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Allison comes to 1870s San Francisco to learn the truth about her past and finds herself swept up in a mystery involving her father's last case and a handsome Barbary Coast gambler named Will McKendrick. Original.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 30, 2022
Her last book I read was a full on Mystery. This one billed as, and looks like, a Romance. It's as least as much mystery as it is romance. I'm not sure the romance is the main question this book revolves around, and we are in the male protagonists head so little, that side of a standard romance is thin. I'm not sure it's love that conquerors all here, either. I feel like we could have let this romance carry over into a larger series and I wouldn't have minded, because it wasn't set up as the pivotal point in the book.
Still, it was pretty good for all that it doesn't quite meet the genre standards, and I felt it might have been better if it leaned harder in one of those directions.
Still, it was pretty good for all that it doesn't quite meet the genre standards, and I felt it might have been better if it leaned harder in one of those directions.
November 21, 2022
I liked it. Got the next in the series.
June 30, 2025
I have no words. This is so good. I am so glad I stumbled onto this author. Every moment of this was breathtaking. The setting is so interesting after reading countless "usual" HR settings in Regency or Medieval England or Scotland. This is set in 1870's San Francisco. Our heroine has arrived from Boston to reunite with a father she just learned she had only to discover he has been murdered. She finds out she has a half sister by him, Lily, and together with the help of Dalton Maltone, a Barbary coast gaming hall tycoon, try to solve this who-done- it murder mystery. Carla Simpson never ceases to amaze me with her level of historic detail which often includes real life historic figures (the San Fran Stanford's figure prominently and President Grant makes an appearance). I read another review where the reader felt this didn't conform to the HR genre in that there was a murder mystery sprinkled in with romance. I would agree that this is certainly not a HR character driven romance. It is more sophisticated and complex than that. It has a driving plot, a robust cast of side characters, including a very surprising secondary romance which knocked me back on my heels when I read it. The murder mystery is actually quite complex. Not your usual poorly thought out and overly simple side plot in HR. The mystery reminded me of an Agatha Christie novel.
The main romance between the lead characters is certainly the crown jewel here. There were times I felt myself rushing through plot to get to the next scene with Dalton and Allison. I could have done with one or two more scenes with them. I just loved the banter and angst between the leads as well as the brooding depth of need below the surface at all times. There was wit, there was charm, there were blush rendering spicy scenes. Loved the chess theme throughout. The final line of the book was a perfect cherry for this through line. So many of those scenes I reread. The Bella Union blue carpet room scene was ... let's just say I'll never look at amaretto the same way. I also just loved the ending scenes when everyone at Cliff House interrupts Dalton’s brooding over Allison's impending departure. There is a sequence where nobody knocks and everyone is giving him advice to not let her get away and he just gets floor- licking drunk.
This is book 1 of a series of 5. Interestingly, the book not only mentions but incorporates two of the heroines in later books in the series as well as the hero of book 2. The sister relationship between Allison and Lily is thoughtfully done. Their relationship is tense because of being complete strangers who shared a father than only one of them knew. That relationship develops as they unite to solve the murder. In the end the author doesn't simply unite them as the best of friends through their toil. Rather, and very realistically, they have come much more close as sisters but there is still a wariness to let all boundaries down between them which I thought was true to their time spent together in the novel. I am looking to see how this progresses further in book 2. I am interested to read Whiskey Kate's book in the series. In this book she is a streetwise assist to the heroine and is somewhat of a comic relief. I'll be interested to see how this author makes a main character out of her. A small gripe about the republished covers- I read the original publication where the main characters actually look like how they are described and there is a beautiful scene of Cliff House by the ocean on the back. The newer publication I presume is showing us the blue room in Bella Union but the main character is in blue with blonde hair. Why take the time to make the background a scene in the book and then paint the main character to be unrecognizable? You know it's good when my only complaint is the cover art.
The main romance between the lead characters is certainly the crown jewel here. There were times I felt myself rushing through plot to get to the next scene with Dalton and Allison. I could have done with one or two more scenes with them. I just loved the banter and angst between the leads as well as the brooding depth of need below the surface at all times. There was wit, there was charm, there were blush rendering spicy scenes. Loved the chess theme throughout. The final line of the book was a perfect cherry for this through line. So many of those scenes I reread. The Bella Union blue carpet room scene was ... let's just say I'll never look at amaretto the same way. I also just loved the ending scenes when everyone at Cliff House interrupts Dalton’s brooding over Allison's impending departure. There is a sequence where nobody knocks and everyone is giving him advice to not let her get away and he just gets floor- licking drunk.
This is book 1 of a series of 5. Interestingly, the book not only mentions but incorporates two of the heroines in later books in the series as well as the hero of book 2. The sister relationship between Allison and Lily is thoughtfully done. Their relationship is tense because of being complete strangers who shared a father than only one of them knew. That relationship develops as they unite to solve the murder. In the end the author doesn't simply unite them as the best of friends through their toil. Rather, and very realistically, they have come much more close as sisters but there is still a wariness to let all boundaries down between them which I thought was true to their time spent together in the novel. I am looking to see how this progresses further in book 2. I am interested to read Whiskey Kate's book in the series. In this book she is a streetwise assist to the heroine and is somewhat of a comic relief. I'll be interested to see how this author makes a main character out of her. A small gripe about the republished covers- I read the original publication where the main characters actually look like how they are described and there is a beautiful scene of Cliff House by the ocean on the back. The newer publication I presume is showing us the blue room in Bella Union but the main character is in blue with blonde hair. Why take the time to make the background a scene in the book and then paint the main character to be unrecognizable? You know it's good when my only complaint is the cover art.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews