Fara Bellamont has been back in society for a year after
leaving Cluny Abbey, where her uncle sent her long ago. When he chooses a
suitor for her for marriage, she fears that she will be forced to marry a
stranger and live a miserable life. But, Fara finds herself thrust into an
adventure of a lifetime when unforeseen circumstances cause her to place her
trust in a strange man for protection. His intervention not only saves her, but
puts her in an even more compromising position. Grant Hill, a trading captain,
is enchanted by the young heiress not only because of her beauty, but because
she is hardly conventional. Underneath her ladylike exterior lies a tigress.
Grant cannot help but offer his protection as she is in need and he is far from
immune from her charms. Fara just never bargained on the passion that she feels
for Grant Hill. As events unfold, she must decide whether her desires and the
dictates of her heart should trump the rules of society…
About the Author:
Marie Lavender lives in the Midwest with her family and three cats. She has been writing for over twenty years. Marie has published seventeen books under various pen names. Marie Lavender's real love is writing romances, but she has also written mysteries, literary fiction and dabbled a little in paranormal stories. Upon Your Return, which is an Amazon bestseller, is her first historical romance novel. Recently, she became a finalist in the MARSocial’s Author of the Year Competition. A list of her books in order of publishing date are as follows: Express CafĂ© and Other Ramblings; Ramblings, Musings and Other Things; Soulful Ramblings and Other Worldly Things; Hard to Get; Memories; A Hint of Scandal; Without You; Strange Heat; Terror in the Night; Haunted; Pursuit; A Misplaced Life; Perfect Game; A Touch of Dawn; Ransom; Upon Your Return; Leather and Lace.
Reviews
5 stars –
With vivid characters, sensuality, and danger, Marie Lavender hits the mark with her historical romance Upon Your Return. Set in 1860s France, Lavender pulls the reader into her story with colorful historical details, authentic settings, and French phrases, making the atmosphere even more realistic.
With vivid characters, sensuality, and danger, Marie Lavender hits the mark with her historical romance Upon Your Return. Set in 1860s France, Lavender pulls the reader into her story with colorful historical details, authentic settings, and French phrases, making the atmosphere even more realistic.
Orphaned by the death of her parents, Fara Bellamont becomes the ward of her
unloving uncle. Having known love from her parents, Fara is unprepared to deal
with her uncle, who cannot wait until she is of age to marry her off. Fara’s
fiancé deliberately puts her in danger one evening and ruffians attack her.
Grant Hill, a trading captain, fights off the ruffians and rescues a still pure
Fara, which makes Grant hero-worthy in my book. Immediately affected by Grant,
Fara falls for his charms. Meanwhile, Grant is also affected by Fara’s beauty
and spirit. Defying social convention because they are from different stations,
Grant pursues Fara, which made me fall for him even more. All of her life, Fara
has been looking for true love and believes that she has found that with Grant.
A wise character, Fara realizes that love covers a wide range of feelings
because one moment she wants nothing more than to kiss Grant and the next
moment she just wants to smack him. Fara needs to hear those three magical
words from Grant, and for the longest time, he is unable to say the words to
her, which is heartbreaking. When danger finds its way to Fara’s life once
again, Grant finally understands that he truly is in love with Fara, making me
cheer out loud.
Seamlessly melding a powerful love story with a plenty of surprising plot
twists, Upon Your Return is a deliciously seductive read that will sweep
readers away to a different time and place.
(Lori Zalewski, Lusty Penguin Reviews)
5 stars –
Upon receiving this book, I immediately noticed how beautiful the cover was. I only meant to open it long enough to see how long it was going to be but found myself sucked in to the story from page one. I couldn't stop reading and ending up stay up way past my usual bedtime. It was that good.
Fara's background elicits teary eyes at the thought of the hopelessness that faces children in her situation. She was orphaned at a young age during a time in the world that when having a place to live meant relatives had to take you in or your were sent to the work houses, no matter your age. Thankfully, she did have an uncle to turn to but he was a cold man that tried to stifle the independent woman she was to become.
I laughed, cried, and even cheered a few times during the reading of Upon Your Return.
Fara and Grants story is one that leaves you hoping for more and the touches of historically correct facts, women's rights issues, and the way society worked back then makes this book a hidden gem. Add in the fact that it was well-written and wonderfully edited makes it a five star book, in my opinion.
Brava to the author for publishing a book that turned out so wonderfully! Looking forward to reading more from Marie Lavender in the future!
Upon receiving this book, I immediately noticed how beautiful the cover was. I only meant to open it long enough to see how long it was going to be but found myself sucked in to the story from page one. I couldn't stop reading and ending up stay up way past my usual bedtime. It was that good.
Fara's background elicits teary eyes at the thought of the hopelessness that faces children in her situation. She was orphaned at a young age during a time in the world that when having a place to live meant relatives had to take you in or your were sent to the work houses, no matter your age. Thankfully, she did have an uncle to turn to but he was a cold man that tried to stifle the independent woman she was to become.
I laughed, cried, and even cheered a few times during the reading of Upon Your Return.
Fara and Grants story is one that leaves you hoping for more and the touches of historically correct facts, women's rights issues, and the way society worked back then makes this book a hidden gem. Add in the fact that it was well-written and wonderfully edited makes it a five star book, in my opinion.
Brava to the author for publishing a book that turned out so wonderfully! Looking forward to reading more from Marie Lavender in the future!
(Amanda,
Editing After Edits blog)
4 stars – Lavender's
UPON YOUR RETURN is filled with sadness and sorrow, tears, angst, happiness,
laughter, adventure upon adventure, unlikely heroes and heroines, family,
friends, romance, love, hatred, enemies, secrets and a happily ever after. The prologue introduces us to Fara and shows
us her strength immediately. Although it
would waver she never lost that strength no matter what was thrown her
way. Her uncle, who was her guardian
after the death of her parents, never had her best interests at heart. It was difficult to fathom why he did what he
did concerning Fara's life and future each and every time. Grant Hill, a ship's captain, was her
unlikely rescuer many times and they had immediate chemistry and a connection
the moment they met. Watching their
interactions was never dull. There were complex characters, different locations
and nice closure that tied up all the loose ends.
Lavender
is a new to me author who has penned many books under several names that I will
add to my TBR pile. I am happy to see
she is currently working on the sequels to this series and will definitely be
reading those as well to hopefully pick up where we left off!
(Jo, Romance
Junkies Reviews)
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