I loved the characters in this book and the town so much
that I need to lobby Ms Bretton for a sequel!!
This is a story that grabs you from the first page and keeps you turning them until your eyes are blurry from reading too far into the wee nighttime hours. It is a perfect love story that is satisfying and believable. Turn off the tv news of the day and prepare to relax in the sweetness of this love story that Barbara Bretton so skillfully unfolds. You'll be wanting to hear of a sequel too!

When I first got the book at the library, I thought it was too long for me. But when I read it, I was spellbound by the way Gracie and Noah got back together at the end of the book. They were only five and six when they met, and it was sparks when they saw each other when they were seventeen. I'm reading the book again, now that I'm in college, and I still love the book. I wish I could get it for myself!

At Last is an endearing love story centered around two characters that are meant to be together but have to face the fact that it's impossible for them to do so. The plot is familiar, but the author did a great job of making the readers care about Gracie and Noah. The setting was wonderful and the story got better and better as it went on. I'll be looking forward to reading more of Barbara Bretton's novels.

Psychic Dakota Wylie is very much a 1990's woman with an attitude. Unfortunately, she was literally fading away & had to time-travel in a red hot-air balloon with some friends to New Jersey at the start of winter 1779! Patrick Devane is a masterspy--but for which side: Loyalist or Patriot?

I absolutely adored Dakota's independent spirit, big mouth, & extra pounds! Wisecracks & hilarious commentaries fill her head & spill from her mouth non-stop!

Finally a heroine who isn't skinny and perfect. I fell in love with Dakota right away - she was funny and smart and really terrific. Now I have to find the other two books where she was introduced. Great time travel

At first glance, I thought that since 'Guilty Pleasures' focused on the lives of two women, I might not be able to look forward to the strong love stories I've come to depend on Barbara Bretton's books for. Wrong. Corey Prescott and Lili Spaulding are two independant females who are bound together by 30 years of mistakes and regrets. Lilly Ann finds herself pregnant at 17 and is forced to give her baby away. Convinced that the little girl will have a better life than what she could ever provide, she gives up her daughter, knowing she'll regret it for the rest of her life.Corey's life begins troubled. As an infant, the child is scarred in an auto accident and Corey spends the first 6 years of her life shuffled around rough foster homes and rougher foster parents who have no sympathy for the childs disfigured face. Fate brings Corey to a family that long to have a child to love, and it is not until she's a grown woman, that she learns who her birth mother is. Corey vows to find the now famous cosmetics tycoon Lili Spaulding and destroy her, but fate has other plans. Corey finds that she must choose between vengence and the mother she never knew, while Lili must destroy her 'son' to protect her daughter, and learn to accept the love of the man who's held her heart for years. Barbara Bretton is so good at weeving these intricate lives, I sometimes forgot that this book was fiction. She builds her characters so well, that you keep wishing for just a few more chapters so you can keep the story going. The bond between a mother and her child endures for over 30 year in Guilty Pleasures, and it is one of the best 'love' stories, I've read in a while. As with all her books Ms. Bretton keeps me hanging on to each chapter, knowing that the next one will reveal more, dig deeper, and just get better and better than the one before. It's a great book. Don't wait! Click now, and grab this one. You won't be sorry!

Barbara Bretton is amazing, and writes romance like nobody's business. 'One and Only'is a fabulous fairy tale kind of love story between a beautiful, pampered yet independant princess and a hottie New York business tycoon. Barely out of her teens, Princess Isabelle is betrayed by the man she thought she loved and the older sister she once looked up to, when they announce their engagement. Things evolve into a tricky game of who's scamming who, but it still manages to take a backseat to the love story that grows between Isabelle and Daniel Bronson, a brash New Yorker who seems determined to treating her Royal Highness as just an ordinary girl. After a few heated, verbal sparring matches the two converge on a live New York talk show, as Isabelle strives to make a living after her sister exhiles her from the Palace. The heat between them is undeniable, and the pair decide to see where the sparks will carry them.

Barbara Bretton ( The Day We Met, A Soft Place To Fall) does a fine job of giving her readers a front row seat to beautiful,and sexy romances, as well as sweet and unforgettable love stories. Her descriptions of the fictional principality of Perrault give you just enough detail to form a clear and stunning picture in your mind without lulling you into a coma. Her characters are well written and have some of the wittiest conversations you'll find in romance novels. The sparring matches between Isabelle and Daniel will make you chuckle even as your heart rate quickens as you wait for the next embrace.

'One and Only' is a re-release (originally out in 1994), so if you did'nt get it then, pick this one up now. There's nothing better for curling up on a cool spring afternoon, than a romance by Barbara Bretton. Trust me, this love story will make you oooh and aaah till the last paragraph. Thank you Ms. Bretton for another winner !!

I recently had the pleasure of reading this book and felt completely immersed in WWII America. As I read the pages I came to know and love the characters and feel as if I shared a part in their story. The author has a great eye for detail and ear for dialogue and obviously did her research well. I find it such a shame that this fine book is out of print for I know that anyone in search a beautiful love story set in the 1940's or any era for that matter would fall hard for this book.

I was the fortunate winner of a contest by the author Barbara Bretton and received this book from the always gracious author. I also received her other book which precedes this one: SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY - The 1940's. I loved the characters and the storyline and how effortlessly the author put in historical details without bogging down the story. Harlequin put out a line of books in the early 1990's called "A Century of American Romance" which had a story set in each decade. What a gift it would be if the publisher re-released these treasures to the readers. I, for one would buy them all.

Maggy O'Brien is the divorced mother of two. Her sisters surprise her for her 35th birthday by giving her a complete makeover and a weekend in Atlantic City at a casino. There she meets cop Conor Riley who is still haunted by the death of his partner -- thinking he might have been able to prevent it. He literally sweeps Maggy off her feet and they have a glorious weekend together. They fall for each other immediately but all doesn't go well as despite their ages (35 and 38) they still have meddling families. It isn't until a near tragedy occurs that the families can put their meddling behind them. This is a elationship story at its best. I haven't read a lot of Barbara Bretton's stories but really enjoyed her SLEEPING ALONE a couple years ago, and now with this one she's definitely on my automatic buy list.

Well, OK, I lied!! It could have been just a chapter or two longer!! I hated for it to end! This contemporary romance had everything to make it satisfying. The story was believable for the most part and the pace was just fast enough to make this a perfect book when you want something with substance that will satisfy in a hurry. The love scenes, the characters, the plot lines, the beautiful messages of the story, were all placed so perfectly on the pages of this novel that anyone who reads this will hope for a real life sequel!

A wonderfull fast paced story, makes you believe in love at first site and gives hope that all passion is not gone from the world! I read it in one day will read it again. The problems with divorce and getting the children to accept someone new is really touching and the way it is done is brilliant. As for the fast moving romance, what woman wouldnt be in bed with this man in 24 hours!

Julie Beard - My True Love Gave to Me Anne Clancy looks to be celebrating Christmas alone - not even her black cat Niner is around having been missing these last four days. Hearing what she thinks is his bell, she rushes out in a snowstorm calling for him and is hit by a car. When a most startling blue-eyed gorgeous hunk of man revives her, she assumes it is her neighbors friend who she was to meet that evening - darn but she could have warned her he was drop dead gorgeous! Only it wasn't the neighbor's friend - and it wasn't even Wisconsin, USA 1975 anymore either. She was catapulted back in time and mistaken for this gorgeous hunk of a medieval knight's intended bride. Now what's a modern girl to do? Divine short story with a lovely ending.

Jo Beverley - A Gift of Light Kitty Mayhew was alone working on a tapestry trying to figure out what was wrong with her mother's cat who was making the strangest sounds and putting her body through some very strange contortions. It was her maid Polly that let her know that the problem was that the cat was in heat and hadn't she heard the 'tom cats' making all kinds of racket at night. The very worst of the 'tom cats' was a big black one that she found out belonged to a neighbor. Armed with all the dignity she could muster Kitty went to the neighbor insisting they control their 'tom' cat from courting her female. What she discovered was a very impudent owner who didn't seem to see that this was as much of a problem as she did. In fact, this rascally 'Lord Chatterton' thought that this little spitfire needed to be taught the finer points of courting - human style. Through a ruse using the servants courtship as an excuse, he talked Kitty into the two of them acting as chaperones to find out if the servants budding courtship would last if it didn't have to be kept clandestine and would be brought into the open.

This was a cute, lovely story with some sweet and sassy dialog. Lord Chatterton was the initiator of trying to teach a lesson in courtship, but it was Kitty who finally taught Tom, Lord Chatterton, what it really meant to let in the 'light of the Christmas season' and truly love.

Barbara Bretton - Home for the Holidays This was a darling story told partly from Sebastian, a Maine Coon cat's perspective and partly from his human owners, Jill and David. It is Christmas Eve and David and Jill are divorcing. Jill and David had been together since college; loving each other thru the hard times then slowly falling apart as David's need to advance his career and make more and more money was more important than spending time with his family. It would take Sebastian, the cat they both loved, on a journey that they could follow - to make David remember that the most important thing he needed was Jill and that they were partners - and that they were once happiest when all they had was a little money but whole lot of love. Sweet story.

Lynn Kurland - The Gift of Christmas Past I really liked this offering from Lynn Kurland. Sir Sweetums, Abigail Garrett's cat, has been missing, and her life feels as though it has gone down the drain, no job, no cat, no unemployment insurance, and no boyfriend just a couple of days before Christmas - she felt like George Bailey and was ready to jump off a bridge into the river. Well, she didn't exactly jump but she did fall in and when she came up for air she found herself in a cesspool of a moat. Not only a moat, but she was no longer in Wisconsin, but England and it wasn't 1998 anymore but 1238! She dragged herself out of the moat, and made her way to the gate at the top of the drawbridge - only to find a surly man dressed up like a medieval knight holding a sword and he didn't quite know what to make of her either! This was a really darling story with Sir Sweetums, who had passed by his ninth life, and was now a guardian angel cat who had one last human he had to find a suitable mate for. Very nice and romantic as these two people from different times had to come to grips with each other and the truth of who they were! Very humorous as well!

As usual I bought this anthology for Lynn Kurland's story, but found the whole anthology to be excellent. And I liked all the cats involved as well. But it's on Lynn's story that I would like to focus my review. After losing her job, boyfriend and social security Abigail Moira Garrett is led back in time by the ghost of her dead cat Sir Maximilian Sweetums by way of Murphy's pond and a castle's moat. Abigail finds herself in thirteenth century England at Miles de Piaget's keep (Miles is the uncle of Kendrick Stardust of Yesterday's hero). After having cleaned up Abigail faces her situation. She and Miles fall in love and marry, and De Piaget family welcome Abigail warmly into their midst. Lynn proves she knows how to write the novella too. It was humorous and witty and the love of Abigail and Miles portrayed with her costumary tenderness. Abigail and Miles are a great pair: She a warm and independent heroine and he a gruff but outspoken knight (quite liberal for his time). And it's exclusively set at Miles' dilapidated keep Speningethorpe. Abigail and Miles are back in The More I see you and Miles has a supporting role in his brother Robin's story If I had you. But I still wish that this one had been a full length novel. Anyway Abigail and Miles are two of my favourite characters in Lynn's De Piaget series.

I bought this book for the Lynn Kurland story. It is wonderful. Miles and Abby are made for each other. I loved it for the time-travel aspect. Lynn knows how to capture the essence of the times she sends her hero's and heroin's back to.

If you want to carry on reading about Miles and Abby's life together read THE MORE I SEE YOU, it is set about 20yrs. after this story. You won't be dissapointed.

Once Around is the first Barbara Bretton novel I have read and it won't be the last! Contrary to other reviewers, I found Molly to be an evolving character, gaining strength and becoming powerful and self-assured. Bretton does a great job on character development, which enables the reader to easily embrace and relate to all of the characters. You are drawn into Molly's tragedy and can feel her pain and heartache. I found Rafe to be a strong and compassionate character and you genuinely cheer for both he and Molly and a life of happiness together.

Bretton is another one of those authors expounding upon the power of love in the midst of tragedy.

This story was nicely written, tender and compassionate and a story you want to savor for a long time. It is a story of hope and joy and I thoroughly recommend it!

Something simular happened to me. I know just how Molly felt and the Author captured it 110%!! I loved this book and will read it again.

As with all of Barbara Bretton's books, this one is one that I know I'll take down every few months and re-read for the simple joy of getting lost in a sweet, romantic, touching love story that stays with you long after you read the last chapter.

Molly is a determined woman, forced to find the strength and the courage to make a life for herself and her unborn baby after her husband deserts her, and Rafe is the epitome of the big, strong, silent Dream Man we'd all sell our souls to claim as our own. The only thing they have in common is Molly's good-for-nothing husband, and an empty, lonely house. With the promise of true love, and the anticipation of 'their' baby's birth Molly and Rafe turn a house into a home, and help each other heal some very old and painful wounds.

Don't even hesitate. Get this book, now, and enjoy it over and over and over and over.........

I'm not always in the mood for romances, but when I am, I'm very picky. I want them to make sense, I want the characters to be likeable and believable, I want a story I can sink my teeth into, and above all, I want (of course) a happy ending.

When I first picked up "A Soft Place to Fall," it did not hold my interest. Try as I might, I could not get past the first chapter. But something kept me from putting it away permanently, and a few days ago, I was drawn to it again. This time, I was hooked. I'm not sure what put me off the first time, but this time around, I loved the story, the characters, the writing--everything.

Basically, the plot revolves around two lost souls. Annie Galloway, everybody's vision of a perfect bride, and a perfect wife in a perfect marriage, has lost her perfect husband when she is only in her 30s. Only she knows the truth behind the facade of her seemingly fairy-tale life, and she cannot reveal it to anybody. Her grieving mother-in-law, Claudia, looks to her as a remnant of her lost son. Her friends and family continue the myth. So Annie finds herself a cottage in her home town of Shelter Rock Cove, Maine, and tries to pick up the pieces of her ruined life. All of her dreams, of happiness, of motherhood, of everything--seem gone forever. She is a shell, but a strong shell, if that makes any sense.

Close by lives newly arrived Sam Butler, back home after a high-flying career in New York. Only he knows the terrible secret that haunts him and threatens his peace and security. He is in no better shape emotionally than Annie.

Sam and Annie meet, and, in the way of most romance novels, sparks fly. But this book is written with intelligence and dignity. They do not eye one another and then jump into bed. A great deal of hurt is contained in each of these people, and as in real life, each is afraid to reveal that hurt or to risk another one. When they finally do fall in love, they do not live happily ever after. Reality intrudes. Big-time.

How they solve their very real and very overwhelming problems while trying to save their budding relationship is the core of this wonderful story. I loved every word of it. And yes (sigh), it does have a happy ending.

The first book by Barbara Bretton for me will not be the last!
The book was enjoyable right from the start and kept me interested until the last page. I liked every one of the charaters;Annie and Sam were easy to love. Even the dog! The flower shop business was refreshing and the mother-in-law and the wise loving businessman who plays matchmaker were so rich in lifelessons. Wish I could find a place just like Shelter Rock Cove and know neighbors like these. I want to know what happens with those baby doctors who played minor but important roles!
I refrained from giving it five stars because I felt the author could have gone into a bit more description and development in the beginning of the story and at the end. Even so, it was more than just an enjoyable read. Each character was interesting and had just enough depth to satisfy. If you like contemporary romance and family story lines and a book to read at night that will definitely give you sweet dreams, pick this!
I see a sequel Ms.Bretton!

Sam Butler and Annie Galloway were playing the cards they were dealt. Each of them loses both of their parents at a very young age. Each of them is so bound by family responsibility that they overlook one very important thing--their own happiness.

This is a love story that is dying to be told. It is a love story that is destined to happen. And although the plot is fairly predictable at the climax, the reader cannot possibly stop reading to find out if these two wonderful, loving people can outrun their pasts and actually find their own happiness.

It is a beautifully written romance. Hearts will thump during the romantic encounters. Tears will flow at the end. Then the urge to reread will immediately begin. A joyous book for romance lovers.