Not So Innocent

by Laura Lee Guhrke

In this wonderfully captivating and sensual page-turner from award-winner Laura Lee Guhrke, a woman who "foresees" a crime and tries to prevent it finds white-hot passion with a sexy, skeptical Scotland Yard inspector.

Sophie Haversham would give anything not to have the gift of foresight. After all, her "talent" has already cost her one fiancé. And reporting a crime that hasn't happened yet is no easy task -- especially when the future victim turns out to be the tough, devastatingly attractive policeman handling the case.

Inspector Mick Dunbar doesn't believe in visions, and he's convinced that Sophie is actually shielding a would-be murderer. Only when Sophie's life is in danger does Mick realize he has fallen in love with this beautiful, courageous woman who can see into his very mind and heart -- but will the knowledge come too late to save her?

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Paranormal, Mystery, Victorian, Historical Fiction

369 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

From the publication of her very first historical romance, Laura Lee Guhrke has received numerous honors and critical acclaim for her novels and her writing style. She has been honored with the most prestigious award of romance fiction, the Romance Writers of America Rita Award, and she has received additional awards from Romantic Times and All About Romance. Romantic Times has proclaimed her, “One of the most natural voices in historical romance to be found today”. Her books routinely hit the USA Today Bestseller List, and Guilty Pleasures has been honored with the Romantic Times Award for Best European Historical Romance of 2004. Among her publishing credits are twelve historical romances, including her latest, And Then He Kissed Her, now available from Avon Books.

Laura is currently hard at work on her thirteenth historical romance for Avon Books. She has also written articles for various publications, including the Romance Writers Report, The British Weekly , and the Irish-American Press.

Reviews

[Pepa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reseña completa: https://masromance.blogspot.com/

Una novela entretenida pero no de las mejores de la autora
Me ha gustado más el tema del suspense y la interacción entre ella-Mick-habitantes-familia que el romance en sí.
La parte del suspense está bastante conseguida, pero, en general, creo que le faltan páginas para cerrar con más redondez un romance que es bonito pero que queda un poco escondido tras ese asesino.
De todas formas, la mayoría de las novelas de esta autora son cortitas.
A mí me gustan ;)

[Sam I AMNreader]

Sometimes I Should Read the Back Cover: A story of Sam's reading life in one sentence

It's an incredibly rare novel where I'll tolerate foresight, and in a setting w/ a largely 'regular' world surrounding it it's not going to be one of them.

It was $1 for the library, so still a win.

[romancelibrary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review edited on May 29, 2023:
Downgraded from 5 stars to 1 star. I don't support zionists. See here.
------------------------------------------------
Not So Innocent is an older Laura Lee Guhrke book and what an absolute treasure it is!! If you're a fan of Murdoch Mysteries and/or Linda Howard's Dream Man, then this is the book for you!! Luckily, I'm a fan of both, so it feels like this book was written just for me 😍

At 36 years of age, Inspector Mick Dunbar is a sexy older hero who only deals with facts, logic, and tangible things. So you can imagine his skepticism when Sophie Haversham arrives at the police station claiming that she's a psychic who foresaw Mick's death at the hands of a madman. When Mick actually gets attacked at the exact time and location that Sophie had predicted, Mick is convinced that she's protecting the person who tried to kill him.

This book is basically the historical version of Linda Howard's Dream Man, except it's the hero who's in danger here. You guys...Not So Innocent was so damn sexy. Is it the most erotically written book ever? No. It's the excellent build up of sexual tension that makes this book so damn sexy. Phew. Laura Lee Guhrke is one of the few authors who knows how to write blistering sexual tension and build it up at the perfect pace until the inevitable happens. Not So Innocent is an excellent example and it is a slow burn on top of that.

I adored this book. The plot, the characters, the romance, the execution, the pacing — it was all perfect. I have no idea why the average rating is so low LOL. Now I want to re-read Linda Howard's Dream Man 😍 And I'm gonna make sure to look for a print copy of this book at future used book sales!

[Angela Hates Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may have enjoyed this book more if the kindle version wasn’t the worst formatting I’ve ever read.

I liked this book, the mystery and the psychic aspects were a different change of pace for me, and overall it was…alright. I didn’t dislike it but I’m sure I’ll forget every detail of it by the end of this review.

[kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sophie Haversham can (sometimes) see the future and (sometimes) read people's minds: one night she 'sees' a man lying murdered in a park. So she goes to tell Scotland Yard, where she meets Detective Inspector Michael "Mick" Dunbar, the man from her vision. Mick thinks she's in on it so "gets close" to her until his overwhelming boner softens his cold, dead heart.

1. I've discovered that I don't mind a hint of the fantastic in my historical romances, especially when the rest of the world is left mostly intact. I'm thinking of Metzger's The Scandalous Life of a True Lady and how much I enjoyed that small slice of something ~strange. So the psychic abilities of Sophie were (sometimes) appreciated—my biggest gripe is that they are almost featured too little? I.e., her original dream that kicks off the story; a few moments of "reading" people's minds; and two other premonitions. It was ... kind of not enough? Especially when they spend so much of the book talking about it? IDK.

2. Mick has a huge problem with boundaries and the word 'no'. Their second meeting has him forcefully searching/groping Sophie for a weapon while pinning her to a door (which he then keeps imagining from a lewder point of view) and later in the book he doesn't stop stop "seducing" her when she tells him to stop. Not great.

3. The murder plot was rather poorly done?

4. I also was pretty disappointed with the handling of Sophie's abusive mother and sister: she's constantly belittled, insulted, and undermined by them. So the obvious solution to this is Mick. He's a man! He can manage those mean ladies! Sophie doesn't have to do or change anything! Which I absolutely get is the truest form of wish fulfillment in the world, but it would have meant just that much more if Sophie was the one to make and own that decision, instead of hiding behind Mick to deal with her family.

ETA 5. I completely forgot to mention how much I enjoyed the setting of this novel: 1897 during the Queen's diamond jubilee, on characters that are solidly middle class. Sure, Sophie's the daughter of a cousin of a Viscount and there are a few balls and soirees mentioned, but they're definitely icing and not the bread and butter. It was an excellent break from the fancy-pants upper crust!

[Sandy.between.books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho. Hace tiempo que leí un libro de la autora, y la verdad es que no sé por qué no he vuelto a leer nada de ella, porque me gusta cómo escribe. En esta ocasión nos encontramos con una historia sencilla, pero tierna. Ninguno de los protagonistas son "normales", así que los dos me han gustado mucho. Pronto la reseña en el blog :)

[Yesmina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Premise: FMC is a psychic (and a spinster because men are afraid of her ability): she sees thoughts and predictions about death.
One day she envisioned the death of a police officer she went to the police station and saw the MMC who's a detective and the subject of said murder.
Naturally he didn't believe her. But when he was shot at and miraculously he was not hit, he instantly suspected the FMC. He thought that she either knew the culprit or she shot him and corroborated a crazy story.

[Paige Bookdragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kinda like Linda Howard's Dream Man historical version..

[Cassandra Dexter Colby · Rating 2 out of 5]

La reseña en el blog http://alacamaconunlibro.blogspot.com...

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea how Not So Innocent came to be in my TBR pile, but there must be a reason, right? I was hoping to find a hidden treasure. Then, as not many of my GR friends have read this, I could share my discovery of this wonderful little gem and spread the word.

Ummm….Not so much.

This was my first book by Laura Lee Guhrke, and while I was happy enough with her writing style, the story itself was decidedly ‘meh’. Next to nothing happened for the first 200 pages – that’s more than half the book – and unfortunately the remainder of the book didn’t pack a sufficient punch to save the experience.

The premise sounded interesting for an historical. The heroine is a psychic who has the ability to foresee the future. You can imagine how difficult it would be in late 1800s to be accepted, and the author did a good job of depicting the derision Sophie almost universally received, and the negative impact her ‘gift’ had on her life.

When Sophie has a vision of a murder, she is determined to do everything she can to prevent it, and against all good judgement, she heads to the police to report it. Imagine her surprise when she comes face-to-face with the victim – Inspector Mick Dunbar.

Mick, of course, dismisses Sophie as a prankster or crackpot, but when an attempt is made on his life, he believes Sophie’s motivation to be more sinister, and determines to find out her connection to the crime, commencing an investigation and unwelcomingly inserting himself into her life.

When it becomes apparent that they are dealing with a serial killer, Mick is still reluctant to believe that Sophie’s involvement is anything other than material. She must know the killer, because there is no other explanation for her knowledge of the crimes. Or is there? It goes against everything Mick believes to accept that Sophie could be a true psychic, but the more time he spends with her, the more confused he gets.

I enjoyed the unwanted attraction that Mick and Sophie felt for each other. Mick was determined to keep a professional distance – Sophie was a suspect after all – but she inspired feelings in him that couldn’t be denied. Sophie was also forced to admit that her initial opinion of Mick was incorrect, and that he was a gentleman, despite his objections to the contrary.

The story had a lot of promise. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and characterisations, but the story just moved far too slowly for me. There needed to be more development of either the mystery/suspense plot or the relationship in the first half of the book, and for such a long build-up, the suspense (and then the relationship) was resolved in a mere couple of pages. I needed more.

[Amy-chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia sencilla que se lee rápidamente, y aunque al principio le cuesta arrancar a mi me ha gustado.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heroína vidente + Herói policial = CSI histórico. Curti.

[Serena Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encanta Mick ese policia tan duro y serio y todo... y Sophie tambien me ha gustado mucho
Con la tia Violet me he reido, eso de Cleopatra me ha llegado jajajaj

8.5/10

[ᑭᑌᑎƳᗩ [Punya Reviews...] · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review contains spoilers and they're mostly my thoughts as I went with the book...

Gah, I really wanted to love this book but alas! Such a bummer after Conor's Way! It had a promising plot and all but the execution of that left much to be desired. So yes, I am disappointed and a bit unhappy.

The heroine of the story, Sophie has the psychic ability. She can ‘visualize’ some incidents, good or bad, before it happens. I think it was mostly the bad things, some accident or someone dying... She would see the whole thing in her mind’s eye, like graphic photographs. She can also read minds, sometimes. She has this headache and blackouts when those premonitions come to her and obviously, because of her freakish ability, she was not very dear to her mother and older sister. Sophie’s father died when she was very young, almost before she started having her visions. But, I was SO annoyed by her mom and sister Charlotte, can’t explain. Her mom is a rigidly religious woman, turned stiff as a board after she married the vicar of the community. In every other syllable she’d go and express rudely how ‘disappointed’ she is with Sophie. I mean, I don’t know, she was worse than the eeevil step-moms of some fairytales. And her b*tchy older sister, don’t ever get me started on her. She’d always tormented Sophie, since they were young and still does in every opportunity that arises. She’s the one their mother prefers, having married a man she doesn’t care for (who is a lawyer I think but cheats on his clients) but have 5 children with. The guy has a mistress set up somewhere near his workplace and doesn’t give a fig about Charlotte as well. But he’s a coward and a bit scared of her I think. Sophie doesn’t like him at all since she knows about his cheating on both counts. Sophie lives with her widowed aunt Violet, who is a dear to her and supports her in everything. They live in what can be called ‘genteel poverty’, lending out the rooms of the small townhouse Violet inherited from her deceased husband. Moreover, Violet is interested in spiritualism herself and formed this society with two other ladies lodgers of her home. Sophie has been living with her for a long time, knowing that her dream of having a normal life would never come to pass. She’s already a spinster and would be old like this. It hurts, though and it was worse when 3 yrs ago her fiancé jilted her at the altar knowing about her ability. He got scared. It is very normal that people would, yet I still disliked the man for not supporting her. Sophie can’t read fortunes or ‘use’ her power for any money-earning services. It just doesn’t work that way. So far, she’d predicted accurate, albeit smaller things. But when she dreamed of this man in police uniform, all bloodied and murdered, she knew she has to go to the Scotland Yard and inform them. Of course, she’s used to all sorts of ridicule from people and yet, she can’t help talking about it because she knew it’s going to happen soon and Sophie would do anything in her power to stop that murder.

Mick just turned 36. He’s tall, strong and very handsome. I loved the scenes where his colleagues were poking fun at him about him being ‘old’. Mick loves his life the way it is. He’s an orphan and taught himself to read and write and then joined the police about 17 yrs ago. He’s been very accomplished in his career which earned him good wage, respect, good position in the SY along with loads of experience. It’s very plain to see that his colleagues love and respect him a lot. What annoyed me was the mention of him being a skirt-chaser, in every other page, from this person to that. I mean why? Why not just let him be the hard working policeman who needs love in his life? Mick has never been in a serious relationship. According to him (as he answers his friends when they poke fun at him), Mick has been waiting for the ‘perfect woman’. Perfect woman; who’s always beautiful and would never demand, always passionate and would understand his ways of life, who’s always welcoming and smiling. According to his friends, Mick doesn’t care to settle down, which he should now that he’s gotten ‘old’. On the outside, Mick loves these good-natured insults and waves them away but on the inside, he does question himself if they’re correct or not. He thinks his friends are wrong, that he wants to settle down someday. This creates a problem between him and Sophie in the later parts of the book.

On this day, a suicide case along with a stolen jewelry case comes to Mick. He’s more interested in the suicide case. Have to say, I did love the descriptions in the SY and how things were done. This story is set in the turn of the century (1897) so some of the modern equipments were already in use. It was fun to read. As he was going through his papers in his desk, Sophie catches Mick’s eyes or rather her gentle and sweet voice. When she got that Mick’s staring at her, Sophie turns and saw that his is the man she’d dreamed of and decides to talk to him directly. Of course, hearing about her ‘dream’, Mick doesn’t believe a single thing. And he doesn’t for a long time in the story, thoroughly mocking her, which annoyed the hell outta me. I know that in reality no one will but hello, this story has this touch of paranormal and I would’ve loved Mick more if he supported her and not make her look like a fool, being rude and all that. Sophie tries her best to talk to him but he sends her away, even though he’s very suspicious of her. But that doesn’t deter him from noticing her sexy lips and beautiful brown hair and eyes though! He thinks two of his best buddies send this woman as a birthday gift/fun, which the men denied when he met them later on. Anyway, at night, when he was going to his one room apartment from the bar where he celebrated his birthday, Mick is attacked. He survived because of his instincts and maybe (he would deny this) because of Sophie’s words. Now Mick is more determined than ever to find out who this woman is because he’s pretty sure that Sophie is hiding something/someone, probably helping out the murderer in the process.

Back in Violet’s home, Sophie was very worried about Mick. There’s something about this policeman she can’t deny and she wants to help him anyway, anyhow though he made a joke out of her. We also get to know that Violet has a bad case of kleptomania and Sophie and their butler, Grimmstock help make those thefts right. I don’t know how they can ALWAYS return the stolen jewelries though, without the owners knowing about it. But anyway, Sophie is resolute to save her dearest aunt from any harm or censure of the society because her aunt is the only one who genuinely cares for her. I found Violet rather a ninny/featherbrained. She’d talk and talk and talk and do things without using her brains (not sure if she possesses one). My patience with her was sorely tested many times over the course of the story. When Sophie asks her to be careful about her kleptomania, Violet waves it away like it’s nothing to be worried about, whereas Sophie was more than concerned. It was a disturbing matter so I wanted to slap Violet for being so unconcerned about it.

After the attack on him, Mick decides to investigate Sophie thoroughly which is how he finds out about Violet keeping lodgers. Mick decides it’d be good for the investigation if he can lodge a room there without arising suspicion. On the other hand, on the same time, Sophie’s mother wrote to them that she’s coming for a visit. Sophie knows what that’ll ensue; some embarrassing or hurtful incidents one after another that would include her mother’s perpetual urge to see her married. She’d look for men with ‘prospects’ that will only embarrass Sophie and nothing else. Her mother was so insensitive as her sister was a b*tch. Either way, Sophie isn’t up for marriage for obvious reasons. Also, her mother never stays with them but with Charlotte’s family. So, Violet and Sophie decide they need an emergency lodger to fill out the only empty bedroom of the house. Mick solves that problem soon enough. Sophie is annoyed and angry because she knows his motives. Violet remains oblivious to Sophie’s annoyance and very eagerly agrees to lend him the room. This irritated me as well; the way Violet just waved aside Sophie’s protests. I still didn’t like Mick and the way he mocked Sophie, challenging her words with his own. It was frustrating, to say the least. I would actually lose my head the way he kept poking at Sophie, to make her ‘tell’ him the truth since he didn’t believe in anything she said. Then in one of his searches when no one was home, Mick finds the jewels that had been reported stolen by one viscountess, in Sophie’s closet, thanks to Violet’s dim-witted idea. I don’t know why Sophie even tried to listen to the woman! The viscount was Violet’s cousin so Sophie knew they won’t bring charge against her. But still, she wanted to save Violet and decided she’d find a way to ‘return’ the jewels. Sadly, Mick gets a total twisted view of this and arrests Sophie. To him, now she’s a jewel thief too! Though it was sorted out later, as Violet comes forth with her confession, I wanted to slap Mick. I know sounds illogical but I still did. He tormented Sophie quite a lot like a true policeman.

After that, the story was dragging a bit for me mainly because of the characters. There were two murders. Sophie had vision of both but couldn’t help the men. Both of them were policemen. The murders were gruesome, the work of a pervert no doubt. The 1st murder happened because no one believed in Sophie’s words. When Mick hears of it, he’s very sure Sophie knows who’s behind the murders or at least she knows something. The unpredictability of her ability (how ironic) made it more difficult for Sophie to convince Mick. In example, in one scene, he asked her make a prediction about a horse race and its winner in Ascot, where he visited with Sophie’s family. She couldn’t since she can’t predict anything that would bring money. Her mindreading ability was like that. She couldn’t read all the thoughts of a person and definitely not always. Back to the murders; after the 1st one, Mick takes Sophie to the murder scene on her request. Sophie wanted to see how accurate her prediction was... and it was totally accurate. This triggers a lot of trouble since the press dug out stories about Sophie and her psychic ability. She couldn’t go out and so on. Her mother was not happy about it, as usual and her sister was b*tching about to her best since she liked to see Sophie miserable all the freakin’ time! What a family!! Only Violet and the lodgers of her house supported Sophie. Mick, now, was having confusions. She predicted some things about him/his past and things about this murder which were just too accurate to deny. Even though he tried to make out logical conclusions, those didn’t work. As he took her as a witness to the murder, Mick was the butt of all jokes in SY. Some thought he’s gone insane, some thought he’s having an affair with the psychic (sort of a foregone conclusion because of his reputation) and some were downright hostile. Then they go to this country house party, given by Violet’s cousin the viscount. Violet made sure Mick was invited. Oh yes, she was very interested to pair Sophie with Mick since she liked him from the moment she saw him, although Sophie tried to make it quite clear that it’ll never happen. Not only she and Mick don’t really ride the same boat (duh!) but also, her mother would NEVER approve of this match. That woman would marry Sophie off to a lecher or an old goat, as long as the man is from their station in life. A policeman is definitely out of the question! Anyway, Sophie sees the vision of the second murder while staying here and forces Mick to take her back to London. But it was just too late. In between, they have more verbal battles about her ability with Mick’s confusion about it at present.

After the 2nd murder, things became more frenzied in and around SY. The press went wild about it all. But Mick was still attracted to Sophie and was battling it with the fact that he now wants to protect her from all these, though he wouldn’t come forward with his thoughts. Sophie would sometimes read his mind, which did freak him out. From Sophie’s POV, she’d already fallen for Mick (yes, they shared a kiss or two in between) but despaired of this situation. She was in love with a man who didn’t believe her, and who didn’t believe in settling down. Sophie knew he wouldn’t marry her even if they have an affair and she still went on with it one night. Maybe it was necessary for her to have someone to hold onto. I think it was necessary as the nightmares scared her a lot but I didn’t think, even then, that Mick was the right person. How not good for a novel when I’m more than halfway through and this is the kind of thought I have about the hero. He just didn’t come forward for Sophie when I wanted or expected him to. Afterwards, as I said, Mick’s idea about ‘the perfect life’ clashes with Sophie’s own wants and vulnerabilities about her ability. She knew Mick never thought of marrying her and as they quarrel about it, both end up saying hurtful things to each-other. Mick didn’t like the fact that Sophie read his thoughts on his past relationships and guessed accurately that the thought of marrying her never entered his mind. Can you tell I wanted to kick his sad arse?! But one thing was sure, by now Mick believed about Sophie’s psychic ability.

When they were living apart, sort of, as Mick now moved out of Violet’s house after the 2nd murder, Sophie again sees a vision of Mick being murdered. She was already missing him and regretted the words she said to him, though I think she did the right thing because Mick needed to face those facts. Afterwards the murder mystery was solved as Sophie follows her instincts to save Mick. But I wasn’t very interested in that anymore. I was already kind of distracted from the book and yes, disappointed that it didn’t live up to my expectations. Although, some reviews didn’t like Sophie, I did. I think I ended up liking Mick too but just wasn’t impressed with him, that’s all. 3.75 stars. I still think the story could’ve been much better.

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions)]

Potentially my least favorite Guhrke. Certainly to date. Not So Innocent has some fun romantic suspense elements (a serial killer in London! she's a medium trying to help catch him with the hot cop!), but didn't really deliver for me on the romance part of that. At no point did I really see any actual chemistry between them. Honestly, he thought she knew who was trying to kill him and that the whole psychic thing was fake until suddenly he didn't and things are romantic. I don't know. The foundation and spark and connection just didn't really seem to be there. It's one of those where it all felt physical.

Otherwise, I feel like there's a lot of stuff set up with her family that goes absolutely nowhere. She's got this overbearing mother determined to set her up, but the book ends with the engagement, so there's no reckoning there; the mom never finds out. The Aunt needs her help to run the boarding house, but we don't find out what the plan is if she moves out to live with her husband. Her sister's a bitch and her husband's cheating his clients, but again....nothing happens with this. What is the point of the time spent on this stuff if it's not going to be used anywhere? The romance could have been developed more with this page time.

I really feel like this one needed another serious round of edits. There are some good moments, but as a whole it's weaker than I expect from Guhrke, whose books I generally really enjoy. All that said, though, it's definitely a unique historical romance plot and interesting characters as leads, so potentially worth a read if you're looking for some historical romance off the beaten path.

[D.G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly, this author was able to combine a historical setting with paranormal elements and a mystery as the underlying plot. I usually don't like this kind of hodge podge stories but this one was very well done. If only the heroine hadn't been so annoying!

The setting was end of the 19th century Britain, which I found really refreshing in historical romance. There was some technology (trains, telephones, fingerprints) mixed with some of the usual mores we see in this type of romance (genteel ladies looking for a good marriage,etc.) The Victorian interest in spiritualism fit very well with the heroine's psychic abilities and it lent credence to the Police's skepticism regarding her 'powers'. They've seen similar frauds before and they were not going to be taken in.

The hero was also very interesting. He's an orphan who taught himself to read and joined the Police because it was one of the few professions open to men without an education. He's very good at his job and he's done every possible thing to improve his prospects, including learning two other languages and taking diction classes. He has now an enviable position in Scotland Yard (one that would allow him to buy a house and support a family) and he's looking for the perfect woman to get married.

Isn't this refreshing? A man who's not a millionaire, who's not afraid of commitment or has a big trauma, etc. Yes, he had a horrible childhood but the way he sees it, it has helped him with his job because by growing up in the streets, he has valuable insights into the criminal world. Something else very refreshing about him is that he's afraid of getting old. This is a fear that most of us confront when we reach middle age but this is the first time I've seen addressed in a romance from either a man or a woman.

It was just too bad that the heroine didn't live up to this awesome hero. She's a psychic who was in everybody's face about her 'powers' and was constantly mad when people wouldn't believe her. Her 'powers' were very erratic, she could read minds, see auras, predict the future, get 'feelings' from objects but not on command - meaning that if people asked her to predict something specific, she could never deliver. And she wondered why the Police thought she was a suspect! Worse, she had the bad habit of blurting intimate things about other people in public (Lord Heath's son likes the kitchen maid!) but she was adamant that "she wouldn't hide who she was". What a dope! She was so childish that she couldn't understand that we aren't all allowed to say whatever we want about other people even if it's the truth. I really don't know what the hero saw in her, except for a plump lower lip.

Overall, an interesting story who could have been much improved if the heroine had shown some sense.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Personally, I don’t believe in psychics, but I loved Sophie. She was a genuinely likable, strong-willed character. And, of course, who wouldn’t love Mick?! Gonna have to read more of Laura Lee Guhrke’s work in the future!

[Laavic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Segundo libro que me leo de esta autora y para nada decepcionada. Me ha gustado mucho la historia, es muy dinámica y te atrapa totalmente. Como he leído en otras reseñas, es una especie de CSI de época, y es algo así, sí.
Me han gustado todos los personajes: hasta los secundarios están bien desarrollados. La prota, Sophie, es una mujer con carácter, que no se deja amedrentar a pesar de cómo la trata la gente por culpa de sus "poderes".
Mick es todo un poli, sólo cree en las pruebas que puede ver y tocar y entrar en el mundo psíquico es todo un shock para él.
Me ha gustado mucho cómo se ha desarrollado la relación entre los dos, con ayuda de la tía de ella por supuesto.
Y el malo, pues me sorprendió. Pero solo porque soy muy mala para estas cosas. Nunca lo adivino. De hecho sospechaba de otro personaje... ¡siempre me sorprendo!
Una única pega: me falta un epílogo!!!

[Sombrero De Bruja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primer libro que leo de esta autora y no ha estado mal.
Al principio me costó pillarle el punto por tanto personaje, pero luego los que realmente cuentan son menos y la cosa va mejor.
La trama bien, entretenida y ágil, sin repetir demasiado las sensaciones y sentimientos de los protagonistas. Los personajes bien también, no tenemos una mujer pavisosa.
Las escenas calentitas de poner las orejas colorás.
El final precipitado, se intuye quien es el asesino y en dos páginas llega al "vivieron felices". Se echa de menos epílogo, o yo los echo de menos.

[Christelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai vraiment adoré ce livre dont j'ai trouvé l'histoire vraiment captivante.
J'avais commencé à le lire, sans trop savoir à quoi m'attendre si ce n'est que j'avais déjà lu des livre de l'auteur que j'avais adorés mais comme il changeait un peu de ses livres habituels, avec l'élément de paranormal notamment, j'appréhendais un peu, et je n'ai pas relâché le livre avant de l'avoir terminé.
Ce livre réunit tout ce que j'aime dans un roman de ce genre: des personnages principaux attachants mais néanmoins beaucoup plus atypiques que dans les canons du genre habituel de la romance historique (le héros est un orphelin des bas fonds de Londres qui est devenu inspecteur de police instruit par sa seule volonté, l'héroïne est certes une vieille fille de bonne famille anglaise mais elle a un pouvoir paranormal qui lui permet d'avoir des visions) et les personnes secondaires qui les entourent sont tout aussi variés (une vieille excentrique qui se prend pour la réincarnation de Cléopâtre, une mère intransigeante aux ambitions matrimoniales désespérées, un colonel à la retraite bougon, des policiers débonnaires...), la fin de l'ère victorienne vraiment très intéressante à découvrir avec ces évolutions sociales et scientifiques (j'ai aimé avoir un aperçu des techniques d'enquêtes qui ne sont pas sans rappelées celles de Sherlock Holmes), une intrigue vraiment très bien menée, et puis le style de Laura Lee Guhrke toujours aussi agréable à lire.
A lire et à relire

[romancebookjunkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I didn’t know I needed in my life. Absolute pure perfection. Historical romance (mainly) outside of the Ton with a Scotland Yard police inspector for a hero, a psychic heroine and a suspense that had me frequently taking too long on my lunch breaks because I didn’t want to put it down!

Our heroine has psychic abilities and when she sees the violent death of a man she goes straight to the police to see if she can stop the murder. When she goes to make her report however, the policeman she meets there is the murdered man in her dreams. She hopes to warn him and therefore save his life but our straight thinking hero does not believe in her psychic ability so instead investigates her thinking she overheard a plot on his life.

The main characters were written beautifully- they had depth, emotions, backstory and I was invested in not only their relationship but both of them as individuals- they were as vivid to me as real people with real life problems. The suspense was woven expertly throughout the story so that it didn’t overwhelm the story but rather complemented it. Honestly as soon as I finished this book I wanted to reread it! So find yourself a copy of this 2002 treasure and READ IT!

[Paola Montero · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Addie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is no doubt Laura Lee Guhrke can write.

Still, this did not work for me. Mick is simply not likable.



Twice he blames Sophie’s perfume on the fact he can’t keep his hands off her.



It is not until almost half way into the book (46%) that there is a moment of warmth between them – actual warmth. (One of the very few moments I warmed to Mick myself).

Sophie is also terrified of the dark, something she tells Mick on two occasions, and he still brushes her fear off and "forces" her to sleep in the dark with him after they have sex.

At 92% there is this gem. “What the bloody hell is going on?” he demanded. “One minute I’m with a loving, passionate woman, and the next I’m with a peevish shrew. Is this what making love with me is going to do to you?”



At 98%, Mick finally pulls his head out of his ass, having left Sophie lingering in tortured heartache for several days, and comes upon her in her greenery. “If you’re crying, I’m leaving.”



In the words of our heroine, Sophie, about our “hero”, I conclude this review with; “You are such a cad. A low and despicable cad.”

[Tracey Rayner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not her best work.

Mmmm. Don't know where to start. Not block. Britain has never had blocks or sidewalks. I wish American authors would get this right. !!! I liked the idea of this story. Physicic being able to help police catch a killer. Both lead characters came across as very strong minded people, and I liked them. By main criticism of the book MUST be the proof reader. I hope you didn't pay them too much money to do this job. They certainly didn't deserve a penny of it. I would like the author to buy this book on Kindle and read it as one of her fans would. I've read this author before and have enjoyed a lot of her books , but first time buyers who have never heard of Laura Lee may not choose to read any of her books ever again. And that would be a shame. Look at the story, change the feel of the story and 're release.

[PATRICIA KUNA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Sophie have a vision about Michael Dunbar, policeman with Scotland Yard.

He does not believe her. He thinks she is involved. He does investigate her and her family.

She does not want him to. But he comes to stay as her Mother is coming and want to get her married.

She then see another murder of a policeman and Michael begins to think she may have some ablilites.

They get closer as the investigation gets serious when Sophie is threathened.

They come to find out who is behind the murders.

They then tell each other that they love each other. They finally found the love that was meant for them

Another good book by Laura

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid 3.5 for me. If you don't mind a little supernatural (psychic heroine) it was easy to enjoy this book especially with the added mystery. I think it wrapped up a little too quickly once the mystery was solved. I would have like to see them work a little harder for their HEA rather than a behind the scenes epiphany. My biggest complaint was the fact that I read this using kindle unlimited and the formatting was horrendous. The lack of spacing and paragraph use was frequently jarring.

[Esmeralda Broglie · Rating 5 out of 5]

No sabia si llorar por el destino de Sophie o alegrarme de que decidiera correr el riesgo. La trama policial me encanta cuando se entreteje con romance. Adore cada hoja; y aunque debo decir que era bastante hilarante la desbordante pasión de los personajes, no me cabía del todo el modo tan caballeroso de Michael.
Y yo que ya no sabia si preocuparme por su vida o por la reputación de la joven. Ay, me arrollo el corazón a suspiros. Me gusto mucho. Mucho.

[Sussy_lwp · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,3☆ Cumple con ser entretenido, y aunque me gusta mucho el thriller, en esta novela romántica es mas importante el crimen que el 💓 me falto más romance.
Pero los personajes me han encantados, espacialmente Mick, su personaje esta super bien estructirado, se ha construído una vida desde muy abajo y no le tiene miedo a la alta sociedad y enfrentarse con sus "esnobismo " 👏👏

[Kathleen Kurdziel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I ordinarily love anything by Laura Lee Guhrke, but this book is utterly unreadable in kindle. Sentences are all chopped up into multiple lines destroying the continuity of of the story. Whoever permitted the story to be put out in this condition should be fired and Ms Guhrke should sue them as they have destroyed her work.
DNF, could not finish. This is terrible.

[Becca (The Troubles and Woes of a Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I am just a tiny bit hooked on Detective Anna on Prime Video and this gave me those vibes and I loved it. Does anyone know any similar books? Psychics, mediums, historical romances, mystery/crime... I need more!