Amethyst: Chase Family Series Book 1 Paperback – March 23, 2012

I enjoyed reading this first book in the Chase Family series. It is sexy romance coupled with a a hint of mystery. Amethyst is the story of the oldest member of a family of siblings left homeless by a fire. Amethyst makes beautiful jewelry but is slated to marry her fathet's apprentice..While the fire is devastating, it is blessing in disguise because it saves her from a loveless marriage and places her under the care of Colin Chase. I enjoyed the fun and the interaction between Colin and Amethyst, particularly Colin's caring nature. I look forward to reading more of the family's stories.

This is an interesting twist on the Cinderella story in that Cinderella isn't poor just untitled. The characters and plot were interesting and the sub characters will surely have books of their own and rightly so. However, this book was just a little blah for me. There were too many things going on to really feel that the book was cohesive. While I enjoyed the characters chemistry it was, at times, sickeningly sweet and a bit unbelievable. Overall a decent read, but not a favorite.

good read

Amethyst "Amy" Goldsmith, daughter of a jeweler, is an accomplished and talented jewelry maker who loves her craft and has a great passion for her work but her personal life is hardly as fulfilling. In just two weeks she will be wed to a man whom she does not love - a man who plans to keep her away from her work to make babies and keep his house. Amy longs for love but will not hurt her father by backing out of the unwanted marriage. One day Colin Chase "Earl of Greystone" walks into her family's store and they make an immediate connection but, sadly, he is far out of her league. These first few chapters are wonderful and really hooked me. The historic details are interesting and plentiful and Amy is presented as a likable and compassionate character full of life, dreams and motivation. Then a devastating fire destroys her life and changes everything. She now has the opportunity to take charge of her life but first is rescued by Colin who takes her to his home so she can heal from her physical and emotional wounds. She quickly finds love and acceptance amongst Colin's siblings but receives only the cold shoulder from Colin who wants her gone as soon as possible. Amy decides she wants Colin and comes up with one excuse after another to stick around. It was Colin's attraction to Amy that impelled him to rescue her and it is that same attraction that makes him want her out of his sight as soon as possible. Colin is betrothed to a "titled" woman and has already spent a good portion of the woman's dowry and sees no way to get out of it. And, lets be real, he doesn't want to. For the majority of the story money and titles are more important to Colin than love and it's here that the book lost the most of its appeal for me. Colin and Amy are wildly attracted to each other and obviously belong together but he stubbornly refuses to break off his betrothal. This makes him come across as extremely selfish. Amy deserved so much better. Amy, unfortunately, loses some of her charm because she is forced into the role of pining away for the stubborn Colin instead of concentrating on getting back on her feet. The jewelry crafting, which was such a huge part of her life, takes a back to seat to thoughts of Colin and this was very disappointing. This story is a good choice if you like your books steeped in historic detail and don't mind love-stubborn heroes. The author has an obvious love for her time period and weaves in interesting tidbits whenever possible. Although Colin didn't turn out to be my idea of a hero I do look forward to the forthcoming stories about Colin's siblings who were lovable characters.

This was a tale well told. Obviously it is a romance, that is the genre, but in addition to that it gave some glimpses into life during the time of the London Fire and the reign of Charles II. The characters were well fleshed out, and easily believable. Just when I thought the story was coming to an end, another turn would occur and take the tale to even more levels. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading the other books in this trilogy. First class historical romance.

ok love story

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT. I generally will not post a review on a book that has had many reviews, unless I have something to add. I agree with those readers who found the book too long. After I finished the book, I was disturbed by the fate of Robert, the apprentice to the heroine's father's business. Amethyst and Colin are in love, but they are each betrothed elsewhere. Colin ends his betrothal honorably, arranging to repay the money he had received and securing a favor for his former fiancé's father. However, Amethyst reneges on her betrothal to Robert, and makes off with the considerable inventory of the business that was supposed to be his. She takes advantage of the fact that the apprentice/betrothal contract was destroyed in the Great Fire of London to leave Robert with virtually no future. He worked as a apprentice in her father's business for over 5 years on the written understanding that he would marry Amethyst and the business would be theirs (legally his). He is portrayed as a villain, but it was not his fault that he and Amethyst had an arranged marriage and they didn't suit one another. He abducts her and tries to force her to marry him, but it is understandable that he felt entitled to do this; they were betrothed and she disappeared with all the assets of the business 10 days before the wedding. When he found her, she refused to acknowledge the betrothal or to tell him where the business inventory was.I do not know if it was honorable for a gentleman to end an engagement at that time (like Colin did). In novels of the Regency period, it is stated that a woman could end an engagement but not a man. I also don't know if Robert would have had any recourse to Amethyst's denial of their betrothal. There were 59 guests scheduled to attend the wedding, not to mention the seamstress, and possible the Guild having knowledge of the situation. In any case, Amethyst and Colin used the assets of the jewelry shop to start their marriage and to prosper. It didn't seem right that they prospered by cheating Robert.I also doubt that the Earl's daughter and second son could have become jewelers in that time. It was considered a "trade", which was considered beneath someone of the nobility. They could be gentleman farmers, soldiers, or clergy, but not tradesmen.

I found this book very entertaining in that it had romance, humor and suspense. I also enjoyed the historical authenticityof the book. I have read the other two books of this triology and found them just as entertaining as book #1.

Excellent book for free