THE CHALBOURNE SAPPHIRES

Author: Sandra Wilson ISBN: 9780709083139 5/2007 HISTORICAL Publisher: ROBERT HALE LTD.
Time Period: Regency 1817

Amy van Allen leaves America to spend Christmas with her English friend Olivia. On disembarking at Bristol, Amy learns that Olivia's sister-in-law, Lady Chalbourne, has been killed. Chalbourne Park is in mourning. Then snow forces Amy to shelter at the home of Olivia's lover, Charles Pemberton. Amy likes Charles, and is appalled to learn that he is accused by Jonathan, Lord Chalbourne, of seducing the late Lady Chalbourne, and stealing a famous sapphire necklace. Amy forms a dislike for Jonathan, who treated his wife cruelly. The two soon fall out, but she stays to help Olivia prove Charles' innocence. Only then does Amy see another side of her handsome, enigmatic host, a man with a dark and tragic secret...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Though I confess to reading this hardcover rather quickly, it was more from the proverbial carrot dangling in front of me (it is going to get better, I can feel it!) than it was from pure enjoyment. Not that THE CHALBOURNE SAPPHIRES is anything other than decent reading, because it is, but the plot is too easy to discern, the villains easy to unmask, and the love story is non-existent until the last five pages. Okay, so maybe it isn't all that wonderful, but the paperback version would be worth the money.

Honestly, I like the flow of the book and the spunk of the heroine, but they should have been given more of a setting and plot in which to play their parts. I suspect the hero and heroine could be so much more to one another as well, if they would spend more than five minutes in each other's company. And, when they do cross paths, they should do more than antagonize and argue. Not much of a courtship there. So, the same criticism of the plot of missing jewels can be voiced. There are only so many suspects available to, well, suspect, so you know the who, what and when, if not exactly why, well before things develop.

Though this review is not entirely favorable, I find the dialogue the heroine is given quite enough to recommend it. The less expensive, hope-to-be-released paperback version of THE CHALBOURNE SAPPHIRES, course.

Shannon Johnson