Tamarisk [ペーパーバック]

Tamarisk's mother Mavreen went to Russia in search of her lover Gerard de Valle (an officer in Napoleon's army) and is feared dead. Never fear, it takes more than a Russian winter to stop our gal, like a cat she always lands on her feet. Mavreen arrives home and shocks Tamarisk to the core when Gerard is introduced not only as her mother's intended, but that he's her real father! You know that's not going to go over well and since our heroine is fifteen you know that there's going to be tons of teenage angst, right? Raise your hands if you were a perfect joy to your parents at that age, I dare ya.

Tamarisk thinks she's in love with her mother's former lover (who only loves Mavreen and is much too old for the daughter anyway), and she does really stupid things to get him to marry her that get her into really stupid situations. Again and again and again and again (yes, it gets old after a while).

"It was pretty stupid of me, I know..."

Yes. It. Was.

As for Mavreen and Gerard and their own personal HEA after all those years of strum and drang and separation?

"She would not spoil the harmony of the moment by reminding him that throughout those twenty-three years they had spent less than one month together; that if the truth were to be admitted, neither knew the other very well."

Uh oh. Unfortunately I really can't tell you a whole lot more than this as the finer details would spoil a lot of what happens in the first book in this trilogy, Mavreen. This was an OK read, Tamarisk just didn't have the *verve* that her mother had and her little escapades got old real fast - let alone how she's always able to get off on her own even when she's being watched like a hawk. In some ways this felt like a *set-up* book for the last in the trilogy, Chantal, and from taking a peek at the cast of characters I think we might be in for quite a ride. Pirates. Ship wrecks. Evil slave traders. Gerard's deliciously nasty natural son Antoine. And just you wait until you see that cover...

This book is as frustrating as the last one, though entertaining. Tamarisk is not as likeable as her mother, being a bit of a spoiled brat who tends to run away from home a lot if someone upsets her or if she imagines herself to be in love. However, this book starts with Tamarisk being told Gerard is her father and that Mavreen is going to marry him. Then it shows Mavreen and Gerard married and really getting to know each other. They discover, of course, that even though they've loved each other for many years, they really don't have a whole lot in common and rarely agree on anything unless they're in the sack together. Figures. Gerard turns out to be a big jerk and you just find yourself wishing Mavreen would divorce him and marry Gideon like she should have in the first place. Can't wait to read Chantal, the third in the series.