UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS

Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford ISBN: 0312985746 10/2005 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS

Evan Hughes, Emma's American great-granddaughter, is trying to integrate into the powerful Harte family. She is caught between her estranged parents, her new family, and new love. But a dangerous enemy hovers in the background. Tessa Longden, Evan's cousin, is battling her husband for custody of their daughter, Adele. When Adele suddenly goes missing, Tessa is forced to seek help from her half-sister Linnet—a woman who has been her rival all their lives. Linnet, the most brilliant businesswoman of the four great-granddaughters, is desperately trying to show that she is the natural heir to her mother, Paula. But her glittering future at the helm of the vast Harte empire means many sacrifices, perhaps even the loss of her sister’s fragile trust. India Standish, the traditionalist in the family, falls in love with a famous British artist from a working-class background. Madly in love, India is determined to marry him, no matter what her family thinks. Evan, Tessa, Linnet, and India: four extraordinary women. Three generations of Hartes. One indomitable family whose loyalty binds them together and whose enemies want to tear them apart.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I have never before read a Barbara Taylor Bradford book, although I have been told repeatedly that I should. Now I know why. Ms. Bradford has to be one of the most talented voices of this genre, and I am extremely proud to be able to review UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS.

UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS is a story of love and life, a wonderful saga of a family held together essentially by one woman even though she is gone by the end of the saga. When I read the back blurb of the story, I thought that I was getting a book about four cousins, end of story. What I got was so much more. Not only is this a story of Emma Harte's great-grandchildren, but also the relations that preceded and follow these awesome women, as well as being an essential "tell all" about Emma Harte herself. I felt like I knew her, from her taste in men, to her different styles of decorating her houses. I have not read the beginning books to this saga, and although UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS stands fine on it's own, I have been chomping at the bit to get to a bookstore to find the others in this series. I was almost sad to see it end, because I wanted to just continue reading about this great family.

Another added factor in UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS favor is the setting. Set in England, it takes us back and forth from family estates to department stores that are nothing short of dynasties in England. It is all very classy and quaint, and had me longing to take a nice little trip to England.

Kristal Gorman