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Topic: Jo Beverly

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Subject: Jo Beverly
Date Posted: 2/19/2008 7:25 PM ET
Member Since: 12/6/2006
Posts: 623
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Her website shows that she's written a whole lot of books, but there are only a few here and my library only has two.  Does that seem odd to those of you who read her?  I haven't yet, but want to.  Where are they??

louisiana-susan avatar
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Date Posted: 2/19/2008 7:27 PM ET
Member Since: 12/7/2006
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On people's keeper shelf!

rubberducky avatar
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Date Posted: 2/19/2008 7:33 PM ET
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There are only two here?  Yikes!  Oh, wait a minute, it's Beverley with an E.  You spelled it Beverly.  I've done that too myself.

willaful avatar
Date Posted: 2/19/2008 8:12 PM ET
Member Since: 5/3/2006
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You should be able to find her here, especially her medievals, which I often see offered in the book bazaar. (Don't take that as a negative, they're awesome.) Some of her books get wishlisted fairly frequently, but they will turn up.

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Date Posted: 2/19/2008 8:35 PM ET
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Phew!! there are a lot.  Okay, now any suggestions to which to start with?  Needy, aren't I?

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Date Posted: 2/19/2008 9:46 PM ET
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My favorites are the Company of Rogues and Malloren series--I used to have all of them on my keeper shelf until I went crazy and got rid of them....now I'm wishing I had them back! LOL

willaful avatar
Date Posted: 2/19/2008 9:47 PM ET
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My favorite is _Forbidden_, which is the 3rd in the Rogues series. If you want to go in order, start with _an Arranged Marriage_.   _Lord of My Heart_ and _Dark Champion_ are my favorite of the Medievals.

rubberducky avatar
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Date Posted: 2/20/2008 12:02 AM ET
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I used to have the entire Malloren series, but traded it off for some others a year or so ago.  I posted an excerpt from one of them, Something Wicked on the historical guess the book thread.  It's one of the best in the series.  I've gotten that one,  My Lady Notorious, and assorted others here & there that I don't currently have posted since then.  I also found this one - Deirdre and Don Juan (A Regency Romance) at the DAV thrift store for 30 cents a couple of months ago, but I haven't really felt like reading it yet.  It looks almost brand new.  I agree the medievals are good too.  She's one of the authors I read the daylights out of when I first got back into romances a few years ago.  Not always fabulous, but always a good bet.

willaful avatar
Date Posted: 2/20/2008 12:47 AM ET
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BTW, Sarah P. is offering a 3-for-1 inthe Book Bazaar and she has Beverley's _An Unwiling Bride_. (2nd Rogue book, quite good, not the usual fare.) No other Beverley, but some other interesting looking historicals.

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Date Posted: 2/20/2008 7:41 AM ET
Member Since: 12/10/2005
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I never heard of the author. What is it you like about her books? I'm a fan of historical fiction. I like the medieval period a lot.

I don't read a lot of HR, but I have enjoyed the first 2 books in The Roselynde Chronicles (Roselynde and Alinor) by Roberta Gellis as well as the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

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Date Posted: 2/20/2008 7:56 AM ET
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I really enjoyed Devilish and Forbidden Magic, but that's all I've read.  Perhaps people are keeping them.  She writes very well.

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Date Posted: 2/20/2008 8:31 AM ET
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I think she's always pretty good, sometimes great.  I'm also sure she has a pretty large and devoted fan base.  Just like I did at one time, a lot of people probably collect her series books because they're Jo beverley fans & fans always have at least one series from their favorite authors.  I'm not sure if she's an auto-buy for me, but I always look at, & often buy, her books when I see one I haven't read.

willaful avatar
Date Posted: 2/20/2008 1:13 PM ET
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What I like about Beverley:  Unusual plots. Very different characters, doesn't just write the same ones over and over. Sophisticated dialogue. Heroes that aren't just jerks.  Extremely good historical accuracy. Exciting love scenes.  Sense of humor about sex.  (I gave my husband a Beverley love scene to read and that really surprised him.)

rubberducky avatar
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Date Posted: 2/20/2008 5:21 PM ET
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The only thing that aggravates me about Jo Beverley is that I felt let down with Devilish.  This series for me, was very much like the Bedwyn series by Mary Balogh.  Not all of them were great, but they were all pretty good, and here & there, one would be exceptional.  And just like that series, I'm reading all of these books in order and getting interested in these enigmatic patriarch characters & all jazzed up to read their stories, and thinking how great they're going to be - and then blah.   Slightly Dangerous by Balogh - Wulfric's story - was great.  The best in the series, I thought, and all of them were good.  Devilish however, was a major letdown for me.  And it's not that the writing was incompetent, or I didn't think much of this hero.  My problem with it was that it was just meat & potatoes, so-so, nothing exceptional, and all of that anticipation just sort of fizzled.  I thought Beowulf Malloren really deserved better than he got.  I know a lot of people loved that book, I know it got great reviews.  To me, it was only just average; I still have my Mary Balogh Bedwyn series, the Malloren series I traded off.



Last Edited on: 2/20/08 5:22 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
answerquest avatar
Date Posted: 2/20/2008 6:58 PM ET
Member Since: 12/10/2005
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Thanks everyone! I might try one with a medieval historical theme. So far, the titles I looked at appear to be regencies.

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Date Posted: 2/23/2008 3:30 AM ET
Member Since: 8/23/2007
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I read Lord of Midnight and the one that came before it that's connected to it-can't remember the title. They were pretty good.  A couple of the 1st romances I ever read.  I also read The Return of the Rogue a couple times.  I should read the rest of that series.

willaful avatar
Date Posted: 2/23/2008 1:57 PM ET
Member Since: 5/3/2006
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You're thinking of Dark Champion - it's awesome.

I finally finished slogging through Lady Beware. Best thing about it was the title, if you ask me.  It  started off with a really interesting premise which then completely fizzled out.