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Title: A Gentleman By Any Other Name (Romney Marsh Trilogy)
ISBN: 0373771002
Author:
Kasey Michaels
Publicate Date: 2006-03-01
Publish: 2006-03-01
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Mass Market Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $22.50
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.37
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1: A Gentleman By Any Other Name
Chance's wife died six months ago and he is currently looking for a
nanny for his daughter Alice. So far, every candidate he has seen has
been unsuitable. Until Julia arrives. Chance thinks Julia is
beautiful and head strong, and since she is the last woman interviewing
for the position, he is desperate, so he hires her.
Julia thinks Chance is an intriguing and maddening man, but she finds
his daughter Alice delightful. Chance intends to take Julia and Alice
to Becket Hall, his family home in Kent. There Julia and Alice will
stay with his father and his large and slightly odd family. He planned
to come back to London to continue work with the War Office but
coincidentally he now has work to do in Kent so he is staying. Chance
is needed to investigate the smuggling that is taking place there.
Chance's family appears to be involved in the secret activities and
Julia is quick to discover what is going on. To assure her silence and
protect his family, Chance seduces Julia. He was not counting on his
feelings growing for her in the process though. As the Beckets try to
solve the problems of gangs and smuggling while keeping their family
safe, Chance comes to realize that he wants Julia forever and so he has
the added task of keeping her safe and by his side.
A Gentleman By Any Other Name is delightful. Chance and Julia are very
likeable
characters. I was drawn to their witty banter and their passion. I
felt they were very well suited to each other. The entire Becket
family is a colorful mix of characters, each having their own
fascinating story to tell. Drama, intrigue and romance combine
creating a really enjoyable story, A Gentleman By Any Other Name is the
first book in what promises to be a fantastic series!
Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
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2: A Gentleman by any other name
This is the first book in the series. It introduced you to the Becket's of Romney Marsh and their extended family. It was a good read.
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3: A Gentleman by any Other Name
The is great. I came quickly and was in great shape.
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4: I'm still not sure what I thought of this book...
I'm on the 3rd book, Beware of Virtuous Women, and I'm still not entirely sure if I like this series. Usually, I can tell if it's a good book based on how easily I can put it down. There are very few narrative hooks compared to some of her other romances and I found ample moments to put the first 2 books down without really missing anything. In fact, it took me almost a week to finish the first one (almost unheard of for me; usually 2 days max per book). I liked the family and I liked Julie and Chance but I didn't LOVE anything. And I'm sorry but you would think a preachers daughter would try to stay pure longer than the 5 days or so that she does. The passion she tried to evoke between the 2 that would make me believe they just HAD to have each other just wasn't there.
Ms. Michaels tries to hook you with leaving little hints as to what happened on the island before they came to England and that kept me mildy intrigued but then I was thoroughly disappointed when I reached the end and nothing was revealed. Is she really going to keep this going for another 6 books (each sibling)?! I don't know if I can make it through that many.
I made it through the 2nd one with a little more enthusiasm because I thought Morgan was a little bit more interesting than Julie. At least she tried to do a little more character depth with Morgan, but I don't feel like I ever got to know Ethan.
I am enjoying the 3rd book so far, but I'm only into the first 2 chapters and once again I have set it down to do this and feel only a mild inclining to get back to it. To me, the writing seems forced. Like maybe Ms. Michaels had a great story idea, a new series of siblings to write about, and then was told she had to do so in half the time she normally takes to write a book. The writing seems rushed, the characters have less depth, and the plot seems to continue in one straight line with little or no twists to keep the reader intrigued. I think the books had potential and never quite reached it.
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5: Dark and Dreary
I am a big fan of Ms Michaels. She usually writes spunky heroines, dapper heroes, and has a flair for humor that adds so much depth to the romance genre. I was disappointed by A Gentleman by Any Other Name, however.
In retrospect, I figure she was trying to write some sort of gothic romance, with windswept moors and brooding, complicated characters. A mass market Wuthering Heights. This story of Chance Becket, the eldest of Ainsely Becket's children (some adopted, some not) was melodramatic and oftentimes boring. Julia Carruthers, who happens to hail from nearby Chance's ancestral home, applies for and gets the job as Chance's daughter's nanny in London. But then they go back to the Marsh where Julia shows everyone how well she fits into the culture and goings on of this somewhat isolated village. Julia is nosy and annoying and has a tendency to be overbearing without having any of the other qualities in a heroine, such as humor, self depreciating or otherwise, which make the annoying traits bearable. The attraction between her and Chance is forced, and the book is quite frankly way too long. It's also obvious this will be one in a long line of books for every orphan, maybe with one or two of them pairing up with each other (ew, just because they aren't blood related, doesn't mean they aren't siblings!). I picked up another one at the same time, and just finished skimming it. Pretty much the same thing.
What saves this book is the host of secondary characters, including a cast of retired privateers, who make the story more interesting and fun. I won't be getting of the others in the series, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who enjoys the whimsical regency Ms Michaels often treats us too. This book, and it seems this series, are for readers who prefer long passages with no action, dark and brooding characters (seriously, most of them are), and irritating main characters.
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