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American Beauties #2
Never Again
Award-winning author Jo-Ann Power brought the Gilded Age to splendid life in Never Before, the first novel in a wonderful trilogy featuring young American heiresses who grace Victorian Europe with their spirited, refreshing style. Now this gifted storyteller returns to the exquisite age of manners in a delightfullly lavish tale of these bold and enchanting young ladies...the American Beauties.
NEVER AGAIN
As a beautiful American debutante, Raine Montand has charmed all of London. But in secret, she plays another role -- that of Raynard the Fox, whose scorching political cartoons can make or break a career. Raine is devastated when one of her drawings is responsible for making Parliament member Gavin Sutherland a murder suspect. Vowing to make amends, she poses as a widow and seeks a job as Gavin's secretary, in an attempt to discover the truth that will save him.
Alone and embittered, deserted by family, friends, and fianceáe, Gavin is forced to resign from Parliament. His only supporter is the lovely but mysterious young lady in his employ, whose assistance could be invalauable in clearing his name. Gavin senses the risk of trusting one about whom he knows so little. But as their investigation continues, both Gavin and Raine realize the greatest risk of all is love -- and the grandest reward.
NEVER AGAIN
As a beautiful American debutante, Raine Montand has charmed all of London. But in secret, she plays another role -- that of Raynard the Fox, whose scorching political cartoons can make or break a career. Raine is devastated when one of her drawings is responsible for making Parliament member Gavin Sutherland a murder suspect. Vowing to make amends, she poses as a widow and seeks a job as Gavin's secretary, in an attempt to discover the truth that will save him.
Alone and embittered, deserted by family, friends, and fianceáe, Gavin is forced to resign from Parliament. His only supporter is the lovely but mysterious young lady in his employ, whose assistance could be invalauable in clearing his name. Gavin senses the risk of trusting one about whom he knows so little. But as their investigation continues, both Gavin and Raine realize the greatest risk of all is love -- and the grandest reward.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Jo-Ann Power
28 books21 followersAka Ann Crowleigh (joint pseudonym with Barbara Cummings).
Writing a new mystery series starring a Texas Congresswoman and her reluctant bodyguard, Jo-Ann Power truly writes what she knows! A career in Washington in media--and a new resident of Texas (relatively speaking...), "JP" has created a series that PW loves as well as RT, Booklist and many readers more!"
Writing a new mystery series starring a Texas Congresswoman and her reluctant bodyguard, Jo-Ann Power truly writes what she knows! A career in Washington in media--and a new resident of Texas (relatively speaking...), "JP" has created a series that PW loves as well as RT, Booklist and many readers more!"
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 20, 2010
Ok for romance and mystery, but I was hoping for more. Too much self-pity by the heroine.
STORY BRIEF:
Raine is a single American woman living in London in 1876. She is a political cartoonist for a London newspaper. Gavin and Sean are members of Parliament. Sean promised to vote for Gavin’s bill but didn’t. Gavin is angry and yells at Sean. Raine sees this and draws it for the newspaper. Later that day Sean and his lover Louise are murdered. The newspaper prints articles suggesting Gavin is the murderer. His family, his fiancée, and most of his friends turn against him, and he loses his seat in Parliament. He retreats to a house by the sea, living like a hermit. There he writes a successful mystery novel.
Ten months after the murder, Raine is filled with guilt. She feels her cartoon caused the downfall of a good man. She wants to help him. She rents a cottage near Gavin’s house. She claims to be a widow grieving for her husband. Gavin put an ad in the paper to hire a secretary. Raine applies for and gets the job. Gavin decides to write a second novel based on his own scandal with hopes that the authorities will reopen the case and find the murderer. Raine provides encouragement, is a sounding board, and is a great help to him. They begin to fall in love. The problem is that Raine continues lying to Gavin. He doesn’t know that she is the cartoonist who contributed to his downfall. He also doesn’t know her widowhood is a lie.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I liked the concept, and I was anticipating a rewarding experience of his healing and their relationship growing. But I didn’t get that because it was overshadowed by the “main conflict” of her believing she should never be happy and never forgiving herself. She will spend the rest of her life in misery because she won’t let herself be with him. This self-pity continued far too long for me. My feelings during most of the book were negative because I knew they would be splitting up due to her lies. After they fell in love, she continued lying to him. He was wonderful, patient, and loving even though he knew she was keeping secrets. He asked her to trust him and tell him, but she wouldn’t. So your enjoyment of the story will depend on whether or not you’re ok with this type of conflict.
The story about the scandal and the murder was a good mystery and had an interesting ending. Gavin was a good man, high morals (unexpected for an elected member of Parliament), very smart, patient and loving to her. Raine was impressively intelligent about politics, loving, caring, and an excellent cook.
DATA:
Story length: 303 pages. Swearing language: mild, including religious swear words. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 4. Total number of sex scene pages: 11. Setting: 1876 to 1879 London and Norfolk area, England. Copyright: 1998. Genre: historical romance.
STORY BRIEF:
Raine is a single American woman living in London in 1876. She is a political cartoonist for a London newspaper. Gavin and Sean are members of Parliament. Sean promised to vote for Gavin’s bill but didn’t. Gavin is angry and yells at Sean. Raine sees this and draws it for the newspaper. Later that day Sean and his lover Louise are murdered. The newspaper prints articles suggesting Gavin is the murderer. His family, his fiancée, and most of his friends turn against him, and he loses his seat in Parliament. He retreats to a house by the sea, living like a hermit. There he writes a successful mystery novel.
Ten months after the murder, Raine is filled with guilt. She feels her cartoon caused the downfall of a good man. She wants to help him. She rents a cottage near Gavin’s house. She claims to be a widow grieving for her husband. Gavin put an ad in the paper to hire a secretary. Raine applies for and gets the job. Gavin decides to write a second novel based on his own scandal with hopes that the authorities will reopen the case and find the murderer. Raine provides encouragement, is a sounding board, and is a great help to him. They begin to fall in love. The problem is that Raine continues lying to Gavin. He doesn’t know that she is the cartoonist who contributed to his downfall. He also doesn’t know her widowhood is a lie.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I liked the concept, and I was anticipating a rewarding experience of his healing and their relationship growing. But I didn’t get that because it was overshadowed by the “main conflict” of her believing she should never be happy and never forgiving herself. She will spend the rest of her life in misery because she won’t let herself be with him. This self-pity continued far too long for me. My feelings during most of the book were negative because I knew they would be splitting up due to her lies. After they fell in love, she continued lying to him. He was wonderful, patient, and loving even though he knew she was keeping secrets. He asked her to trust him and tell him, but she wouldn’t. So your enjoyment of the story will depend on whether or not you’re ok with this type of conflict.
The story about the scandal and the murder was a good mystery and had an interesting ending. Gavin was a good man, high morals (unexpected for an elected member of Parliament), very smart, patient and loving to her. Raine was impressively intelligent about politics, loving, caring, and an excellent cook.
DATA:
Story length: 303 pages. Swearing language: mild, including religious swear words. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 4. Total number of sex scene pages: 11. Setting: 1876 to 1879 London and Norfolk area, England. Copyright: 1998. Genre: historical romance.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews