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Brenda Joyce has enthralled millions of readers with her New York Times bestselling novels. Now, join us in the next chapter of her unforgettable storytelling: the Francesca Cahill novels. Enter the glittering world of turn-of-the-century New York City, where a metropolis booming with life also masks a dark world of danger, death, and daring desire...

As the heiress to a vast fortune amassed by her millionaire father, Francesca Cahill's life should be mapped out for her: find an eligible suitor, marry, and have children. But Francesca is an unconventional young lady who is not about to give up her knack for sleuthing—even though it brings her closer to danger than she ever could imagine.

Murder strikes once again in the seamy underbelly of New York's high society, exposing scandalous secrets and unleashing an intense investigation into one of the most brutal crimes the city has ever known. Innocent women are being murdered, and there seems to be a strange connection between them. Can Francesca unravel the clues? Or by doing so, will she place herself and other women in grave jeopardy? Francesca must join forces with Rick Bragg, New York City's Police Commissioner and the man she cannot resist loving, as their search takes them through a twisted labyrinth of menacing lies, corruption, and a passion that refused to be denied.

333 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

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About the author

Brenda Joyce

106 books1,298 followers
Brenda Joyce is the bestselling author of forty-one novels and five novellas. She has won many awards, and her debut novel, Innocent Fire, won a Best Western Romance award. She has also won the highly coveted Best Historical Romance award for Splendor and Two Lifetime Achievement Awards from Romantic Times BOOKreviews. There are over 14 million copies of her novels in print and she is published in over a dozen foreign countries.

A native New Yorker, she now lives in southern Arizona with her son, dogs, and her Arabian and half-Arabian reining horses. Brenda divides her time between her twin passions—writing powerful love stories and competing with her horses at regional and national levels. For more information about Brenda and her upcoming novels, please visit her Web sites: www.brendajoyce.com, www.thedewarennedynasty.com and http://mastersoftimebooks.com.

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5 stars
323 (39%)
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302 (36%)
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156 (18%)
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32 (3%)
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Yaseena.
Author 1 book10 followers
May 24, 2011
Deadly Affairs was another great instalment in Brenda Joyce’s Deadly series. The same characters are back as in the first two with a few new additions here and there to make the story work. As always I loved some of the characters and was annoyed at various points by others – mainly the heroine Francesca Cahill. Heiress, reformer, amateur sleuth, this woman is vastly different from the other young women of wealth in her social circle – which is why I suppose, Miss Cahill has attracted the attention of two very powerful and gorgeous men.

Francesca though, for all her supposed book smarts and unmatched intelligence is a very naive character. Now, I like innocence in a heroine, nothing wrong with that. But, there is a huge difference between innocence and naiveté and it’s a fine line between endearing and annoying. Unfortunately, one of the only complaints I consistently have with this series is the blindness, naiveté and ultimate immaturity of the heroine. She’s compelling, sure, beautiful, yes, but she gets on my nerves for most of the book with her die-hard declarations of everlasting love for Rick Bragg, the married, slightly pretentious, morally bound (although his morals take a hike whenever Francesca bates her eyes at him – he’s helpless to her charms apparently) and oh so handsome and “good” police commissioner. I don’t dislike Bragg, but I can’t say I love him either. Honestly, I guess Francesca and Bragg do make the perfect couple, they are both reformers and want to help the less fortunate and all that stuff, but it comes across so fake and phony most of the time that I want to gag. It may seem like I’m beating up on the characters and the book, but in all honesty this series is really good and kind of addictive so I’d read it nonetheless. I’d be totally fine accepting Bragg and Francesca as a couple if this book didn’t also feature the devastating Calder Hart. Man, this guy is so delicious and sinister and caustic and cynical and “bad” – but in all the right ways that make you just want to hug the guy and declare your everlasting love! Why Francesca hasn’t done this yet continues to amaze me. She must have an iron will or a really good veil to pull over her eyes – let’s her ignore all the unsightly things she just can’t handle.

I love that unlike Bragg, Calder – Bragg’s half brother and nemesis continually calls Francesca out on her crap. She’s being a brat, he calls her one, she’s being naive and close minded, and he tells her so. Like I said, this guy is no holds barred and I love it. He is the character who forces everyone to see the things they would much rather deny are right in front of their faces. Calder is not his half brother’s favourite person and they do not get along under any circumstances, at first Calder was mainly fascinated by the relationship between Fran and Bragg, but now it seems he’s beginning to really care about Francesca and is therefore becoming her champion, which I love. He’s the “bad” brother, the dark horse and all that comes along with it, but what you really start to see in this book, the third in the series, is that Calder has a real tenderness and kindness about him. Of course he’d never admit it. It actually gets frustrating to see how Bragg and sometimes Francesca see Calder – they paint him as the bad guy with no morals or virtue, but really? Take a look at yourselves is all I got to say! But like his brother, Calder really likes Francesca, and she does have some good qualities aside from her perpetual stupidity. She’s kind, loyal, always wants to help others, sweet natured and good tempered. She’s at once docile and yet she hides a fiery temperament which I love. I want her to show her fiery side more, which I think will only come out when she’s with Calder. Another reason I love him. He brings out the real Francesca Cahill, not simply the young pretty miss she wishes to be with Bragg.
Anyway, you can tell I’m rooting for Calder and Francesca. We’ll see how it goes because if Francesca is suddenly going to change her tune and fall hard for Calder, 1) I better believe she truly and completely loves him and isn’t just taking him as second pick because her future with Bragg is impossible. 2) Her choice better not come out of either anger or disappointment from Bragg. If it does initially, I want to then later see Fran really fall had for the guy she never thought she’d love. You can tell by book 4, which I am currently reading, that there is an intense connection between these two characters and I really want to see how their relationship unfolds.

On another note, the only other thing that could have been better about this instalment was the ultimate identity of the murderer. There is such a good setup the whole book through, and although this book and the next one – probably all the books from here on in, focus more on the relationships of every character rather than the mystery plot, I wanted more satisfaction from the climax of the story. The murders are bloody and mark the culprit as a serial killer and I enjoyed that this mystery involved Maggie Kennedy, a widowed seamstress with four children who is slowly becoming a friend of Francesca’s. Her eldest son Joel Kennedy is Fran’s assistant in all her cases and I love this kid. He’s funny, obnoxious and very entertaining. He’s also very sweet and really loves his mother and siblings. Anyway, the addition of other characters and the way Joyce weaves the new with the old was great. I really liked seeing the tentative connections between Maggie and Francesca’s brother, Evan, and can’t wait to see if that will develop more as the books proceed. I needed more from the ending though. You have this build-up, like I said and then all of a sudden you know who the culprit is and bam, Francesca saves the day and it’s all over. I wanted more of a lead up and less of a smack down once the climax was headed towards a denouement. It wouldn’t have taken much; even an extra page would have helped.

Ultimately this series is really great. Yes, annoying at times, but the characters are real and very well developed and I enjoy meeting them again and again as each book is read. It’s fun to read a continuing story like this and to see all the characters and storylines come together and change as needed. Big changes are on the horizon I can tell, and not just for the main characters, but for the minor ones I’ve come to love as well. I want to see Sarah Channing and Maggie Kennedy more and I want them both to get their happy endings. I also want Bartolla Benevante to get hers! This b*tch needs to go down.

That is all.

Profile Image for ShyAnn64.
287 reviews
February 10, 2023
As the heiress to a vast fortune amassed by her millionaire father, Francesca Cahill's life should be mapped out for her: find an eligible suitor, marry, and have children. But Francesca is an unconventional young lady who is not about to give up her knack for sleuthing—even though it brings her closer to danger than she ever could imagine.

Murder strikes once again in the seamy underbelly of New York's high society, exposing scandalous secrets and unleashing an intense investigation into one of the most brutal crimes the city has ever known. Innocent women are being murdered, and there seems to be a strange connection between them. Can Francesca unravel the clues? Or by doing so, will she place herself and other women in grave jeopardy? Francesca must join forces with Rick Bragg, New York City's Police Commissioner and the man she cannot resist loving, as their search takes them through a twisted labyrinth of menacing lies, corruption, and a passion that refused to be denied.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for シ Pen*Cil シ.
296 reviews1 follower
May 5, 2015
***4.25/5***

Cette série n'en finit pas de me séduire. Cette Francesca Cahill, femme moderne dans le New-York des années 1900, est un réel rafraîchissement, une série totalement à part dans les A&P. Mais ce tome 3 se démarque des précédents par une enquête de meilleure qualité, et une réelle évolution des relations entre les différents personnages, y compris les secondaires, pour mon plus grand plaisir.

J'avais déjà une folle passion pour l'héroïne, ainsi que pour Rick Bragg, plein de fougue et d'amour dans ce tome (il était temps, honnêtement)!
->"-Je suis de l'argile entre vos mains, murmura-t-il".

-> "-Admettez donc que je suis indispensable dans cette enquête!". Il soupira.
"-Je l'admets. Mais je ne suis pas certain que ce soit uniquement dans l'enquête que vous soyez indispensable. (...) Vous m'êtes indispensable, et c'est arrivé si vite que j'en ai parfois le vertige"

->"A l'instant où je vous ai vue, mon univers a été chamboulé. Je vous ai remarquée, de l'autre côté de la pièce, avant même que l'on nous ait présentés. Vous étiez d'une extrême beauté et vous sembliez malheureuse. De toute évidence, la soirée vous ennuyait à mourir. Lorsque Andrew m'a présenté à vous, vous avez entamé un débat politique, Francesca. Je me rappelle chacune de vos paroles, je me rappelle tout. Vous portiez une robe bleue, exactement du même bleu que vos yeux".

Mais j'ai également adoré découvrir les nouveaux personnages. C'est bien simple, je les ai tous aimés: Calder dont on sent un potentiel swoonesque grandissant, Evan qui montre tout son grand cœur, Maggie tout aussi attachante que ses enfants. Même Bartolla m'a plu, elle est peste et méchante, mais cadre parfaitement avec l'atmosphère de la série.

Cependant, j'entrevois quelque chose qui risque de donner des palpitations à mon petit cour:

Pour le savoir, je sais ce qu'il me reste à faire: positionner le tome 4 dans ma PAL prioritaire!
Profile Image for Paganalexandria .
1,464 reviews
June 17, 2015
My Francesca Cahill re-read continues with us finding our heroine in a quandary. Her parents are finally getting a clue in regards to her sleuthing adventures. This is especially concerning to her mother Julia because she hates the idea of her spending time with Rick Bragg. Which only makes him more attractive to our heroine.

This is book that so many things are revealed to all the players involved. Of course, Calder asserts himself in the storyline, but his motives are hidden to everyone. All Francesca knows, is that she gets nervous when he looks at her that way.

The mystery portion of this series keeps falling flat for me. Mystery is not a common genre for me, so that might be why. Despite that, my rating went up a star because this installment really charmed me. This series also gives great Fashion porn. The descriptions of of the party scenes and attire really swept me up.
Profile Image for ChloeLeeNH.
286 reviews47 followers
October 12, 2008
This is another great novel... Calder or Bragg... it is killing me LOL. Again, the mystery takes a backseat to the constant tension between these three. I am reading right through them... and I don't know or want to know who she ends up with (unless I read it first!)
Profile Image for Denise.
41 reviews2 followers
October 19, 2014
I am enjoying this series. Not many romantic suspense books are set in New York at the beginning of the 20th century.
Profile Image for Linda.
1,083 reviews49 followers
January 26, 2019
This was an enjoyable read, although not as good as the De Warnne Dynasty in my opinion.

Thus is the story of Franchesca Cahill, a young lady that is part of the upper crust but she had little interest in dresses and frivolous things, and instead has a razor sharp mind that she has used to help solve 3 murders. She is in love with the police commissioner...Rick Bragg who unfortunately is unhappily married. She is even secretly enrolled in college! A fast past page turner, with plenty of things going on to keep it interesting!
Profile Image for Linda.
295 reviews
March 23, 2023
The last one was bad but I thought I'd give the series one more try. But alas, the author has created a main character who is more of a blundering numpty than a heroine. I had to throw in the towel within just a few chapters.
Profile Image for Özlem.
151 reviews3 followers
July 29, 2018
Bu seferki kitapta işler biraz kızışmaya ve kurgu da iyice oturmaya başlıyor. Francesca ve Rick Bragg yine bildiğimiz gibiler; oldukça bencil ve duygusal takılmaya devam ediyorlar. Calder ise giderek kendini daha çok sevdiriyor. Ben Calder'ın kesinlikle "kötü çocuk" dediğimiz kısma girmediğini gördüm. Bir bireyin olması gerektiği gibi davranıyor ve bazılarının aksine duygularının onu yönetmesine izin vermiyor.

Kitaba yeni eklenen iki küçük kardeşten Dot çok tatlı bir şey. Tam mıncırmalık şeker. Maalesef aynı şeyi diğer kardeş Katie için söyleyemiyorum. Yaşadıklarını anlıyor olsam da o yaşta bir çocuk için çok suratsız.

Bu sefer kitabın dedektiflik kısmı ilk iki kitaba göre biraz daha iyiydi. Aynı zamanda Francesca'nın yeteneklerini geliştirdiğini görmek oldukça güzel. Fakat reformculuğu (nasıl bir reformcuysa, 3 kitaptır bunun adına bir şey yok) ve eğitimi giderek daha da geriliyor. Bu kitapla beraber Francesca iyice duygusala bağlamaya başlıyor.

Yine de seriyi genel olarak sevdiğimi bu kitaptan itibaren söyleyebilirim.
Profile Image for Patrícia⁷.
1,071 reviews117 followers
December 18, 2008
Deadly Affairs is book three of the "Deadly Series". These books focus on the character of Francesca Cahill, an american heiress in turn-of-the-century New York who is a bit of a sleuth. She and police comissioner Rick Bragg have a new mystery to solve.

In this book, yet again, the mystery/murder story wasn't very good. It is rather simple, straightfoward and not that interesting. So, I'd think the author would press more on the romance between the two main characters and on the upcoming love triangle. But that doesn't happen. Although you can see that the writer tries to make the love scenes engaging, they lack tension, heat and romance as we readers of romance novels perceive them. It's not a great mystery story and it certainly isn't a good enough romance. Still, I liked reading it. Go figure.

Profile Image for Stacy.
1,151 reviews26 followers
September 14, 2012
There is romance, mystery and a wonderful sense of New York City in 1902. The mystery was solid and it wasn’t until all was revealed that it made complete sense, which is a good thing! And while I like Rick, he does have a wife and in 1902 he is really bringing scandal on Francesca by continuing to encourage her. They are perfectly suited, but he is not available. That is the interest in this series for me because it is so true to life. Sometimes there is just no perfect choice and the journey to making a decision reveals so much about your character.

This series must be read in order!

there's more on my blog http://stacybuckeye.wordpress.com/201...

Profile Image for Mikko Peralta.
78 reviews3 followers
September 7, 2012
Everybody seems to be either beautiful and rich or dashingly handsome and rich and I am not too sure on whether Brenda Joyce wants to focus more on the love story or on the investigative part of the plot.
Profile Image for Alicia.
334 reviews
November 29, 2008
We met Calder in the second book. We get to know him better in each novel. Francesca also encounters Calder more and is curious about him. Her and Rick are out to solve another crime.
Profile Image for Lesli.
1,882 reviews8 followers
July 15, 2010
Francesca makes a fascinating character. This is clearly romantic suspense at the dawn of the 20th century.
Profile Image for Gaynell.
619 reviews
August 5, 2013
I guess that by this book, I have begun to root for Calder Hart, Bragg's half-brother. I guess I'm just attracted to the bad boy :). I'm still intrigued by Francesca's soap opera life.
Profile Image for Nicci.
181 reviews
July 25, 2012
Lots of laughs in this book. The mystery part is lacking a little but I think that is due to how many characters lives and stories are involved in this series. Nice fun read.
Profile Image for Thea.
357 reviews
September 6, 2015
I loved the mystery but I didn't expect Francesca to be involved with a married man and his half brother.
Profile Image for Gilwen.
714 reviews49 followers
March 27, 2017
Une histoire policière un peu moins bien ficelée que dans les deux précédents volumes (j'en avais résolu une bonne partie avant la fin), mais le côté drama est toujours aussi entraînant.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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