, and journals is a treasure trove of potential publications sure to gain her a valuable promotion at her university. As a historian, her job is to root out secrets from the past and hold them up to the light, no matter the cost. The farthest thing from her mind is getting involved with the papers' owner.
To venture capitalist Davis Jamison, the pile of boxes is a headache he must deal with to protect the family. What better way to solve the mystery than to have an expert inventory the papers in his own house? He expects neither his cousin's frantic obsession to keep all the family sins hidden, nor the fierce need he comes to feel for Barrett. He's sworn never again to trust a woman with his property or his heart. Can he rely on Barrett to guard them both?
As the dark past—a tale of deception and murder—emerges, Davis's question becomes harder and harder to answer . .
To venture capitalist Davis Jamison, the pile of boxes is a headache he must deal with to protect the family. What better way to solve the mystery than to have an expert inventory the papers in his own house? He expects neither his cousin's frantic obsession to keep all the family sins hidden, nor the fierce need he comes to feel for Barrett. He's sworn never again to trust a woman with his property or his heart. Can he rely on Barrett to guard them both?
As the dark past—a tale of deception and murder—emerges, Davis's question becomes harder and harder to answer . .
325 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2005
24 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
About the author
Ann Macela
10 books10 followersI have been blessed with a number of careers: public school and university teacher (three degrees in history); writer of history (the kind bristling with footnotes); sales, marketing and PR person writing everything from ads to annual reports; consultant and computer manual writer; and now romance author. A native Texan, I spent most of my life on the Gulf Coast until my husband’s and my business took us first to Minneapolis and then to the Chicago area. It didn’t take me long to learn how to survive in The Frozen North--just wear my entire wardrobe at one time. All of this, some travels here and abroad, and my computer-and-accounting savvy husband have given me inspiration and details for my stories.
In Chicagoland, I finally had the time to do what I have always wanted to: write fiction. I write both contemporary and contemporary paranormal stories. I hope my readers enjoy my magic practitioners. We all need a little magic in our lives.
Source: http://www.annmacela.com/bio.htm
In Chicagoland, I finally had the time to do what I have always wanted to: write fiction. I write both contemporary and contemporary paranormal stories. I hope my readers enjoy my magic practitioners. We all need a little magic in our lives.
Source: http://www.annmacela.com/bio.htm
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 31, 2008
A very interesting book set in the South, where secrets and ghosts haunt a modern Southern mansion....Ann Macela is an excellent author whose vision and visuals pop off the page.
May 3, 2021
I don't know if I can give five stars to a "romance" novel, but this one is so well written I have to. I must admit I know the author. Her academic background in history showed up well in this book.
The story revolves around a man who has just inherited the family archives from his grandfather. They are important to the family but also to historians because they include journals from the ancestor and his wife who owned slaves. The grandfather has studied some of the papers and has found a young woman professor who is very interested in them historically. Grampa recommends her to his grandson. So she is hired to sort through the dozens of boxes, index the contents, study, and write academic papers over the summer. And what a summer it is.
The story revolves around a man who has just inherited the family archives from his grandfather. They are important to the family but also to historians because they include journals from the ancestor and his wife who owned slaves. The grandfather has studied some of the papers and has found a young woman professor who is very interested in them historically. Grampa recommends her to his grandson. So she is hired to sort through the dozens of boxes, index the contents, study, and write academic papers over the summer. And what a summer it is.
December 13, 2017
Fun but predictable
Interesting historical fiction. Sensual and fun but big discovery was predictable as you read the storyline. Easy fast read for all.
Interesting historical fiction. Sensual and fun but big discovery was predictable as you read the storyline. Easy fast read for all.
July 20, 2015
This started out as a nice mix of historical and contemporary fiction. I was quite intrigued by the Windswept papers that described life on the plantation in the 1800s, although the sheer volume of material that Barrett had to inventory and catalogue was astounding and overwhelming!
Barrett was a strong, sensible, intelligent woman who took no guff from anyone, having grown up with three overly protective brothers. I liked how she argued her case with Davis with concise and reasonable points and refused to be intimidated by his stern, implacable attitude when she first met him.
Davis, too, was an intriguing character, who also did not let himself be bulldozed or intimidated by his dysfunctional family. His gradual romantic interest in his “tame” historian was a pleasant change from the insta-lust situations where hero and heroine jump into bed within hours of meeting each other. However, that being said, the “romance” quickly morphed into a lot of explicit sex scenes that bordered on erotic porn. Darn! And, it was flowing along so nicely, too! I really didn’t see the need to go into such graphic detail every time they had sex. It would have been sufficient to describe the first encounter and then refer to their subsequent beddings in implicit terms.
And, speaking of dysfunctional, Cousin Lloyd’s behavior was extremely over-the-top. How he hoped to stop the disclosure of the family’s past with his non-stop bullying and irrational attitude was beyond me. It was a point in Davis’ favour that he just didn’t disown the idiot or clock him in the jaw a few times!
The big scandalous secret hidden in the voluminous Windswept papers was actually quite predictable after reading some of the entries in Mary Maude’s journal.
All in all, this wasn’t a bad book, just a little too erotic for my tastes. That may not be an issue for other readers, but it was for me.
Barrett was a strong, sensible, intelligent woman who took no guff from anyone, having grown up with three overly protective brothers. I liked how she argued her case with Davis with concise and reasonable points and refused to be intimidated by his stern, implacable attitude when she first met him.
Davis, too, was an intriguing character, who also did not let himself be bulldozed or intimidated by his dysfunctional family. His gradual romantic interest in his “tame” historian was a pleasant change from the insta-lust situations where hero and heroine jump into bed within hours of meeting each other. However, that being said, the “romance” quickly morphed into a lot of explicit sex scenes that bordered on erotic porn. Darn! And, it was flowing along so nicely, too! I really didn’t see the need to go into such graphic detail every time they had sex. It would have been sufficient to describe the first encounter and then refer to their subsequent beddings in implicit terms.
And, speaking of dysfunctional, Cousin Lloyd’s behavior was extremely over-the-top. How he hoped to stop the disclosure of the family’s past with his non-stop bullying and irrational attitude was beyond me. It was a point in Davis’ favour that he just didn’t disown the idiot or clock him in the jaw a few times!
The big scandalous secret hidden in the voluminous Windswept papers was actually quite predictable after reading some of the entries in Mary Maude’s journal.
All in all, this wasn’t a bad book, just a little too erotic for my tastes. That may not be an issue for other readers, but it was for me.
April 11, 2012
Kindle Freebie. Yikes. I started this one because it caught me with the historic half of the story. And that is why I kept reading, I just had to know what the big century+ old family secret was (or rather, if it was what I thought it was....yep, it was). But let me tell you, I had to skip over a crazy number of detailed love scenes (which I know from the odd word I would catch here and there as I tried to skip and then pick the story back up) that were horribly long! Nothing in the product description set off any warning bells that it would be so distasteful, but once I finished the book and read the author's introduction of herself, I made note to read those intros FIRST from now on. She said she writes "enchanting, smart, and sensual contemporary romance." Yeah, I guess sensual is one way to describe it!
As far as the historical side of things, I'm honestly not all that impressed. In final summation: don't bother.
As far as the historical side of things, I'm honestly not all that impressed. In final summation: don't bother.
January 16, 2009
This is about a family that has kept DETAILED info - journals, bill of sales from slaves, letters, etc about their lives since the 1800s and about the historian hired to conduct research on it. There's been TONS of hints about some "scandel" that could ruin the family but mostly they keep hinting of a romance between the historian and owner of the documents. I normally don't do this but I've skimmed a couple of paragraphs because there is A LOT of descriptions of the rooms they are in which is nice to picture everything but it got a little boring.
June 25, 2012
It was well played out, even though the mystery was pretty obvious. There's good tension between Davis and Bennett, and it seemed pretty natural. (not a fan of the rush job of an epilogue, but the meat of the story had a good pace. Some of the descriptions were a bit long-winded, but nothing that seemed forced or nonsensical. It was a nice summertime hammock read... If you don't think too much about it.
April 25, 2012
This book was free on the kindle so I decided to give it a try. It sounded like there would be good historical stuff mixed with romance. Instead, I found myself skipping through a lot of repetition and a lot of sex scenes just so I could find out what the scandal was. Even then, I was pretty much able to guess what had happened. If you are looking for historical fiction, this book is not it. The romance had potential, but fell short.
January 29, 2013
free kindle book. I thought it would be more of a historical fiction with a twist of clean romance, but I ended up having ro skipover several descriptive sex scenes which just made me feel dirty. There was no major suspense when it came to the major plot of the story, which was the Windswept plantation family secret. The story fell flat.
December 17, 2013
I started this with the hope of having found a clean historical romance. What a let down.
A nice storyline spoilt by too nany explicit scenes.
Two stars only because I skipped pages of the unwanted scenes to read through to the end.
The great scandal from the past and the reactions of the family, the desperate plotting by the cousin everything was a let down.
A nice storyline spoilt by too nany explicit scenes.
Two stars only because I skipped pages of the unwanted scenes to read through to the end.
The great scandal from the past and the reactions of the family, the desperate plotting by the cousin everything was a let down.
April 18, 2012
It's no wonder it was free. The author tried to present two people as being good, moral people, just trying to research history and take care of family---then turns the story in to not quite porno descriptions of their evenings together.
April 10, 2012
Combining an historic journal and contemporary narration, this romance moves quickly through an interesting plot with elements of mystery. The overall story is engaging and cohesive, though the explicit sexual encounters seem somewhat at odds with the rest of the novel.
July 20, 2016
This book started out well and then about half way through it became all about sex. I REALLY don't think any of it contributed to the story in any way. I'm always disappointed when a book is ruined like this.
April 25, 2012
I completely enjoyed this book. In fact I stayed up all night finishing it. I was immediately captivated by the story and the characters. Althought for my tastes there were some scenes that were too explicit for me, so I had to skip over those pages. Look forward to reading more from Ann Macela.
April 17, 2012
Well done between past and present. Good historical feel to the book.
May 4, 2012
I had a hard time with the mustache, and occasionally I felt like the heroine's character was inconsistent---sometimes she seemed a bit like a doormat and others like a pistol.
November 7, 2012
I enjoyed the historical part of the book. It was a good suspense book and a cute romance book. I kind of guessed the ending but loved it so! I wish we could give half stars because it was a 3 1/2
March 10, 2013
Yeah, not so much. I was looking for some historical mystery but didn't find it.
May 17, 2013
I really enjoyed this one. I liked the historic flash backs and the discovery. For a free book it was well worth the read.
March 31, 2015
Good story line but, once again, would have been better without the sex scenes. Pretty clean until the 62% mark.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews