March 2019: Keeper Shelf
~ Stephanie Queen ~

CTR asked:

Which book is at the top of your keeper shelf, the book you like to re-read over and over? And why?

Stephanie Queen said:

My Man Pendleton by Elizabeth Bevarly – I fell in love with Kit first. From the opening tragic-comic line, “Oh, Mama, what have you gone and done now?” to the end.

Kit was the forlorn, seemingly forgotten daughter of a wealthy corporate magnate, with a commanding father and three brothers. The story starts upon her mother’s death. To be precise, with the reading of her mother’s will. Kit will inherit all unless she is married at the end of one year. It’s set in contemporary times. Kit hasn’t found herself and now she’s lost her mother.

The story is saved from being old-fashioned and melodramatic by both the setting and the characters themselves. Kit is a funny, if forlorn character and Pendleton is very snappy and smart. The repartee between them is a huge treat.

Her father is not the stereotypical bad guy and manages to end up the wiseman at the end. The brothers each have troubles that must be dealt with in their own way. Did I mention that none of her brothers can marry before she does?

This is cause for more than one romantic tragedy in the making. Every one of the characters is three dimensional with their own set of problems, and reactions to Kit.

Kit’s mischief sets up Pendleton’s long-suffering wit and determined patience to perfection. I wanted to hug him every other page. But even with Kit’s acting out, she’s so well drawn and amusing and sympathetic, that I can’t feel even a little annoyed. She does the kinds of things you’d want to slap her for if you didn’t so absolutely understand why she does it. I rooted for her to win the battle, to win the family’s attention, affection and respect. Most of all, I rooted for her to win Pendleton, or more to the point, to give him a chance in spite of her father.

The same tone of dark humor, tragic-comedy held throughout the story and matched perfectly with both the hero and heroine’s personalities’.

And Pendleton… oh I loved him. He was wounded and yet determined, beaten down and yet heroic–in a board room sort of way. This story was almost a contemporary version of a Regency romance–another reason I loved it. I’m a sucker for Regency and comedy of manners. It would have been a farce if the characters weren’t so well drawn and tragically dear.

I’ve read this book 3 times so far and that’s saying a lot about an author with very tired eyes at the end of the day!

– Website – http://www.StephanieQueen.com
– Twitter – @StephanieQueen

Beachcomber Gone, Beachcomber Investigations Book 9

[Romantic Detective Thriller]

Just when Dane thought they would marry, Shana’s gone…

After years of trying to resist their love affair, PI partners Dane & Shana are ready to tie the knot. But their visit to Shana’s home in Australia goes terribly wrong when old enemies track her down.

Dane & Shana travel to Australia so that Dane can meet her family, but they land in a minefield of problems. Shana’s mother is being used as bait by an old enemy Shana helped convict in an old police pension fraud case.

Now the case has been re-opened amid speculation that there was an insider involved. Someone is trying to set Shana up to take the fall. Dane and Shana need to find the dangerous traitor inside her old police department and bring them down to keep Shana out of jail–and to keep her alive.

Available in Ebook:

More Authors Dish about their keeper shelves.

https://coffeethoughts.coffeetimeromance.com/ad2019-mar-keeper/