The Romance Reviews

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Short and Sweet: Romances for when you're in a hurry

I love writing big adventure romances, high stakes, lots of action, stress and 'Can I trust the person I love?' in my historical romances and romantic suspense. Sometimes I also like to write a little shorter, a little sweeter, with a steady, building pulse of joy running through my stories.

Here throughout this month at Lindsay's Romantics are my short and sweeter romances, romances for enjoying when you're in a hurry, romances you can easily pick up again. Other authors at Lindsay's Romantics may also do the same here, so keep coming back to look.

Since I love reading about 'abroad,' several of my shorter romantic suspense stories are set in foreign locations - with foreign heroes. Here is my first, 'A Secret Treasure,' set on the Greek island of Rhodes.


A Secret Treasure.

The Greek island of Rhodes: luxurious and hot, beloved haunt of the Sun God, steeped in the mysteries of the past. In the late 1930s during the gathering storm-clouds of war, it is a dangerous place to fall in love.

When pretty, passionate Eve Burnett meets the darkly intriguing Julio Falcone, she is torn. As a man, Julio is powerfully attractive. As a policeman, he is bound to be a Fascist. Her brother, David, who is missing, is connected to the Greek Partisans who wish to liberate Rhodes from their Italian overlords.

Now, as David appears at their parents' house soon after Julio makes Eve's acquaintance, Eve is compelled to hide her brother and a mysterious gold statuette. The Fascists are looking for him and this secret treasure. Soon, Eve realizes that she may be forced to choose between the man she loves and the ultimate safety of her family.

(If you like romantic suspense in Greek island settings, you may also like Night of the Storm, also set in Rhodes, and the Corfu-based The English Daughter, both reissued as ebooks at Amazon and Smashwords.)








Bookstrand Publishing
1606011057
$3.99 Ebook


Read an excerpt

Ebook available now from

Amazon Kindle (US)
Amazon Kindle (UK)
Bookstrand
All Romance Ebooks
Barnes and Noble
Diesel

Buy the audiobook - details here

Print edition (POD):

A Secret Treasure and Holiday in Bologna are available together as Summer Duet.


Read Reviews:

Coffee Time Romance:

I liked Eve immediately. She is full of common sense, good values, and is a hard worker. The rest of her family I was not so thrilled about. A more condescending bunch would be hard to find. They treat her like an idiot child and expect her to work ceaselessly to take care of them, when I suspect that they could well afford someone to help her. Julio is a great character; he is trying to get by in a very trying time. He and Eve have a very sweet love story with a lot of suspense, and a particularly vile villain. Ms. Townsend paints a beautiful picture of Rhodes and its towns and people, as well as giving the reader a plot fraught with tension and danger.

Fallen Angel Reviews:

This is no armchair tourist account of Rhodes. It is clear Lindsay Townsend knows the island. She weaves her knowledge of history and setting into A Secret Treasure. Both Julio and Eve are unique, well crafted characters. Their courtship is natural and charming. The bad guy is deliciously bad. It is fortunate that A Secret Treasure is only 102 pages long as you’ll want to read it all in one sitting.

Red Roses for Authors:

This is an exciting mystery romance that takes place during troubled times, before the Italians joined the Germans in World War 11. As usual, Townsend carries the reader with her to the finish of this story, which ends with a clever twist. Well worth reading.

The Long and the Short of It:

Suspenseful from its opening lines, Townsend’s A Secret Treasure takes us on a journey through historic Italy and into a story that charms with its joys, terrifies with its suspense, and more than intrigues with very unusual and interesting setting.

Wild on Books:
 
A Secret Treasure catches the readers eyes with its expertly written plot abounding with secrets and suspense. I loved watching Julio and Eve fall in love and the fact that they loved each other so desperately was just icing on the cake. Lindsay Townsend continues to release novels that are emotionally gripping. While A Secret Treasure is not as explicit sexually as some of her other novels, I hardly noticed. I was too involved with the story and Julio’s dreaminess!


Lindsay Townsend

4 comments:

Sherry Gloag said...

Thanks for this. There are several books I'm adding to my wish list.

Lindsay Townsend said...

Thanks, Sherry! (If you'd like to take part just drop me an email)

Jenny Twist said...

I want to read all of these. I'm just trying to get on top of my review list!

Rosemary Gemmell said...

I like shorter romances too sometimes - sounds great, Lindsay.