Setting: London, present day and early 20th century
Sensuality Rating: 5 Bestselling author Brenda Joyce makes her hardcover debut with The Third Heiress, a tale of suspense and romance that spans a century. Following a car crash, professional dancer Jill Gallagher holds her dying fiancé in her arms as he whispers, "I love you... Kate." Left with the wretched task of returning Hal's body to London and the aristocratic Sheldon family, Jill encounters hostility, malevolence, and a 90-year-old mystery involving a beautiful young American woman named Kate Gallagher and her impossible love affair with Edward Sheldon, Viscount Braxton.
A tangled web of love, lies, and murder begins to unravel as Jill digs into the scandal, revealing that very little has changed in the century since Kate Gallagher first caught Edward Sheldon's fancy--especially when the blue-blooded family lineage is threatened by an American upstart. When someone begins warning Jill off her research by ransacking her rented flat and slicing her car brakes, she isn't sure if Hal's American-born cousin Alex Preston is friend or foe. Alex claims to want to help, but Jill suspects that he is not telling her the truth. And with the threats against her life intensifying, Jill is running out of options quickly. A well-crafted novel infused with passion and suspense, The Third Heiress will both delight Joyce's devoted fans and attract new readers. --Alison Trinkle
When Hal, her fiance, utters "I love you, Kate" as his dying words, Jill Gallager is devastated. She accompanies his body back to London to be met with hate and suspicion by his family and the woman they say he had planned to marry. Seeking solace in Hal's former bedroom, she finds an obviously cherished antique photo of two women, one his grandmother and the other a woman named Kate Gallager who bears an astonishing resemblance to her. As this modern gothic unravels, Jill doesn't know whom to trust and whom to fear as she researches Kate Gallager, an American heiress who disappeared in 1909. Kate's tale is told through a series of dreams and visions that terrify Jill, who is already spooked by attacks from an unknown source. After proceeding at a stately pace, the action suddenly speeds up as veteran romancer Joyce brings her first hardcover romantic suspense novel to an exciting conclusion. Diana Tixier Herald
From Kirkus Reviews
Joyces hardcover debut is a decently crafted modern gothic, with the standard castle on a cliff and some graphic sex. Jill Gallagher, a young dancer, is driving a car when it hits a tree and fatally injures her lover, Hal Sheldon, whose last words before he goes to his maker are I love you . . . Kate. Understandably curious about this Kates identity, Jill accompanies Hals body back to London, where she stays with his parents, the Earl and Countess of Collinsworth, their son, daughter, and Alex Preston (an American relative raised in poverty but now reclaimed by the Sheldons)none of them pleased to make her acquaintance. Sick with grief, Jill makes her way to Hals old room, where she finds a picture of Anne Bensonhurst, the current earls mother, with best friend Kate Gallagher, an American heiress who disappeared when she was 18 and was never found. Jill notes the resemblance between herself and Kate, including their identical surnames. Could Kate be her great-grandmother? Jill, an orphan who craves a family history, becomes an obsessive detective; she imagines she feels Kates ghost reaching out for justice. Her hunt for clues, in London and at the Collinsworth home in Yorkshire, is interwoven with flashbacks to Kates friendship with Anne and her love affair with Edward Sheldon, Annes husband. Meanwhile, Jill's East Village neighbor (conveniently psychic) warns her repeatedly that shes in grave danger. Ever in turmoil about whom to trust, Jill finds herself attracted to Alex, a handsome tycoon with a Lamborghini and a sensuous collection of cashmere sweaters. Jills inner life gets pretty tedious, but, still, the author manages enough real suspense to spark curiosity about her second effort. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"Bestselling author Brenda Joyce mixes intrigue and romance into a page-turning tale you'll be loathe to put down." --Playgirl
"Brenda Joyce has crafted a genealogical thriller of family secrets and obsessions that is sure to keep you up, reading into the night!" --Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
"Joyce brings her first hardcover romantic suspense novel to an exciting conclusion." ---Booklist
"A tense and atmospheric thriller. The Third Heiress adds gothic and ghostly overtones to a story of one woman's obsessive quest for truth and justice." -Romantic Times
"Brenda Joyce has combined modern romance with semi-time travel, historical romance and a mystery all in one intriguing story. A must read!" --Affaire de Coeur
About the Author
Brenda Joyce is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourty-nine novels and five novellas. There are over fourteen million copies of her novels in print and she is published in over a dozen foreign countries. A native New Yorker, she now lives in southern Arizona with her son, dogs and numerous Arabian and Half-Arabian reining horses. Brenda divides her time between her twin passions' writing powerful love stories and her quest to become a nationally ranked Top Ten equestrian. For more information about Brenda and her upcoming novels, please visit her websites: www.brendajoyce.com, www.francescacahillseries.com www.thedewarennedynasty.com and www.mastersoftimebooks.com.
