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Graham Clan #6
When We Touch
MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL...
Men! If they aren't accusing Lady Maggie Graham of witchcraft or murder, they're marrying her off to old men who drop dead at the altar. And now she's going to have to save her unruly stepdaughter from a band of thieving, lustful street ruffians (men, again) with the help of the most infuriating man of all...Lord Jamie.
WHO IS THE MOST SEDUCTIVE...
Women! They conduct themselves in a completely inappropriate manner — enjoying risqué amusements in secret theatres: running about disguised in the seediest parts of the city — and then they call you vile names for coming to their rescue. And no woman is more wicked, more cunning, more intoxicating than Lady Maggie.
...OF THEM ALL?
Amidst the pageantry, rampant desire, and very real dangers of Queen Victoria's London, a bevy of lovers is about to stumble into a spectacle of sin and scandal, where appearances are deceiving and anything can happen when desire is pulling all the strings.
Men! If they aren't accusing Lady Maggie Graham of witchcraft or murder, they're marrying her off to old men who drop dead at the altar. And now she's going to have to save her unruly stepdaughter from a band of thieving, lustful street ruffians (men, again) with the help of the most infuriating man of all...Lord Jamie.
WHO IS THE MOST SEDUCTIVE...
Women! They conduct themselves in a completely inappropriate manner — enjoying risqué amusements in secret theatres: running about disguised in the seediest parts of the city — and then they call you vile names for coming to their rescue. And no woman is more wicked, more cunning, more intoxicating than Lady Maggie.
...OF THEM ALL?
Amidst the pageantry, rampant desire, and very real dangers of Queen Victoria's London, a bevy of lovers is about to stumble into a spectacle of sin and scandal, where appearances are deceiving and anything can happen when desire is pulling all the strings.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
140 people are currently reading
607 people want to read
About the author
Shannon Drake
52 books572 followersHeather Graham Pozzessere
aka Heather Graham, Shannon Drake
Heather Graham was born on March 15, 1953 and grew up in Dade County, Florida, and attended the University of South Florida at Tampa, majoring in theater arts and touring Europe and parts of Asia and Africa as part of her studies. After college, she acted in dinner theaters, modeled, waitressed, and tended bar. She married Hershey Dennis Possezzere, and after the birth of her third child, she was determined to devote her efforts to her writing: her dream. She sold her first book in 1982.
Today, this author's success is reflected not just by reader response and the over 20 million copies of her books in print, but in many other ways. In addition to being a New York Times bestselling author, Heather has received numerous awards for her novels, including over 20 trade awards from magazines such as Romantic Times and Affaire de Coeur, bestseller awards from B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, and BookRak, and several Reviewers' Choice and People's Choice awards.
Heather has appeared on Entertainment Tonight, Romantically Speaking, a TV talk show that aired nationwide on the Romance Classics cable channel, and CBS Sunday News. She has been quoted in People and USA Today, been profiled in The Nation, and featured in Good Housekeeping. Her books have been selections for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild. She has been published across the world in more than 15 languages and has published over 70 titles, including anthologies and short stories.
Now, she had five children. Somehow, this prolific author manages to juggle it all - family, career, and marriage - while reaching a level of success to which few can aspire.
aka Heather Graham, Shannon Drake
Heather Graham was born on March 15, 1953 and grew up in Dade County, Florida, and attended the University of South Florida at Tampa, majoring in theater arts and touring Europe and parts of Asia and Africa as part of her studies. After college, she acted in dinner theaters, modeled, waitressed, and tended bar. She married Hershey Dennis Possezzere, and after the birth of her third child, she was determined to devote her efforts to her writing: her dream. She sold her first book in 1982.
Today, this author's success is reflected not just by reader response and the over 20 million copies of her books in print, but in many other ways. In addition to being a New York Times bestselling author, Heather has received numerous awards for her novels, including over 20 trade awards from magazines such as Romantic Times and Affaire de Coeur, bestseller awards from B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, and BookRak, and several Reviewers' Choice and People's Choice awards.
Heather has appeared on Entertainment Tonight, Romantically Speaking, a TV talk show that aired nationwide on the Romance Classics cable channel, and CBS Sunday News. She has been quoted in People and USA Today, been profiled in The Nation, and featured in Good Housekeeping. Her books have been selections for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild. She has been published across the world in more than 15 languages and has published over 70 titles, including anthologies and short stories.
Now, she had five children. Somehow, this prolific author manages to juggle it all - family, career, and marriage - while reaching a level of success to which few can aspire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
August 28, 2016
4.5 Stars
When I looked at the average rating of this book, I basically started dreading reading it but now that I have I'm actually glad I did. I loved this book and while it's definitely historical and there is romance, the romance part is just half of what made it good.
Maggie is a widow, she's also an anomaly because while she is a member of the peerage her late husband was not. He was a policeman, she didn't care but everyone else did. She plays an active part in helping woman who have no means to help themselves, where being a sex worker is the only way to keep these women alive. She vows never to fall in love and never to remarry after losing her husband. But when her brother gambles the family fortune away and their home and his title are at risk, she's forced to enter an advantageous marriage with Charles who is old enough to be her grandfather, she does this to save her family's title and their home.
Things are made even more difficult when she develops a strong attraction to her Charles' nephew, Jamie. Jamie and Maggie's interactions are brief and filled with tension. Neither wants to he around the other for too long, perhaps because they realise how close they are to throwing caution to the wind. With the arrival of Charles' daughter, Arianna tension worsens because of her obvious disdain for Maggie. Arianna's detests Maggie, and one would as far as saying the hate she feels for Maggie is dangerous.
While this is happening the very real tale of Jack the Ripper is being told. Graham interweaves fiction with fact when Maggie and Jamie attempt to fight their attraction all while the danger of the ripper is just outside their door. Add in the influx of charlatans posing as mediums who can speak to the dead and Maggie being deadset on exposing each and everyone of them, and you have a very entertaining story.
This was my first book by Heather Graham, and I was really impressed. This was the perfect blend of historical romance, suspense and a little bit of a whodunnit! Definitely recommended!
When I looked at the average rating of this book, I basically started dreading reading it but now that I have I'm actually glad I did. I loved this book and while it's definitely historical and there is romance, the romance part is just half of what made it good.
Maggie is a widow, she's also an anomaly because while she is a member of the peerage her late husband was not. He was a policeman, she didn't care but everyone else did. She plays an active part in helping woman who have no means to help themselves, where being a sex worker is the only way to keep these women alive. She vows never to fall in love and never to remarry after losing her husband. But when her brother gambles the family fortune away and their home and his title are at risk, she's forced to enter an advantageous marriage with Charles who is old enough to be her grandfather, she does this to save her family's title and their home.
Things are made even more difficult when she develops a strong attraction to her Charles' nephew, Jamie. Jamie and Maggie's interactions are brief and filled with tension. Neither wants to he around the other for too long, perhaps because they realise how close they are to throwing caution to the wind. With the arrival of Charles' daughter, Arianna tension worsens because of her obvious disdain for Maggie. Arianna's detests Maggie, and one would as far as saying the hate she feels for Maggie is dangerous.
While this is happening the very real tale of Jack the Ripper is being told. Graham interweaves fiction with fact when Maggie and Jamie attempt to fight their attraction all while the danger of the ripper is just outside their door. Add in the influx of charlatans posing as mediums who can speak to the dead and Maggie being deadset on exposing each and everyone of them, and you have a very entertaining story.
This was my first book by Heather Graham, and I was really impressed. This was the perfect blend of historical romance, suspense and a little bit of a whodunnit! Definitely recommended!
April 18, 2022
My least favorite of HG books. Just okay!
August 17, 2016
When We Touch, A Graham Novel, is by Heather Graham and is a stand alone story.
It's the story of widowed Lady Maggie Graham. In order to save her brother from bankruptcy, their uncle sets up a marriage for her with Viscount Langdon. He is a kindly gentleman, but also very old, and certainly not the kind of man Maggie would choose to marry. She knows of the man, and how kind and caring he is, and she just hopes that he will be happy with companionship and won't want a sexual relationship. He has adored Maggie since she first came out into Society, and now that she is widowed, and the opportunity has been presented to him to marry her, he is unbelievably desperate for her to agree to the marriage.
When she meets him, she also meets his grand nephew, Jamie. They are instantly attracted to each other, but Maggie won't allow anything to come of it because she intends to be a faithful wife. Jamie is annoyed that he is attracted to her because he thinks she is a disgusting gold digger, so he too is determined that nothing will come of any attraction. Besides, even if she wasn't out to use his poor Great Uncle, he wouldn't hurt the man for the world, so would still keep away from Maggie.
Maggie likes to help the poor, and often goes to the East End of London to help give out food to the poorest women. She also tries to teach them about contraception, anything to help them. Jamie follows her whenever she goes out. Initially he wants to make sure she isn't meeting with lovers, or doing anything that will harm his Great Uncle. He is surprised to find that she spends much time helping others, but he also gets very angry the more he realises that she is putting her life in danger each time she goes to the East End. It's bad enough that she is in a rough area, and at one point gets herself in trouble trying to debunk a supposed medium at a séance, but she is also frequenting the East End during the time of Jack the Ripper, where no women is safe on the streets.
Can Jamie keep her out of trouble, will she marry his Uncle, and how will both of them cope with that situation when it's obvious that they have feelings towards each other. What of the charlatans that Maggie is trying to uncover, will she see sense and stay away from that cause. When she marries the Viscount she has to think of him first and foremost, not to mention his daughter, only a few years younger than Maggie who despises her. Time and attention needs to be paid within her soon to be new family. She really shouldn't be putting herself in dangerous situations.
I did enjoy this story. The time it was set in was one of my favourite eras and I really enjoyed the Jack the Ripper story running through the latter half of the book. The book had both suspense, and romance, and of course there was the passionate feelings between Maggie and Jamie that were always close to boiling point. I loved the will they, won't they aspect of the story and was happy with the way that the author dealt with their relationship. The historical facts around the telling of the Ripper story were a bonus, and I enjoyed how artistic license was taken when it came to a particular character in the story possibly being Jack.
The only negative thing I could say about the book is that it did seem a little slow in places, and at one point perhaps there seemed more emphasis on the suspense part of the book rather than the romantic. All in all though I was hooked until the end.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
July 13, 2016
I was interested in this one because I love the late-Victorian London setting. It worked for me in capturing the atmosphere, but in the end, I struggled.
When We Touch begins with a heroine being forced into a marriage with an elderly (SERIOUSLY elderly) aristocrat because her brother has lost the family fortune. However, on the same day she meets her fiancé, she meets his great-nephew, who she is immediately attracted to.
My problem was that I didn’t like anybody involved! The heroine was Too Stupid To Live a few too many times, and our hero kept blaming his attraction to her on witchcraft, and so constantly thought the worst of her. The other main female character was selfish and bordering on evil. And in order to excuse the – erm – sexy behaviour of the hero and heroine, the old man is turned into a creep at the last moment.
The heroine stumbled into dangerous situation after dangerous situation with no real justification. And – rather bizarrely – the hero kept turning up to get her out of there. She was in the East End giving a talk; the hero was there. She went to a séance; the hero was there right when it turned dangerous and people started getting shot.
She ran into an old friend the day before her wedding (the hero was there then, too), and the friend took her to a sex club on some sort of Victorian hens’ night – only for the hero to rescue her from rape there.
The research interests me because this might be my favourite time period, and mostly it was very thorough, but it often felt like the author was determined to drop all of the information she gathered into the book. Every secondary character is a real person from Victorian England; it’s a who’s who of nineteenth-century celebrities, including a Jack the Ripper suspect!
The other issue I had: having your characters speak “posh” doesn’t make the language British! A full stop ends a sentence! Twentieth century American slang should not be there, and yet it was everywhere, including medical terms.
And – weirdly – Covent Garden, one of London’s most famous places, was called “Covent Gardens” in the first half of the book, and then it morphed into “Coventry Gardens”!
I tried very, very hard to like this book, but I was alternately confused and annoyed by the selfish characters. By the time I reached the epilogue and it strangely switched from third to first person narration, I realised I could not lie to myself. This book was not for me.
Review copy provided by NetGalley.
When We Touch begins with a heroine being forced into a marriage with an elderly (SERIOUSLY elderly) aristocrat because her brother has lost the family fortune. However, on the same day she meets her fiancé, she meets his great-nephew, who she is immediately attracted to.
My problem was that I didn’t like anybody involved! The heroine was Too Stupid To Live a few too many times, and our hero kept blaming his attraction to her on witchcraft, and so constantly thought the worst of her. The other main female character was selfish and bordering on evil. And in order to excuse the – erm – sexy behaviour of the hero and heroine, the old man is turned into a creep at the last moment.
The heroine stumbled into dangerous situation after dangerous situation with no real justification. And – rather bizarrely – the hero kept turning up to get her out of there. She was in the East End giving a talk; the hero was there. She went to a séance; the hero was there right when it turned dangerous and people started getting shot.
She ran into an old friend the day before her wedding (the hero was there then, too), and the friend took her to a sex club on some sort of Victorian hens’ night – only for the hero to rescue her from rape there.
The research interests me because this might be my favourite time period, and mostly it was very thorough, but it often felt like the author was determined to drop all of the information she gathered into the book. Every secondary character is a real person from Victorian England; it’s a who’s who of nineteenth-century celebrities, including a Jack the Ripper suspect!
The other issue I had: having your characters speak “posh” doesn’t make the language British! A full stop ends a sentence! Twentieth century American slang should not be there, and yet it was everywhere, including medical terms.
And – weirdly – Covent Garden, one of London’s most famous places, was called “Covent Gardens” in the first half of the book, and then it morphed into “Coventry Gardens”!
I tried very, very hard to like this book, but I was alternately confused and annoyed by the selfish characters. By the time I reached the epilogue and it strangely switched from third to first person narration, I realised I could not lie to myself. This book was not for me.
Review copy provided by NetGalley.
October 4, 2016
Sometimes the ability to find the good and the bad in any book means digging deep into your own subconscious and pulling out some sort of justification for what you just read. Although, I had a hard time finding it.
Heather Graham/Shannon Drake is a well known, well loved author. I have never read anything by her, but I have a few paperbacks of hers that I am going to pull down. She is a very good story teller. When We Touch was full of suspense and energy. I enjoyed the murder mystery very much. Using real people from history made this an interesting read.
It’s the romance part of the book that just about gave me hives. Lady Maggie Graham, a widow to a commoner (shame,shame on her for marrying a policeman!) is content with her life. She lives with her party animal brother, and she has absolutely no ability to reason out that he is spending money like it grows on a tree out back. She doesn’t even think to keep an eye on things.
Instead of having any concern at all for her brother’s philandering, friendships,gambling habits, or for his well being, she spends her days with her artist/writer odd-fellow who lives in her attic.
Why is there a man living in the attic? That is an interesting question. Who is he to her? Someone she cares for obviously. But not romantically, although I seem to believe he might have had a few feelings for her. Apparently he was a good friend of her husbands. I was hoping that Mireau (attic man) would suggest someone keep an eye on her brother, but I guess he was too busy.
Together these two go out into the east side. The worst parts of London, to work with the poor and the prostitutes. Her main goal in life is revenge. For what? Not for someone killing her husband, but for taking advantage of her while she was mourning. They took some of her money in a seance. She found they were fakes, and that is the reason she risks her life. Because the few pounds these people take from the rich apparently is appalling to her. There are worse crimes. Just sayin’.
So, finding and debunking mesmerists, and helping put them in jail or getting them deported is her lifework. I am sure that some people probably knew they were hoaxes and enjoyed inviting these actors to their parties for entertainment. She wishes to spoil everyone else’s fun by ruining a perfectly good parlor trick for the rest of us. Thanks Maggie!
So, she would rather focus on doing charity work and snooping than keeping her brother from making a complete idiot out of himself. Hindsight is a bitch.
Justin, Maggie’s brother also loves to tramp around the East Side. (It must be a popular place for this family) He gambles and whores and drinks until he can’t see straight. He is a regular prince charming. Supposedly he is trying to keep up with the illusive bisexual Prince Eddy. Apparently Prince Eddy loved shenanigans and Justin was willing to gallivant around with him, not caring about how much debt he put himself in.
So as they go about their biodegradable existence, things get dire. And that is when Uncle Anus (Angus) steps in. He is going to set things right, as he sees fit, because both Maggie and Justin are pretty weak minded people, and I think Uncle Anus knows this.
So, he tells them both that one of them must marry for money, and the sooner the better unless Justin wishes to be thrown in debters prison. Maggie agrees that Justin should marry. But… That is not at all what Uncle Anus is suggesting.
Maggie needs to marry. WHAT? she says, but then, after it is irrationally explained to the weak minded female that she needs to sacrifice herself. She decides that she will do it.
Maggie is soon to find out a man has already inquired about her. A wealthy man, who can solve all their problems and Justin, the dear boy won’t have to go to prison. Here’s the catch, Maggie dear. He is around 80 years old. (I kid you not.) The man is a great,great grandfather. This is the perfect solution to all of the problems of the world. Marry a lecherous old man. Why didn’t I think of that? Thank you Uncle Anus!
My faux hives began at this point. I started to itch. I started scratching my earlobe, and I am doing it again, just trying to justify the fact that an 80 year old man asks for a 24? year old widows attentions, and she,her uncle, and her brother have sat around and decided this is for the best. Now here is where this story gets tricky. Why is this Maggie’s fucking responsibility?
Does she blow them out of the water by telling them they can suck her left tit? No, Maggie decides to meet the man. At this point, my mouth starts to get that sour look to it. I continue, because , hell I don’t know why, but I am wishing at this point I had something to drink that was stronger than coffee.
He is invited over, of course he brings hotter than Death Valley asphalt in July, Jamie Langdon. The Great, Great Nephew of the man who wants to marry Maggie. ( yeah, I did say Great, Great). Jamie does not approve of what his Great,Great Uncle is doing. Not for the reasons that you would think, oh no. He is worried that Lady Maggie will take advantage of his sweet old uncle. (The itching at this point in the book has become unbearable and I start looking for Whiskey.)
When she meets Great,Great Uncle Charlie, she decides he is a sweet man. She also meets the hot great,great nephew. The great,great part has me now at a frown. A solid one. Of course she is attracted to hot Jamie. Maybe because he is actually her freakin’ age!
Jamie Langdon is affronted by what his great,great uncle is doing. More so, he is more upset that there is a young lady who wishes to take his dear uncle for a ride. Has he looked at his Uncle lately? There is something deeply wrong with this entire thing. Screw his uncle and his feelings or that he might be taken advantage of. Hell ya he is being taken advantage of. Flipping DUH. The man will get to put his hands all over a girl who should be his great grand daughter. Jamie should realize that he will be more than happy to pay for that poontang.
This entire thing makes me ill.
Does Maggie decide to take the high road and refuse gramps attentions? No! She does not. She agrees to marry him!!! Agh!!! I had to put the book down for 4 hours to absorb this.
Now, If I can get past this part and into the real story, It is very involved and interesting. It brings the stories of Jack the Ripper, Queen Victoria, The way that people demanded justice for the women who were getting murdered and how the police were trying to handle it. It also touched on some very interesting behavior from some of the elite of society and I found myself happy to read about it.
I had begun to accept this relationship between Charles (Gramps) and Maggie. Not really accept, that is not the right term, but hope that he would die before he touched her. That is a little closer to the truth.
Of course what happened was that Jamie and Maggie started liking each other. I started hoping that gramps was actually matchmaking his Great, Great Nephew and was really not interested in Maggie. That would have been the awesome outcome.
What happened instead was what you would imagine would happen. Jamie and Maggie slept together the night before the wedding. Now, this bothered me also. Really badly. Yes, she felt that this was her last chance to be with someone who didn’t have saggy skin, and she was really attracted to Jamie. But… she was getting married the next day. I was expecting a bit of loyalty. She made the decision. She should at least stand by it.
Jamie expected the same. He wanted her to call the wedding off the next day. She didn’t. So, what happened next was entirely her fault and as horrible and uncomfortable as I felt during these next few pages, I felt she made that bed.
This is only the beginning of the book. There was a very good story in here, after we get rid of the Lecherous old guy. But still Maggie does not really begin to make me like her. I don’t honestly like anyone in the story. I can’t really think of one character in the entire book that I liked.
There was a few times when Maggie became remotely redeemable, then she would do something else that would make me question her as a good person. She made incredibly bad decisions that put people in dire circumstances. She seemed uncaring about anything but her lust for Jamie, and her determination to solve something that COULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED IF SHE WOULD HAVE JUST TOLD JAMIE.
This book has a lot of spunk and I really did enjoy the murder mystery parts of this story. I hated the romance, and I even skipped the sex, because usually it happened at the most unromantic of times.
I am going to read some of Heather’s older books, and see if I like them. Also she goes by the name Shannon Drake, of which I have quite a few of those too. If you love murder mystery, you may really enjoy parts of this book, heck, you may even enjoy the whole thing. Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am the one being too judgmental.
Here is the blurb.
Queen Victoria’s London is a teeming metropolis of pageantry, forbidden desire, and danger—especially in the East End, a hotbed of vice, witchcraft, and murder. What widow Lady Maggie Graham does there more than greases the rumor mill. When she agrees to wed the Viscount Langdon, there are those who would act upon their suspicions . . .
Experience has taught Lord Jamie well. He has seen his fair share of women behave inappropriately—enjoying risque amusements in secret theaters, running about disguised in the seediest parts of the city—and then they call you vile names for coming to their rescue. And no woman is more shameless, more cunning, more intoxicating than Lady Maggie . . .
Humm………
*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank You.
Heather Graham/Shannon Drake is a well known, well loved author. I have never read anything by her, but I have a few paperbacks of hers that I am going to pull down. She is a very good story teller. When We Touch was full of suspense and energy. I enjoyed the murder mystery very much. Using real people from history made this an interesting read.
It’s the romance part of the book that just about gave me hives. Lady Maggie Graham, a widow to a commoner (shame,shame on her for marrying a policeman!) is content with her life. She lives with her party animal brother, and she has absolutely no ability to reason out that he is spending money like it grows on a tree out back. She doesn’t even think to keep an eye on things.
Instead of having any concern at all for her brother’s philandering, friendships,gambling habits, or for his well being, she spends her days with her artist/writer odd-fellow who lives in her attic.
Why is there a man living in the attic? That is an interesting question. Who is he to her? Someone she cares for obviously. But not romantically, although I seem to believe he might have had a few feelings for her. Apparently he was a good friend of her husbands. I was hoping that Mireau (attic man) would suggest someone keep an eye on her brother, but I guess he was too busy.
Together these two go out into the east side. The worst parts of London, to work with the poor and the prostitutes. Her main goal in life is revenge. For what? Not for someone killing her husband, but for taking advantage of her while she was mourning. They took some of her money in a seance. She found they were fakes, and that is the reason she risks her life. Because the few pounds these people take from the rich apparently is appalling to her. There are worse crimes. Just sayin’.
So, finding and debunking mesmerists, and helping put them in jail or getting them deported is her lifework. I am sure that some people probably knew they were hoaxes and enjoyed inviting these actors to their parties for entertainment. She wishes to spoil everyone else’s fun by ruining a perfectly good parlor trick for the rest of us. Thanks Maggie!
So, she would rather focus on doing charity work and snooping than keeping her brother from making a complete idiot out of himself. Hindsight is a bitch.
Justin, Maggie’s brother also loves to tramp around the East Side. (It must be a popular place for this family) He gambles and whores and drinks until he can’t see straight. He is a regular prince charming. Supposedly he is trying to keep up with the illusive bisexual Prince Eddy. Apparently Prince Eddy loved shenanigans and Justin was willing to gallivant around with him, not caring about how much debt he put himself in.
So as they go about their biodegradable existence, things get dire. And that is when Uncle Anus (Angus) steps in. He is going to set things right, as he sees fit, because both Maggie and Justin are pretty weak minded people, and I think Uncle Anus knows this.
So, he tells them both that one of them must marry for money, and the sooner the better unless Justin wishes to be thrown in debters prison. Maggie agrees that Justin should marry. But… That is not at all what Uncle Anus is suggesting.
Maggie needs to marry. WHAT? she says, but then, after it is irrationally explained to the weak minded female that she needs to sacrifice herself. She decides that she will do it.
Maggie is soon to find out a man has already inquired about her. A wealthy man, who can solve all their problems and Justin, the dear boy won’t have to go to prison. Here’s the catch, Maggie dear. He is around 80 years old. (I kid you not.) The man is a great,great grandfather. This is the perfect solution to all of the problems of the world. Marry a lecherous old man. Why didn’t I think of that? Thank you Uncle Anus!
My faux hives began at this point. I started to itch. I started scratching my earlobe, and I am doing it again, just trying to justify the fact that an 80 year old man asks for a 24? year old widows attentions, and she,her uncle, and her brother have sat around and decided this is for the best. Now here is where this story gets tricky. Why is this Maggie’s fucking responsibility?
Does she blow them out of the water by telling them they can suck her left tit? No, Maggie decides to meet the man. At this point, my mouth starts to get that sour look to it. I continue, because , hell I don’t know why, but I am wishing at this point I had something to drink that was stronger than coffee.
He is invited over, of course he brings hotter than Death Valley asphalt in July, Jamie Langdon. The Great, Great Nephew of the man who wants to marry Maggie. ( yeah, I did say Great, Great). Jamie does not approve of what his Great,Great Uncle is doing. Not for the reasons that you would think, oh no. He is worried that Lady Maggie will take advantage of his sweet old uncle. (The itching at this point in the book has become unbearable and I start looking for Whiskey.)
When she meets Great,Great Uncle Charlie, she decides he is a sweet man. She also meets the hot great,great nephew. The great,great part has me now at a frown. A solid one. Of course she is attracted to hot Jamie. Maybe because he is actually her freakin’ age!
Jamie Langdon is affronted by what his great,great uncle is doing. More so, he is more upset that there is a young lady who wishes to take his dear uncle for a ride. Has he looked at his Uncle lately? There is something deeply wrong with this entire thing. Screw his uncle and his feelings or that he might be taken advantage of. Hell ya he is being taken advantage of. Flipping DUH. The man will get to put his hands all over a girl who should be his great grand daughter. Jamie should realize that he will be more than happy to pay for that poontang.
This entire thing makes me ill.
Does Maggie decide to take the high road and refuse gramps attentions? No! She does not. She agrees to marry him!!! Agh!!! I had to put the book down for 4 hours to absorb this.
Now, If I can get past this part and into the real story, It is very involved and interesting. It brings the stories of Jack the Ripper, Queen Victoria, The way that people demanded justice for the women who were getting murdered and how the police were trying to handle it. It also touched on some very interesting behavior from some of the elite of society and I found myself happy to read about it.
I had begun to accept this relationship between Charles (Gramps) and Maggie. Not really accept, that is not the right term, but hope that he would die before he touched her. That is a little closer to the truth.
Of course what happened was that Jamie and Maggie started liking each other. I started hoping that gramps was actually matchmaking his Great, Great Nephew and was really not interested in Maggie. That would have been the awesome outcome.
What happened instead was what you would imagine would happen. Jamie and Maggie slept together the night before the wedding. Now, this bothered me also. Really badly. Yes, she felt that this was her last chance to be with someone who didn’t have saggy skin, and she was really attracted to Jamie. But… she was getting married the next day. I was expecting a bit of loyalty. She made the decision. She should at least stand by it.
Jamie expected the same. He wanted her to call the wedding off the next day. She didn’t. So, what happened next was entirely her fault and as horrible and uncomfortable as I felt during these next few pages, I felt she made that bed.
This is only the beginning of the book. There was a very good story in here, after we get rid of the Lecherous old guy. But still Maggie does not really begin to make me like her. I don’t honestly like anyone in the story. I can’t really think of one character in the entire book that I liked.
There was a few times when Maggie became remotely redeemable, then she would do something else that would make me question her as a good person. She made incredibly bad decisions that put people in dire circumstances. She seemed uncaring about anything but her lust for Jamie, and her determination to solve something that COULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED IF SHE WOULD HAVE JUST TOLD JAMIE.
This book has a lot of spunk and I really did enjoy the murder mystery parts of this story. I hated the romance, and I even skipped the sex, because usually it happened at the most unromantic of times.
I am going to read some of Heather’s older books, and see if I like them. Also she goes by the name Shannon Drake, of which I have quite a few of those too. If you love murder mystery, you may really enjoy parts of this book, heck, you may even enjoy the whole thing. Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am the one being too judgmental.
Here is the blurb.
Queen Victoria’s London is a teeming metropolis of pageantry, forbidden desire, and danger—especially in the East End, a hotbed of vice, witchcraft, and murder. What widow Lady Maggie Graham does there more than greases the rumor mill. When she agrees to wed the Viscount Langdon, there are those who would act upon their suspicions . . .
Experience has taught Lord Jamie well. He has seen his fair share of women behave inappropriately—enjoying risque amusements in secret theaters, running about disguised in the seediest parts of the city—and then they call you vile names for coming to their rescue. And no woman is more shameless, more cunning, more intoxicating than Lady Maggie . . .
Humm………
*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank You.
October 4, 2016
Sometimes the ability to find the good and the bad in any book means digging deep into your own subconscious and pulling out some sort of justification for what you just read. Although, I had a hard time finding it.
Heather Graham is a well known, well loved author. I have never read anything by her, but I have a few paperbacks of hers that I am going to pull down. She is a very good story teller. When We Touch was full of suspense and energy. I enjoyed the murder mystery very much. Using real people from history made this an interesting read.
It’s the romance part of the book that just about gave me hives. Lady Maggie Graham, a widow to a commoner (shame,shame on her for marrying a policeman!) is content with her life. She lives with her party animal brother, and she has absolutely no ability to reason out that he is spending money like it grows on a tree out back. She doesn’t even think to keep an eye on things.
Instead of having any concern at all for her brother’s philandering, friendships,gambling habits, or for his well being, she spends her days with her artist/writer odd-fellow who lives in her attic.
Why is there a man living in the attic? That is an interesting question. Who is he to her? Someone she cares for obviously. But not romantically, although I seem to believe he might have had a few feelings for her. Apparently he was a good friend of her husbands. I was hoping that Mireau (attic man) would suggest someone keep an eye on her brother, but I guess he was too busy.
Together these two go out into the east side. The worst parts of London, to work with the poor and the prostitutes. Her main goal in life is revenge. For what? Not for someone killing her husband, but for taking advantage of her while she was mourning. They took some of her money in a seance. She found they were fakes, and that is the reason she risks her life. Because the few pounds these people take from the rich apparently is appalling to her. There are worse crimes. Just sayin’.
So, finding and debunking mesmerists, and helping put them in jail or getting them deported is her lifework. I am sure that some people probably knew they were hoaxes and enjoyed inviting these actors to their parties for entertainment. She wishes to spoil everyone else’s fun by ruining a perfectly good parlor trick for the rest of us. Thanks Maggie!
So, she would rather focus on doing charity work and snooping than keeping her brother from making a complete idiot out of himself. Hindsight is a bitch.
Justin, Maggie’s brother also loves to tramp around the East Side. (It must be a popular place for this family) He gambles and whores and drinks until he can’t see straight. He is a regular prince charming. Supposedly he is trying to keep up with the illusive bisexual Prince Eddy. Apparently Prince Eddy loved shenanigans and Justin was willing to gallivant around with him, not caring about how much debt he put himself in.
So as they go about their biodegradable existence, things get dire. And that is when Uncle Anus (Angus) steps in. He is going to set things right, as he sees fit, because both Maggie and Justin are pretty weak minded people, and I think Uncle Anus knows this.
So, he tells them both that one of them must marry for money, and the sooner the better unless Justin wishes to be thrown in debters prison. Maggie agrees that Justin should marry. But… That is not at all what Uncle Anus is suggesting.
Maggie needs to marry. WHAT? she says, but then, after it is irrationally explained to the weak minded female that she needs to sacrifice herself. She decides that she will do it.
Maggie is soon to find out a man has already inquired about her. A wealthy man, who can solve all their problems and Justin, the dear boy won’t have to go to prison. Here’s the catch, Maggie dear. He is around 80 years old. (I kid you not.) The man is a great,great grandfather. This is the perfect solution to all of the problems of the world. Marry a lecherous old man. Why didn’t I think of that? Thank you Uncle Anus!
My faux hives began at this point. I started to itch. I started scratching my earlobe, and I am doing it again, just trying to justify the fact that an 80 year old man asks for a 24? year old widows attentions, and she,her uncle, and her brother have sat around and decided this is for the best. Now here is where this story gets tricky. Why is this Maggie’s fucking responsibility?
Does she blow them out of the water by telling them they can suck her left tit? No, Maggie decides to meet the man. At this point, my mouth starts to get that sour look to it. I continue, because , hell I don’t know why, but I am wishing at this point I had something to drink that was stronger than coffee.
He is invited over, of course he brings hotter than Death Valley asphalt in July, Jamie Langdon. The Great, Great Nephew of the man who wants to marry Maggie. ( yeah, I did say Great, Great). Jamie does not approve of what his Great,Great Uncle is doing. Not for the reasons that you would think, oh no. He is worried that Lady Maggie will take advantage of his sweet old uncle. (The itching at this point in the book has become unbearable and I start looking for Whiskey.)
When she meets Great,Great Uncle Charlie, she decides he is a sweet man. She also meets the hot great,great nephew. The great,great part has me now at a frown. A solid one. Of course she is attracted to hot Jamie. Maybe because he is actually her freakin’ age!
Jamie Langdon is affronted by what his great,great uncle is doing. More so, he is more upset that there is a young lady who wishes to take his dear uncle for a ride. Has he looked at his Uncle lately? There is something deeply wrong with this entire thing. Screw his uncle and his feelings or that he might be taken advantage of. Hell ya he is being taken advantage of. Flipping DUH. The man will get to put his hands all over a girl who should be his great grand daughter. Jamie should realize that he will be more than happy to pay for that poontang.
This entire thing makes me ill.
Does Maggie decide to take the high road and refuse gramps attentions? No! She does not. She agrees to marry him!!! Agh!!! I had to put the book down for 4 hours to absorb this.
Now, If I can get past this part and into the real story, It is very involved and interesting. It brings the stories of Jack the Ripper, Queen Victoria, The way that people demanded justice for the women who were getting murdered and how the police were trying to handle it. It also touched on some very interesting behavior from some of the elite of society and I found myself happy to read about it.
I had begun to accept this relationship between Charles (Gramps) and Maggie. Not really accept, that is not the right term, but hope that he would die before he touched her. That is a little closer to the truth.
Of course what happened was that Jamie and Maggie started liking each other. I started hoping that gramps was actually matchmaking his Great, Great Nephew and was really not interested in Maggie. That would have been the awesome outcome.
What happened instead was what you would imagine would happen. Jamie and Maggie slept together the night before the wedding. Now, this bothered me also. Really badly. Yes, she felt that this was her last chance to be with someone who didn’t have saggy skin, and she was really attracted to Jamie. But… she was getting married the next day. I was expecting a bit of loyalty. She made the decision. She should at least stand by it.
Jamie expected the same. He wanted her to call the wedding off the next day. She didn’t. So, what happened next was entirely her fault and as horrible and uncomfortable as I felt during these next few pages, I felt she made that bed.
This is only the beginning of the book. There was a very good story in here, after we get rid of the Lecherous old guy. But still Maggie does not really begin to make me like her. I don’t honestly like anyone in the story. I can’t really think of one character in the entire book that I liked.
There was a few times when Maggie became remotely redeemable, then she would do something else that would make me question her as a good person. She made incredibly bad decisions that put people in dire circumstances. She seemed uncaring about anything but her lust for Jamie, and her determination to solve something that COULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED IF SHE WOULD HAVE JUST TOLD JAMIE.
This book has a lot of spunk and I really did enjoy the murder mystery parts of this story. I hated the romance, and I even skipped the sex, because usually it happened at the most unromantic of times.
I am going to read some of Heather’s older books, and see if I like them. Also she goes by the name Shannon Drake, of which I have quite a few of those too. If you love murder mystery, you may really enjoy parts of this book, heck, you may even enjoy the whole thing. Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am the one being too judgmental.
Here is the blurb.
Queen Victoria’s London is a teeming metropolis of pageantry, forbidden desire, and danger—especially in the East End, a hotbed of vice, witchcraft, and murder. What widow Lady Maggie Graham does there more than greases the rumor mill. When she agrees to wed the Viscount Langdon, there are those who would act upon their suspicions . . .
Experience has taught Lord Jamie well. He has seen his fair share of women behave inappropriately—enjoying risque amusements in secret theaters, running about disguised in the seediest parts of the city—and then they call you vile names for coming to their rescue. And no woman is more shameless, more cunning, more intoxicating than Lady Maggie . . .
Humm………
*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank You.
Heather Graham is a well known, well loved author. I have never read anything by her, but I have a few paperbacks of hers that I am going to pull down. She is a very good story teller. When We Touch was full of suspense and energy. I enjoyed the murder mystery very much. Using real people from history made this an interesting read.
It’s the romance part of the book that just about gave me hives. Lady Maggie Graham, a widow to a commoner (shame,shame on her for marrying a policeman!) is content with her life. She lives with her party animal brother, and she has absolutely no ability to reason out that he is spending money like it grows on a tree out back. She doesn’t even think to keep an eye on things.
Instead of having any concern at all for her brother’s philandering, friendships,gambling habits, or for his well being, she spends her days with her artist/writer odd-fellow who lives in her attic.
Why is there a man living in the attic? That is an interesting question. Who is he to her? Someone she cares for obviously. But not romantically, although I seem to believe he might have had a few feelings for her. Apparently he was a good friend of her husbands. I was hoping that Mireau (attic man) would suggest someone keep an eye on her brother, but I guess he was too busy.
Together these two go out into the east side. The worst parts of London, to work with the poor and the prostitutes. Her main goal in life is revenge. For what? Not for someone killing her husband, but for taking advantage of her while she was mourning. They took some of her money in a seance. She found they were fakes, and that is the reason she risks her life. Because the few pounds these people take from the rich apparently is appalling to her. There are worse crimes. Just sayin’.
So, finding and debunking mesmerists, and helping put them in jail or getting them deported is her lifework. I am sure that some people probably knew they were hoaxes and enjoyed inviting these actors to their parties for entertainment. She wishes to spoil everyone else’s fun by ruining a perfectly good parlor trick for the rest of us. Thanks Maggie!
So, she would rather focus on doing charity work and snooping than keeping her brother from making a complete idiot out of himself. Hindsight is a bitch.
Justin, Maggie’s brother also loves to tramp around the East Side. (It must be a popular place for this family) He gambles and whores and drinks until he can’t see straight. He is a regular prince charming. Supposedly he is trying to keep up with the illusive bisexual Prince Eddy. Apparently Prince Eddy loved shenanigans and Justin was willing to gallivant around with him, not caring about how much debt he put himself in.
So as they go about their biodegradable existence, things get dire. And that is when Uncle Anus (Angus) steps in. He is going to set things right, as he sees fit, because both Maggie and Justin are pretty weak minded people, and I think Uncle Anus knows this.
So, he tells them both that one of them must marry for money, and the sooner the better unless Justin wishes to be thrown in debters prison. Maggie agrees that Justin should marry. But… That is not at all what Uncle Anus is suggesting.
Maggie needs to marry. WHAT? she says, but then, after it is irrationally explained to the weak minded female that she needs to sacrifice herself. She decides that she will do it.
Maggie is soon to find out a man has already inquired about her. A wealthy man, who can solve all their problems and Justin, the dear boy won’t have to go to prison. Here’s the catch, Maggie dear. He is around 80 years old. (I kid you not.) The man is a great,great grandfather. This is the perfect solution to all of the problems of the world. Marry a lecherous old man. Why didn’t I think of that? Thank you Uncle Anus!
My faux hives began at this point. I started to itch. I started scratching my earlobe, and I am doing it again, just trying to justify the fact that an 80 year old man asks for a 24? year old widows attentions, and she,her uncle, and her brother have sat around and decided this is for the best. Now here is where this story gets tricky. Why is this Maggie’s fucking responsibility?
Does she blow them out of the water by telling them they can suck her left tit? No, Maggie decides to meet the man. At this point, my mouth starts to get that sour look to it. I continue, because , hell I don’t know why, but I am wishing at this point I had something to drink that was stronger than coffee.
He is invited over, of course he brings hotter than Death Valley asphalt in July, Jamie Langdon. The Great, Great Nephew of the man who wants to marry Maggie. ( yeah, I did say Great, Great). Jamie does not approve of what his Great,Great Uncle is doing. Not for the reasons that you would think, oh no. He is worried that Lady Maggie will take advantage of his sweet old uncle. (The itching at this point in the book has become unbearable and I start looking for Whiskey.)
When she meets Great,Great Uncle Charlie, she decides he is a sweet man. She also meets the hot great,great nephew. The great,great part has me now at a frown. A solid one. Of course she is attracted to hot Jamie. Maybe because he is actually her freakin’ age!
Jamie Langdon is affronted by what his great,great uncle is doing. More so, he is more upset that there is a young lady who wishes to take his dear uncle for a ride. Has he looked at his Uncle lately? There is something deeply wrong with this entire thing. Screw his uncle and his feelings or that he might be taken advantage of. Hell ya he is being taken advantage of. Flipping DUH. The man will get to put his hands all over a girl who should be his great grand daughter. Jamie should realize that he will be more than happy to pay for that poontang.
This entire thing makes me ill.
Does Maggie decide to take the high road and refuse gramps attentions? No! She does not. She agrees to marry him!!! Agh!!! I had to put the book down for 4 hours to absorb this.
Now, If I can get past this part and into the real story, It is very involved and interesting. It brings the stories of Jack the Ripper, Queen Victoria, The way that people demanded justice for the women who were getting murdered and how the police were trying to handle it. It also touched on some very interesting behavior from some of the elite of society and I found myself happy to read about it.
I had begun to accept this relationship between Charles (Gramps) and Maggie. Not really accept, that is not the right term, but hope that he would die before he touched her. That is a little closer to the truth.
Of course what happened was that Jamie and Maggie started liking each other. I started hoping that gramps was actually matchmaking his Great, Great Nephew and was really not interested in Maggie. That would have been the awesome outcome.
What happened instead was what you would imagine would happen. Jamie and Maggie slept together the night before the wedding. Now, this bothered me also. Really badly. Yes, she felt that this was her last chance to be with someone who didn’t have saggy skin, and she was really attracted to Jamie. But… she was getting married the next day. I was expecting a bit of loyalty. She made the decision. She should at least stand by it.
Jamie expected the same. He wanted her to call the wedding off the next day. She didn’t. So, what happened next was entirely her fault and as horrible and uncomfortable as I felt during these next few pages, I felt she made that bed.
This is only the beginning of the book. There was a very good story in here, after we get rid of the Lecherous old guy. But still Maggie does not really begin to make me like her. I don’t honestly like anyone in the story. I can’t really think of one character in the entire book that I liked.
There was a few times when Maggie became remotely redeemable, then she would do something else that would make me question her as a good person. She made incredibly bad decisions that put people in dire circumstances. She seemed uncaring about anything but her lust for Jamie, and her determination to solve something that COULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED IF SHE WOULD HAVE JUST TOLD JAMIE.
This book has a lot of spunk and I really did enjoy the murder mystery parts of this story. I hated the romance, and I even skipped the sex, because usually it happened at the most unromantic of times.
I am going to read some of Heather’s older books, and see if I like them. Also she goes by the name Shannon Drake, of which I have quite a few of those too. If you love murder mystery, you may really enjoy parts of this book, heck, you may even enjoy the whole thing. Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am the one being too judgmental.
Here is the blurb.
Queen Victoria’s London is a teeming metropolis of pageantry, forbidden desire, and danger—especially in the East End, a hotbed of vice, witchcraft, and murder. What widow Lady Maggie Graham does there more than greases the rumor mill. When she agrees to wed the Viscount Langdon, there are those who would act upon their suspicions . . .
Experience has taught Lord Jamie well. He has seen his fair share of women behave inappropriately—enjoying risque amusements in secret theaters, running about disguised in the seediest parts of the city—and then they call you vile names for coming to their rescue. And no woman is more shameless, more cunning, more intoxicating than Lady Maggie . . .
Humm………
*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank You.
September 1, 2016
3.5 stars
Since she became a young widow, Lady Maggie has had two objectives: help the starving orphans in the East End and unmask the charlatans « mesmerists » operating in the slums of the city. She has no intention of remarrying. However, her family is in dire straits financially after her twin brother gambled away their fortune. To save her brother from debtors’ prison, she accepts a marriage of convenience with a wealthy nobleman, Viscount Langdon, who happens to be in his seventies. She is not welcome in her future husband’s family, though. Jamie Langdon is Viscount Langdon’s nephew and heir. He is very protective of his uncle and is convinced that Maggie is nothing more than a gold digger.
This is not Maggie’s first marriage. She married a commoner for love and her husband was murdered in the line of duty. She is convinced she will never love again but hopes she can be friend with her second husband. Despite Jamie’s contempt, he is attracted to Maggie and the attraction is mutual. Yet, she decides to marry his uncle.
When her husband dies, she must face all kinds of accusations and her step-daughter’s hatred. Despite his self-loathing, Jamie is quite taken with her and believes in her innocence.
Maggie’s behavior can be described as brash and foolhardy but she is always generous, determined and honest. She has dedicated her life to the less fortunate than her. But she will definitely need Jamie’s support and protection to continue her charitable activities in the dangerous slum of the city. Especially since a serial killer nicknamed Jack the Ripper strikes innocent victims in Whitechapel.
This story was fast paced, had many subplots, with historical references, and mysterious and suspenseful scenes. Maggie is a great character, she fights for what she believes in and has a strong social conscience. The plot was full of intrigue and trickery and kept me interested from start to finish.
An advanced copy of this book was provided by the publisher Kensington Books, via Netgalley.
Since she became a young widow, Lady Maggie has had two objectives: help the starving orphans in the East End and unmask the charlatans « mesmerists » operating in the slums of the city. She has no intention of remarrying. However, her family is in dire straits financially after her twin brother gambled away their fortune. To save her brother from debtors’ prison, she accepts a marriage of convenience with a wealthy nobleman, Viscount Langdon, who happens to be in his seventies. She is not welcome in her future husband’s family, though. Jamie Langdon is Viscount Langdon’s nephew and heir. He is very protective of his uncle and is convinced that Maggie is nothing more than a gold digger.
This is not Maggie’s first marriage. She married a commoner for love and her husband was murdered in the line of duty. She is convinced she will never love again but hopes she can be friend with her second husband. Despite Jamie’s contempt, he is attracted to Maggie and the attraction is mutual. Yet, she decides to marry his uncle.
When her husband dies, she must face all kinds of accusations and her step-daughter’s hatred. Despite his self-loathing, Jamie is quite taken with her and believes in her innocence.
Maggie’s behavior can be described as brash and foolhardy but she is always generous, determined and honest. She has dedicated her life to the less fortunate than her. But she will definitely need Jamie’s support and protection to continue her charitable activities in the dangerous slum of the city. Especially since a serial killer nicknamed Jack the Ripper strikes innocent victims in Whitechapel.
This story was fast paced, had many subplots, with historical references, and mysterious and suspenseful scenes. Maggie is a great character, she fights for what she believes in and has a strong social conscience. The plot was full of intrigue and trickery and kept me interested from start to finish.
An advanced copy of this book was provided by the publisher Kensington Books, via Netgalley.
November 2, 2020
Jack the Ripper, Queen Victoria and romance…Oh my!
Set in Victorian England after the death of Prince Alpert, this is the story of Maggie, Lady Graham, an independent woman. Though she had her pick of the men in the ton, she fell in love with a police officer and married him. After two years of wedded bliss, he was killed in action. Now the still young and beautiful Maggie lives with her brother Justin and her friend the author Mireau. Maggie’s passions are helping the poor women of the East End, mostly prostitutes, and exposing the spiritualists who would fleece the poor in spirit. But her brother's gambling debts force her to accept her uncle's plan for her to wed the old but very illustrious Lord Charles Langdon, friend of the Queen, who has coveted her since her first Season.
Prior to the wedding, murders have begun in London that are causing panic everywhere. No woman is safe and certainly not one like Maggie who goes to the unsafe parts of the town for her work among the poor. Meanwhile, she and Lord Charles’ nephew, Jamie Langdon, have found they cannot resist each other. Though she is falling in love with Jamie, to save her brother and the family, she intends to wed the old but kind Lord Langdon and to make him a faithful wife. Before they are wed, she and Jamie know a night of passion. All of the characters become absorbed into the melee that is Jack the Ripper.
The story is well told though at times I did find myself skipping over some of the historical parts that seemed to take too much away from the romance between Jamie and Maggie. Shannon Drake (the early pen name for Heather Graham) does a good job of capturing a turbulent time in London's history and giving us an insight into what it must have been like. Her work is well researched, well written and her romance compelling. This is the 7th in her “Graham saga” though less related that the earlier ones. Still, it’s Graham and I love her stories!
Set in Victorian England after the death of Prince Alpert, this is the story of Maggie, Lady Graham, an independent woman. Though she had her pick of the men in the ton, she fell in love with a police officer and married him. After two years of wedded bliss, he was killed in action. Now the still young and beautiful Maggie lives with her brother Justin and her friend the author Mireau. Maggie’s passions are helping the poor women of the East End, mostly prostitutes, and exposing the spiritualists who would fleece the poor in spirit. But her brother's gambling debts force her to accept her uncle's plan for her to wed the old but very illustrious Lord Charles Langdon, friend of the Queen, who has coveted her since her first Season.
Prior to the wedding, murders have begun in London that are causing panic everywhere. No woman is safe and certainly not one like Maggie who goes to the unsafe parts of the town for her work among the poor. Meanwhile, she and Lord Charles’ nephew, Jamie Langdon, have found they cannot resist each other. Though she is falling in love with Jamie, to save her brother and the family, she intends to wed the old but kind Lord Langdon and to make him a faithful wife. Before they are wed, she and Jamie know a night of passion. All of the characters become absorbed into the melee that is Jack the Ripper.
The story is well told though at times I did find myself skipping over some of the historical parts that seemed to take too much away from the romance between Jamie and Maggie. Shannon Drake (the early pen name for Heather Graham) does a good job of capturing a turbulent time in London's history and giving us an insight into what it must have been like. Her work is well researched, well written and her romance compelling. This is the 7th in her “Graham saga” though less related that the earlier ones. Still, it’s Graham and I love her stories!
September 5, 2016
I actually rate this 3 1/2 stars. I LOVE Heather Graham, but this was the first period piece of hers that I've read, and I wasn't overly impressed. I enjoyed the characters, they developed well and in the direction that I felt they should have. I loved that she kept the plot very much to the time and place that the novel took place. I just couldn't connect to it. It literally felt like two separate stories that were tossed haphazardly into one novel. Both the title and the synopsis lead me to believe that this was more so a romance, and don't get me wrong, I love suspense. I just didn't feel that the two stories belonged in the same book.
I'll absolutely continue to read her novels, I just hope this was a one off and that her next period piece is either a romance, or a suspense novel, and not half of each.
Thank you so much to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review
I'll absolutely continue to read her novels, I just hope this was a one off and that her next period piece is either a romance, or a suspense novel, and not half of each.
Thank you so much to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review
August 5, 2016
Well, to tell the truth, I really did not like this book very much. I have enjoyed Shannon Drake/Heather Graham's older ones. This was not my favorite, and it was a bit boring. The main characters were Lady Maggie Graham and Lord Jamie. She married an old man who died from a heart attack when he saw her naked. Really!!! What a silly thing to happen to save her from destitution.
Lord Jamie was the great nephew to Maggies' husband.
Things go from bad to worse, when a mad mad is going around killing people in London. Was this suppose to help the situation to keep the story going?
It was suppose to be a love story, but I never thought the things happening would help it.
Maybe the author's other books would be more of a romance than this one. Tried to like it, but never loved it.
I appreciate Net Galley for this ARC title in which I gave an hones review.
Lord Jamie was the great nephew to Maggies' husband.
Things go from bad to worse, when a mad mad is going around killing people in London. Was this suppose to help the situation to keep the story going?
It was suppose to be a love story, but I never thought the things happening would help it.
Maybe the author's other books would be more of a romance than this one. Tried to like it, but never loved it.
I appreciate Net Galley for this ARC title in which I gave an hones review.
July 25, 2016
It was ok. Good on the historical side of Victorian London but not much on the romance. What romance there was was hard to buy into. And the story between Jamie and Maggie was just too predictable for me,
.
But the Victorian London descriptions were well done.
Thank you to netgalkey for an arc of this book in return for an honest review
.
But the Victorian London descriptions were well done.
Thank you to netgalkey for an arc of this book in return for an honest review
November 1, 2007
Okay, I would highly recommend Shannon Drake's other historical romance books though. Shannon Drake is an AWESOME historical romance writer, but I found this book a little boring.
January 3, 2019
This is somewhat confusing. On Goodreads the author is listed as Shannon Drake (Heather Graham's pen name), while on Netgalley (which is my source for this book, it's listed simply as Heather Graham.
A Victorian story of forbidden love set in at the London of Jack the Ripper. When her brother, Justin, gambles away his Baronial fortune Maggie, a young widow agrees to marry Charles, Lord Langdon, an elderly and very wealthy viscount who, as part of the deal, will settle Justin's debts. Charles' great nephew and heir, Jamie, is determined to prove that Maggie is a fortune hunter, which she freely admits that she is, but also that she's very ford of her husband to be, and intends to be a faithful wife. Starting out at loggerheads with each other, Maggie and Jamie are irresistibly drawn together. The situation is further complicated by Charles' headstrong seventeen year old daughter who hates Maggie on principle—and very soon has excellent reason to do so.
The romance plot is intertwined with a revenge plot. One of Maggie's hobbies is exposing fraudulent mediums preying on the recently bereaved, and one such vows his revenge. Maggie's other hobby is feeding the poor gin-sodden prostitutes of Whitechapel, putting her right in the Jack-the-Ripper danger zone. Maggie has no sense of self-preservation at all, which is something I find quite difficult to believe. Jamie is on hand to help more often that I would expect—all very convenient.
This is apparently Book 6 out of 7 in the Graham series, first published in 2004, but it works as a standalone. The other Graham novels appear to be set in medieval Scotland and are unrelated.
It's funny how little things can lurch you out of an otherwise perfectly acceptable story. The author seems to think that a young woman in late Victorian England reached her majority at the age of eighteen, which is a pity because one of the sub-plot points hinges on this. Also Lord Langdon and Lord Jamie are not interchangeable forms of address.
I quite enjoyed this but got exasperated with Maggie's foolishness.
A Victorian story of forbidden love set in at the London of Jack the Ripper. When her brother, Justin, gambles away his Baronial fortune Maggie, a young widow agrees to marry Charles, Lord Langdon, an elderly and very wealthy viscount who, as part of the deal, will settle Justin's debts. Charles' great nephew and heir, Jamie, is determined to prove that Maggie is a fortune hunter, which she freely admits that she is, but also that she's very ford of her husband to be, and intends to be a faithful wife. Starting out at loggerheads with each other, Maggie and Jamie are irresistibly drawn together. The situation is further complicated by Charles' headstrong seventeen year old daughter who hates Maggie on principle—and very soon has excellent reason to do so.
The romance plot is intertwined with a revenge plot. One of Maggie's hobbies is exposing fraudulent mediums preying on the recently bereaved, and one such vows his revenge. Maggie's other hobby is feeding the poor gin-sodden prostitutes of Whitechapel, putting her right in the Jack-the-Ripper danger zone. Maggie has no sense of self-preservation at all, which is something I find quite difficult to believe. Jamie is on hand to help more often that I would expect—all very convenient.
This is apparently Book 6 out of 7 in the Graham series, first published in 2004, but it works as a standalone. The other Graham novels appear to be set in medieval Scotland and are unrelated.
It's funny how little things can lurch you out of an otherwise perfectly acceptable story. The author seems to think that a young woman in late Victorian England reached her majority at the age of eighteen, which is a pity because one of the sub-plot points hinges on this. Also Lord Langdon and Lord Jamie are not interchangeable forms of address.
I quite enjoyed this but got exasperated with Maggie's foolishness.
January 10, 2020
Not great romance. Victorian London with real people were portrayed well in the book. Romance between main characters and secondary characters was very weak.
Heroine was too naive in somethings and too powerful in others. Her actions are hard to believe for the period. Hero was better than heroine. I didn’t like her falling for hero and then going ahead with marriage to old guy. More over she had a very easy escape and path was clear for hero and heroine, too hard to believe. Step daughter was very irritating along with heroine’s spineless brother. They were very selfish people who just got together.
Even heroine was very selfish, once old man died she realizes herself to be in love with hero and wishes for that.
Hero thought badly about heroine consistently...still had fallen in love 😐
Mystery was good.
3stars for historical accuracy and good writing
Heroine was too naive in somethings and too powerful in others. Her actions are hard to believe for the period. Hero was better than heroine. I didn’t like her falling for hero and then going ahead with marriage to old guy. More over she had a very easy escape and path was clear for hero and heroine, too hard to believe. Step daughter was very irritating along with heroine’s spineless brother. They were very selfish people who just got together.
Even heroine was very selfish, once old man died she realizes herself to be in love with hero and wishes for that.
Hero thought badly about heroine consistently...still had fallen in love 😐
Mystery was good.
3stars for historical accuracy and good writing
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2019
This book was rather all over the place but I liked the characters of Maggie and Jamie so overall 3 stars for me. The story seemed to be two entirely separate story lines that were just glued together with just Maggie and Jamie's chemistry holding them together. There was first the arranged marriage between Maggie and an elderly viscount that was the usual romance plot with the dashing Jamie simmering on the sidelines. Then there was the plot with Jack the Ripper terrorizing the East End and Maggie getting caught up in the murders during her charity work and investigations of fraudulent seances. And there were entirely! too! many! exclamation! points! But a quick, light read was what I needed.
February 23, 2018
Lady Maggie Graham is a widow who was married to a man below her class because she was in love with him. When she finds out that her brother has lost almost everything and in order to prevent her uncle from gaining her brothers title she must married a man 3x's her age who dies the night of their wedding leaving her with a stepdaughter who is determine to blame her for his death while. while Lord Jamie does everything in his power to find out what she is up to and when danger hits he fights to keep Lady Maggie
And his great uncle's daughter safe
And his great uncle's daughter safe
December 10, 2019
Fantastic Book
I really like this Book. The Story line is really good. The story reveals the lives of the different people So You can understand what motivates them in the Story... Maggie and James story is really good.. The story even gives you insight into all the other main people.... She writes so that you can picture most all the people. Not that happy with Charles daughter, and the over long story about the murders.. But it is a Very Good read.. Maggie is shown in all areas to be a full and complete person you can relate to.
I really like this Book. The Story line is really good. The story reveals the lives of the different people So You can understand what motivates them in the Story... Maggie and James story is really good.. The story even gives you insight into all the other main people.... She writes so that you can picture most all the people. Not that happy with Charles daughter, and the over long story about the murders.. But it is a Very Good read.. Maggie is shown in all areas to be a full and complete person you can relate to.
Read
November 25, 2023I always forget what a difference 20 years can make when it comes to historical romance. Had to DNF at about 150 pages when the hero and heroine are fighting about the heroine's near sexual assault where the hero basically says it's her fault about being where she was and she should have known better if she truly was as moral as she pretends to be...yadayada ugh. Sometimes I can forgive older romance for this kind of stuff but I guess this one caught me in a bad mood.
January 5, 2019
enjoyable as stand alone --references to past books but not enough to make you feel like you must read the previous books.
Jack-the ripper Makes sure that the suspicion about Prince Edward is refuted.
Unusal plot twist to make sure intended lovers are united.
anti-heroine changes her mind only after much stupidity.
Jack-the ripper Makes sure that the suspicion about Prince Edward is refuted.
Unusal plot twist to make sure intended lovers are united.
anti-heroine changes her mind only after much stupidity.
January 18, 2022
Pretty girl gets engaged to a rich old man, and his great nephew is suspicious. He is also attracted to her. Besides the emotional angst, there's her self-imposed work of exposing fake mediums. And all this is taking place during the murders of Jack the Ripper. It's an angsty, suspenseful story. I liked it. Good read.
Read
March 23, 2024Dnf. Classic historical romance setup with the younger brother gambling away all of the family’s money and the sister has to marry rich to bail them out. Interesting addition of her live-in male writer friend. Not really clicking with the writing style, honestly. It seems a bit overwritten. #tryachapterchallenge
June 4, 2018
I liked it more than I thought I would. I picked it up wrapped in butcher paper for my local bookstore's Blind Date with a Book. This category was 'historical hootenanny" and it most certainly fit that description. I would give it 3 1/2 stars.
May 17, 2019
Writing was decent and the story was ok. The problem was that the couple (or H and h) never really interacted together. There was a few scenes of them together through out the book and then they declare they love each other. Zero chemistry between them.
November 30, 2019
Great book with twists and turns
Set in late Victorian England, this book captures the times of upper and lower classes during the terror of Jack the Ripper. A widow, an unequal marriage, a passionate love and family affectionate and not.
Set in late Victorian England, this book captures the times of upper and lower classes during the terror of Jack the Ripper. A widow, an unequal marriage, a passionate love and family affectionate and not.
December 30, 2019
A scandalous lady and Jack the Ripper
Lady Maggie who's no stranger to scandal finds herself wedding an older man . Then she realizes she's fallen in love with another, while Jack the Ripper runs amuck through London's East End.
Lady Maggie who's no stranger to scandal finds herself wedding an older man . Then she realizes she's fallen in love with another, while Jack the Ripper runs amuck through London's East End.
April 5, 2020
So it started out ...
I have read many of Heather Graham's books and have had book hangovers. Not so with this book. It has an extraordinary back story with the Jack The Ripper event. But the characters aren't appealing as usual nor are they memorable.
I have read many of Heather Graham's books and have had book hangovers. Not so with this book. It has an extraordinary back story with the Jack The Ripper event. But the characters aren't appealing as usual nor are they memorable.
May 14, 2024
This story is set in London, England during the time of Queen Victoria and Jack the Ripper. It is about Lady Maggie Graham and Jamie Langdon, their meeting, and what the future has in store for them. A good read.
June 18, 2017
book was disappointing. didn't like either of the main characters. everything was rushed and what they did was not right
May 22, 2018
Pffff, what a boring book. I really tried to like it but I couldn't bring myself to finish it.
July 10, 2019
Another great book
I have read most of her books.. She is an amazing author.. This book proves it!! Looking forward to more
I have read most of her books.. She is an amazing author.. This book proves it!! Looking forward to more
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