Jennifer Wilde (1938–1990)

Betrayal at Blackcrest by Jennifer Wilde is a 1971 publication- reissued in 2015 by Open Road Media.

Thank goodness ORM and Jennifer Wilde- who wrote the book as “Beatrice Parker” digitized this book- and many others by this author. There are very few of these older ‘Gothic/Romantic Suspense’ novels digitized- even by some of the more popular authors like Dorothy Daniels, for instance.

I loved reading these back in the day- they pre-dated the explicit ‘bodice ripper’ that pretty much sent this genre to its grave- and was ‘safe’ reading for teens and young adults. Many were mass produced and one author would write under multiple pseudonyms sometimes- which is also kind of funny- so they weren’t all created equal. This one is certainly above average.

There is no supernatural quality to this one- it’s pretty much a straight up romantic suspense novel- but with very little romance- one ‘bruising kiss’ and that’s about it. Yes, it’s dated. Duh- but the plot is pretty darned good, considering. The atmosphere was fantastic and there really were a few spinetingling moments. There were also some pretty farfetched eyerolling situations too- and some really horrible misogyny from some of the men in the story-but… this came from the bad guy… so there’s that. The behavior of our ‘hero’ is also really bad, but is usually the case in these books, he’s also mostly misunderstood.

Frankly, I had a blast reading this story. It was clean and suspenseful and had me turning pages- and even had a nice little twist I didn’t guess- though I’m so familiar with this format I knew who the bad guy was right from the beginning. Overall, a fun ‘retro-read’ for me.

*This book is available with Hoopla- and some Libby libraries may have it as well. It is also available in digital format in the Kindle store.… (more)

The writing was good enough that I wanted to keep reading and managed it in just a couple long sessions, and the tension was pretty strong. But the bad guy was exactly who I thought it was from the very first moment he was even mentioned. I kept waiting for a plot twist, and it wasn't there, except maybe for one detail about him.

HOWEVER, I'm happy to report that no kittens were harmed in the narration of this book. When one reads a murder mystery, one agrees to have certain expectations about what may befall the human characters, but one does NOT want fluffy animalkind to be involved. Considering the dark nature of this story, I had the gravest fears when a scrappy little kitten was introduced, but all was well.… (more)

Santa Fe Mail Order Brides Box Set 5 Books in 1: 1. Matthew Touched by Grace 2. Mark Found by Hope 3. Luke Embraced by Faith 4. John Finds Love 5. Eli Sought by Serenity
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Read Matthew Touched by Grace
This story is about Eli and he's lost his wife but has the 4 sons and he relocates them to Santa Fe bringing her rocking chair and hope chest with them.
The boys are getting marriageable age and he has a talk with the newspaper man and they write up a notice to send off to his friend in PA. Grace has lost her spouse in the war and can't seem to find what it is she wants to do now.
Her sister is always trying to fix her up with men to date. When the minister shows the letter to her God speaks and she wants to go to Santa Fe and help start up a mail order brides location there.
She buys a saloon and fixes it up as a boarding house for the women to come and date other men. Most men have been writing for months to the women and can't wait for them to arrive.
Eli is the minister there and he has wed a few men already. One of his sons is waiting for his intended to show up and Eli has eyes for only Grace. She often asks the sons about him and she knows he's busy with church duties.
A fire tragedy happens and it draws people closer to one another.
Other works are highlighted at the end by the author.… (more)