Review: Broken Legacy – Carrie James Haynes

Lord Gerard Lenister needed the lady…after their meeting, he wanted her.

For seventeen years Lady Eloise Granville lived in France thinking herself a bastard. Not until her life was threatened did her father cross the English Channel to reclaim her as his legitimate daughter. Now four years later a revolution roars its ugly head in France. Rumors abound of Lady Eloise’s life before her emergence in England…rumors that link her to the notorious leaders of the French Revolution.

Lord Gerard Lenister knows well the whispered connections Lady Eloise has across the Channel and the disdain that Society holds for the lady. It matters little to him. He could have cared less if she was the incarnation of a she-devil. He would marry Jezebel herself if she helped him on his mission. He is that desperate…but soon he discovers that Lady Eloise is not what she seems.

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Publisher: Carrie James Haynes
Source: Provided by Author/Publisher via Manic Readers
Reviewer: Michelle
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Reviewer’s Thoughts

Broken Legacy is the story of Eloise D’Arcy Granville and Gerard Lenister. The French born Eloise is the forgotten and abandoned daughter of an English aristocrat. She is rescued from a tumultuous France by her father and brought to safety in England. While attending a social event she meets Lord Lenister who has an agenda that Eloise will fit perfectly. The two wed days later and the adventure begins. I found the storyline to be lively, compelling, filled with drama, betrayal, intrigue, suspense, and romance. I was guessing up to the end, and I was pleasantly surprised by the eventual culprit.

The characters were multidimensional and had layer upon layer. Ms Haynes certainly is gifted at character development. Eloise’s character experienced multiple travesties, and I empathized with all that she went through. Gerard’s character was a little less likable. The marriage was extremely advantageous for him but hazardous for Eloise. He just didn’t seem repentant enough for me. The other secondary characters were well thought out and enhanced the book with elements that shored up the context and culture of the times. Overall this was a quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

There were a few tiny things that detracted from my enjoyment of the book. First, the name of Lenister’s home changed back and forth from Ashforth to Ashwin and back to Ashforth manor. I went back and forth trying to determine whether he had two homes in different destinations, and I missed something or whether this was an oversight. I noticed that Broken Legacy was the second book in the “seductive lives” series. I looked for book one of this series because I thought it may clarify a few things for me and help me to better understand and finally found it listed under the author name Colleen Connally. Just for the sake of simplifying things for the reader it would be great to stick with one name or at least indicate that the first book is written under another pen name or even just another name. I absolutely love epilogues but this one rambled on for several pages. It actually contained central pieces of the story that would have meshed perfectly with the storyline and but appeared rushed even in a lengthy epilogue. Last thing, Elois fainted more than any heroine I have ever read about in any novel. Every few pages she either fainted and hit the floor or she swooned and someone caught her.