Charlotte Finbury has read too many romance novels. What she wants is a poetry reading young man to sweep her off her feet. What she has is a much older Earl with the wealth and connections of which her father approves. Charlotte believes a woman should marry for love. Everyone else seems to believe that a woman should marry for duty. She recalls the brother of a fellow student with who she often walked, comparing him to Lord Byron. In an impetuous move to avoid marriage, Charlotte flees just as the announcement of her engagement to the Earl is due in the rooms below. She hopes to escape to aunt's and find the young poetry reading man to marry.

Charlotte dresses as a young man, cutting her hair short, and heading into the night. Ill prepared for rough street life, she's immediately robbed and spends the night in a stable. Keeping her wits about her, Charlotte learns of the departure of a carriage for Bath. Hiding among the baggage, Charlotte stows away. An unfortunate accident leads to her discovery. Lord Peter takes her as a valet, so she may earn her way to Bath, not realizing that "Charlie" is a woman. As the plot escalates, the eventual discovery of her sex leads to a rather compromising situation. As the situation works itself out, the hilarity continues unabashedly.

While I am not a big regency fan, I have to admit that Maureen Mackey's LORD PETER'S PAGE has changed my opinion of regency romance forever! As a graduate student, I spent much too much time studying British Literature, and grew quite tired of the forced mannerisms and morality. So I am delighted to see that Mackey not only knows the language of the era, but also holds a special understanding for the flavor of the genre, giving this regency romance a marvelously modern twist that still retains the flavor of the era. From the ridiculous opinions formed from reading too much of the literature of the time to the dangers of spending a night with a man to whom one is not wed, Mackey creates a highly convincing tale of the way things should have been. Move over Samuel Richards, no heroines dying here of compromised virtue! Highly recommended.

Charlotte Finbury can't bear the thought of being wed to the elderly Lord Satterly. On the night of her engagement soiree, she runs away to search for her true love, Cyril Chalmondeley. Disguised as a boy, her plan is to purchase a seat on the Bath coach and seek sanctuary with her aunt while sending a message to Cyril. Unfortunately, she encounters certain mishaps and is forced into stowing away inside a gentleman's coach. When discovered, she takes on the position of his page, hoping only to get to Bath and shed her disguise.

Lord Peter Randolph, traveling with his friend Geordie, is certainly surprised to find a young boy hiding amongst his luggage. He feels sympathy for the lad and decides to carry him on to Bath, with the boy acting as his page during the trip. The surprises continue, though, when he discovers that "Charlie" is actually a young woman.

Once the group arrives at Bath they discover that Charlotte's parents have already come looking for her, and she is forced to continue her deceptions. Playing one role after another as she stays with Lord Peter's family, Charlotte's adventure becomes more and more complicated!

Lord Peter's Page is truly delightful! Into a primarily romantic storyline, Ms. Mackey has added comedy which keeps the reader guessing and laughing throughout the book. The characters are both realistic and irresistible. I empathized with Charlotte and fell a little bit in love with Peter. I also appreciated the secondary characters, who took on a life of their own and took part in more than one subplot.

The plot is intricately woven; charades, intrigue, and more than one developing romance pull the reader through the story without a second thought. I had a very difficult time putting this book down, and I highly recommend Lord Peter's Page!

This is one of the best and funniest regencies I have ever read. I actually laughed out loud while reading this book!! Miss Mackey is an incredible story teller who mixes charm, wit and heartfelt emotion all into one package. LORD PETER'S PAGE is a story not to be missed.

Miss Mackey creates a wonderful tale accented with humor as she brings to life Charlotte Finbury and Lord Peter Randolph. Two characters could not be more suited for each other than these two! Amid schemes and scandals, Charlotte and Peter find true love and also manage to find a way into the reader's heart.

I truly enjoyed reading LORD PETER'S PAGE. It is a rarity that one finds an author who can make you laugh out loud while never once compromising the discriminating taste of the regency reader. I believe this to be one of Miss Mackey's greatest talents. LORD PETER'S PAGE has everything a regency fan would expect to find among the best of the genre's writings.

Against her wishes, Charlotte Finbury's parents plan to announce her betrothal at a grand ball given by them in her honor. To the bottom of her romantic soul, Charlotte desires to marry only for love, something she could never feel for the older, unappealing earl chosen for her—not when her heart belongs to the poetic Cyril Cholmondeley. Determined to escape before the announcement can be made, Charlotte disguises herself as a boy, and off she goes to catch the coach to her Aunt Agatha in Bath, where Cyril just happens to live. Before she can do so, she's robbed of all her money, and there's nothing for it but to stow away on a carriage with two young gentlemen on the driver's seat. All would have been well if an accident hadn't occurred along the way.

The Duchess of Wickersham is a managing sort, determined her younger son Peter will wed Alicia Beaumont. Lord Peter knows his mother will have some docile young thing waiting for him at their estate near Bath. Nevertheless, duty calls. He and his friend George Thorndike start out early from London, enjoying a smooth journey, until a passing vehicle causes them to break an axle. The pleadings of the grimy, ragged boy they discover inside their carriage leads Lord Peter to agree to convey the boy to Bath in exchange for his service as a servant.

LORD PETER'S PAGE is a merry Regency romp with laugh-out-loud dialogue between the hero and heroine. Lord Peter and "Charlie" keep getting into scrapes. Once Peter discovers his page is a young lady, the two plan ruse after ruse to save her reputation. It seems a case of who can devise the most "cork-brained" schemes, not just for their own benefit, but others' as well.

I enjoyed LORD PETER'S PAGE enormously, and I'm sure any Regency reader would, too. It's so good to know that the electronic publishers are helping to keep the traditional Regency alive and flourishing. Thank you Ms. Mackey and Awe-Struck for delivering a novel with such an attractive cast of characters and amusing plot. I strongly recommend that all Regency lovers meet Peter, Charlie and the rest of the inhabitants of Randolph House. LORD PETER'S PAGE is top-drawer entertainment.

Charlotte is not one who lets life simply happen. She carefully plans her escape to her aunt's home. Not in her plans, however, is the footpad who steals all her money. Destitute and disguised as a lad, Charlotte finagles her way into a position as Lord Peter Randolph's page, but only till he drops her at her aunt's home in Bath. Of course, the whole scheme falls apart and Charlotte's charade is exposed.

This delightfully fast-paced, heartwarming story is a pleasant way to spend a cold January afternoon.

Begin with a young woman about to be betrothed to an older man with snuff-stained fingers, stir in a young and handsome lord who is ready to wed as long as the woman isn't of his mother's choosing. Season with a jolly, feckless but pockets-to-let gentleman and a broken axle on the Bath Road, and you have all the makings of a delightful, romantic Regency romp.

What sets Lord Peter's Page above the common is Mackey's delightful, authentic Regency voice. She pulls the reader into that charming world of the haut ton and convinces her that Prinny must be lurking just around the next corner.

Charlotte is an engaging combination of independent heroine and innocent debutante. Peter, while well intentioned, often proves hilariously impractical. Unjustly accused of jewel theft, caught in a love triangle, assigned a second and then a third identity, Charlotte applies her inventive mind and indomitable spirit to carry her through adventure after adventure. Peter, no less inventive but perhaps a bit more conventional, surprises even himself with outrageous schemes to avoid hopefully obedient beauties and their calculating mamas.

Author Maureen Mackey is broadening her repertoire in more ways than one with her first e-book, Bound by Blood. She is introducing a fast-paced, life and death mystery to her more familiar romantic plots and settings, and by venturing into electronic distribution she is structuring her work to be viewed in a series of suspenseful segments akin to magazine serialization.

Many readers will identify with the physical and emotional overload accepted by Francie Steele, a single mother raising a pre-school daughter, holding down two jobs and continuing her education at a local college. The views of neighbors in her low-income apartment are less straightforward. Some admire her spunk in refusing to accept assistance from a problem father and trying to better herself. Others, however, regard her priorities, morals and values as less admirable. Francie is to them as loose as she is selfish, abandoning her child to day care while she studies English, acquiring a seemingly unmarketable skill.

Despite her love of the subject and dedication, the conflicting stresses of her life take a toll on her studies and she finds herself called to account by her English professor. The professor, Sam Pope, is widely recognized as a demanding taskmaster prone to trimming the marginal students from his classes. Instead of berating her late submittals, Pope takes a personal interest in Francie and her daughter, Savannah, and volunteers to help. Just as his arrival on the scene promises some relief, a cousin is murdered in Francie's apartment.

Before she can get her life back on track, a series of seemingly unrelated incidents-her daughter temporarily disappears, an envelope of dope mysteriously appears, her apartment is ransacked and Savannah's father delivers a serious threat-combine to draw her into a fatal tailspin. Even Pope's efforts fail to slow the rush of ominous events.

As Halloween approaches, the violence escalates and it becomes apparent that Francie is the target of a deadly conspiracy. The author's style is not to peel back the skins of an onion to reveal new clues, but rather to add suspects and complicating motives. The result is a harrowing tale leading to a stunning conclusion. Mackey seems to have already mastered this newest medium with a carefully crafted series of five chapter segments. One can only hope to be able to add computer memory as fast as she can write.

I had no problems in getting involved in this book. I would like very much to read any and all of the others that this author write in this series.

I was not able to put it down and there are not that many books that can hold my interest from start to finish. Generally I don't get past chapter one in a book if I don't like it. This book is very good reading. Spelling needs to be proofed but otherwise it is an excellent book.

It would be advisable that if you are a very emotional person, to have a box of Kleenex next to you by the time you get half way through it. And I am not an emotional person but this book really did get to me . . . I for one will definitely buy the series of books if they are as good as this one is.

Francie Steele is a single mother struggling to make a better life for herself and her 5-year-old daughter Savannah. Francie's whole world consists of providing for Savannah, going to college, and working two part time jobs, which doesn't leave time for anything else. What Francie doesn't know though, that her life is about to drastically change and not for the better.

Returning home from dinner one night, she finds her apartment door open and her cousin Lisa on the floor dead. Francie has absolutely no idea why anyone would want to break into her small studio apartment, she has nothing of value, or at least that is what she thinks. The police and her friends tell her that Lisa must have interrupted a break-in but Francie doesn't believe it and the terror is only beginning for her.

Author Maureen Mackey has written a great story with thrills and chills, fright and fear. Although there were areas in the book this reviewer felt were rushed and passed over, BOUND BY BLOOD will have you turning the pages in anticipation. Definitely a good book to lose yourself with.

Copyright 2000 by Tracy Eastgate

No matter how hard she tries, Francie, Frances Steele, can't stay awake in her one o'clock class. Professor Pope has little patience for dozing students, even if they have a four-year-old child, two jobs and no sleep. That is, until the chair of the department reminds him those empty seats don't guarantee tenure. Suddenly Sam Pope finds himself drawn into Francie's life, through the charm of her daughter and their shared love of brownies.

Life takes an unexpected turn when Francie and Savannah return from pizza, accompanied by Sam Pope, to find their apartment door open and the place ransacked. When Francie looks behind the couch, she finds her beautiful cousin Lisa dead. Sam calls the police after making sure the perpetrator is no longer in the apartment, pocketing a small packet of white powder which he later confronts Francie about. Someone wants to frame Francie, but she doesn't know why.

Maureen Mackey's first person writing style is delightfully honest and fresh, lending the tale a wonderful immediacy. Her heroine's fierce protection of her daughter and fiery determination to stay in school make her a powerful force. Rather than the traditional linear plotting which progressively reveals new clues, however, Mackey adds suspects and motives to the mix, resulting in a terrifying tale with a exceptional conclusion. Very highly recommended.