My Heart Belongs to You
Phyllis CampbellHistorical romance
Available from Champagne Books
ISBN: 0-9737261-2-1
April 2005
| Jenna Hamilton has come to Paris to demand a divorce from the husband that abandoned her days after their wedding, and she ends up finding her first lover instead. But in a twisted turn of events, the masked man who fired her blood turns out to be Cole Hamilton, and Jenna is none too happy about it. And, apparently, after having her once, Cole isn't quite so objectionable to their marriage.
Jenna has no intentions of remaining married to the man, so she uses her friend Ian, also Cole's friend, as a ruse to get her divorce, claming him as lover. Her plan doesn't go the way she hopes and she ends up having to accept Cole's bargain: live with him a month, get to know him, and if she still wants a divorce, he'll sign the papers. But she ends up with more difficulty than she bargained for when Cole is accused of stealing and is forced to hide away--and she ends up staying with Lord Adam Thatcher, a man who inspires almost as much feeling in her as Cole. I rather enjoyed my initial introduction to the characters in My Heart Belongs to You. Cole was a hero who was a bit of a scoundrel at first, but soon proved himself not to be a complete jerk by admitting to himself and Jenna that he wanted a chance for their marriage to work out. And, even though I didn't necessarily agree with her all-too contrary decisions, Jenna was a heroine I could like. However, during several dialogues between characters, I noticed a certain stiffness, particularly between conversations between a male and female, and sometimes overly dramatic dialogues complete with emotional outbursts. An example is the first meeting between Jenna and Lord Thatcher; in what appeared to be an effort at Regency flirtation, the author succeeded in making the conversation stiff and somewhat boring. I kept thinking, "Get on with it and quit posturing." Dialogue was really the only problem in My Heart Belongs to You, but it was a big one. However, in the privacy of their own thoughts, the characters were quite rational and even enjoyable. The mystery that was thrown in, at first, seemed like it would give the story a hint of suspense, but there wasn't a strong sense of urgeny or danger behind it to give it a real kick. My Heart Belongs to You started out pretty good, but overall, it was only an okay book. With the overall storyline tightened, and unnecessary things shortened or removed, it may have made a pretty good book, and I'm hoping to get the chance to check out the author's next book.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Tara Black |
