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Format Read: PDF
Source: tour company in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: August 14, 2013
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | ARe* | Decadent
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission for purchases made through these links.
Blurb from tour company:
Can the daughter of a well-known prostitute start a new life where no one knows her family history? Norah Hawkins is sure going to try. When a letter arrives deeding her property in San Francisco, she packs her bags.
Irishman Gerard MacKenzie likes his life free and easy, but is tired of the snobbish East Coast folk. San Francisco has enough vice and folly to suit his needs. Meeting Norah gives him the opportunity to bartend in her saloon. Maybe he can convince her to let him play the piano. She’s a shrewd businesswoman, and negotiating with her makes his blood boil. Damn if she doesn’t make his blood boil in other ways, too.
The morning of April 18, 1906, a terrible earthquake buries their dreams beneath the city’s ruins. Can Norah and Mac rebuild their lives? Will rebuilding their dreams bond them forever, or tear them apart?
Bea's Thoughts:
A strong independent risk-taking woman? I was sold right off. Add in a sexy Irishman and how could I resist? I don't do a lot of historical romances but this one called to me and I enjoyed it. Mac is sexy, caring, stubborn, multi-talented and knows when to push and when to back off. He wants to protect and are for Norah but respects her need to be independent. I love that about him. He even plays piano! Sigh, I want a Mac of my own.
Norah was a little harder for me to warm up to despite my initial enthusiasm for her. She was so stubborn and independent that she was often prickly and unreasonable, such as about Mac's piano playing, and there were times I just wanted to slap her or give her a good shake. Still, Norah was not immune to Mac's charms and slowly she not only comes to rely on him but to realize that it can be okay to depend on someone else, even a man. In her experience, men are unreliable and want only to use women and throw them away. She's determined not to let them happen but Mac is patient and wears her down. He helps her build her dream, despite her naivete, and when the dream is threatened he steps up. But he fails to communicate what he's doing, hey he's a guy, and Norah gets her dander up and they have their big miscommunication, and then there's a surprise visitor who puts a kink in things. I wasn't surprised by the visitor's revelations, they were obvious from the get-go, but they help push Norah towards Mac and a happy ending.
Some of the story was predictable and as I said there were times when Norah was so prickly I wanted to shake her but I enjoyed the story, the romance, and the interactions between Norah and Mac. There aren't a lot of smexy times but that's appropriate to the story so it worked for me. This was my first story by Cate Masters but probably not my last.
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Multipublished, award-winning author Cate
Masters has made beautiful central Pennsylvania her home, but she’ll always be
a Jersey girl at heart. When not spending time with her dear hubby, she can be
found in her lair, concocting a magical brew of contemporary, historical, and
fantasy/paranormal stories with her cat Chairman Maiow and dog Lily as company.
Look for her at http://catemasters.blogspot.com and
in strange nooks and far-flung corners of the web.
Find Cate Online:
Author
Newsletter: Sign up through my blog! Exclusive goodies for subscribers. :) http://catemasters.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cate-Masters/89969413736?ref=ts
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/catemasters
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CateMasters
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A great review. Congratulations, Cate.
ReplyDeleteThanks Teri :)
DeleteLOL I think I want a Mac of my own too! Yum! I've read Cate before and enjoyed it. Will have to check this one out :)
ReplyDeleteWhat else by her would you suggest I read?
DeleteI read Death is a Bitch. It's a para with the heroine being Death and collecting souls. It was entertaining. Had some great humor but also had me tearing up a couple times.
DeleteThat sounds like something I'd enjoy.
DeleteThanks for the lovely review, Bea. I'm so glad you enjoyed Norah and Mac's story. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, and Mac is even better if you imagine Gerard Butler as him. Yum!
Sounds like a great book! I enjoy Cate's writing and look forward to checking this one out. Mac does sound like a fun character! :)
ReplyDelete~Jess