Reviewer: Robyn Roberts
Title: A House East of Regent Street
From the Anthology Strangers in the Night
Author: Pam Rosenthal
Publisher: Brava Kensington
ISBN: 0-7582-0529-5
Release Date: Dec. 2004
Genre/Sub-genre: Historical
Year/Setting: 1816, London
Overall rating: 4
Sexual content rating: Sensual/Sexual
Pam's Website:
www.pamrosenthal.com
Jack Merion has returned from the war with Napoleon a little wiser and a little richer. He’s been turning his money into a rather large nest egg in order to invest in real estate. He’s finally found a house to invest in. It’s east of Regent Street and was formerly an upscale brothel. As he begins to close the deal, the mysterious Miss Myles arrives and tries to thwart the sale. She also wants to have the property and she’s willing to meet any (and all) of Jack’s terms to get it. To give you a little more of a teaser, Miss "Cleo" Myles used to work in the establishment before she left to become the full time mistress of one of her clients. Now she’s looking to reopen the brothel and no longer be the "Miss" but the "madame."
Out of the three stories in the anthology, I liked Ms. Rosenthal’s the best. She writes a story that sparks our imagination and doesn’t give us all the information we hope to get at the time. Instead of giving us all the facts, she slowly releases to us a piece at a time. There were twists and turns all the way to the last page. The only downfall is that it wound to the end rather quickly. I know with anthologies, there’s limited page space—and don’t get me wrong, it does conclude without leaving you hanging. I just wished we had a few more pages to explore the ending.
While it is not true of this particular story in the anthology, I feel that a potential reader should be warned that there is some very coarse language used throughout the book. In particular I found there to be too many "f-" words in one story for my preference. I thought it detracted from the other stories and cheapened them. You also need to know this book is much racier and more graphic in the sexual details than a typical mainstream book. I didn’t find it detractive or offensive enough to stop reading, but some readers will not enjoy these particular stories for those reasons. I really did like the book overall and think A House East of Regent Street was the best of the stories.
In addition to A House East of Regent Street, you’ll get Natural Attraction from Susan Johnson. In this story, you’ll meet Viscount Priestley who is not at all priestly as his name suggests. He’s a rake who goes through women like some men go through handkerchiefs. However, he may have met his match in Nicky Wemyss—a pants wearing, intelligent, scientist.
In Katherine O’Neal’s story Fool Me Once, you’ll meet con artists Kate Frost and Rhys. They are trying to pull off the ultimate con by tricking the people of Mexico into believing Kate is a long-lost Aztec princess. This story also has some intrigue and great chase scenes.
For those who enjoy a slightly more erotic and sexual novel, you’ll really enjoy the stories in Strangers in the Night.
Robyn
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