Tracy is a member of the board of the Merola Opera Program, a training program for professional opera singers, coaches, pianists and stage directors. Tracy started writing during her teenage years and undergraduate years and with the help of her mother, Joan Grant she was able to write Regency romances. Even after her mother passed on in , she has continued writing the historical romance that is set up in the Regency period. Tracy tried her luck by writing three historical romances, but the more she wrote, the more she learned that the traits of historical fiction and ancient mystery were intermarrying with her romance quests.
In love, just like in war, nothing is fair.
- Appearances/Interviews;
- The Chicago Cap Murders;
- Catch the Light: While you have the light.
- How Life Really Works: The Answer To Finding Your Purpose & Personal Fulfillment.
Elites from all over Europe have gathered at the meticulous Congress of Vienna. The group is made up of princes, ambassadors, and the Russian Tsar.
The Mask of Night
They have all met to discuss the fate of Europe during the day, and they do not miss a chance to pursue pleasures by night. This routine goes on until Princess Tatiana, a woman of absolute beauty whose name is in the mouth of every person in Vienna, is found murdered. The murder happens during a wrongly timed meeting with three of her most powerful conquests.
Suzanne Rannoch tries to focus on ignoring the rumors making rounds about her new husband, Malcolm. It is claimed that Malcolm too had also had strings attached with Tatiana. His positions incline him to set out and hatch an investigation concerning the murder. The investigation is a complicated ball between a man and his wife searching for the truth. As the search goes on the secrets are safe no more, and the future of Europe is at the risk of being left hanging in the balance.
In the midst of the treacheries of war and the whirl of revelry, people are not what they seem to be. The Congress of Vienna is not standing on its feet, and the Duke of Wellington is getting ready for war. The festivities are brought to an end when Malcolm is sent on a dangerous errand that is bound to reveal the cruel world of spying.
No one can point a finger to what business that the demure and well respected Lady Julia Ashton had at the chateau where agent Malcolm and one other British spy were attacked. As those with conflict with Napoleon march towards the Waterloo, and the Brussels surrender to Bedlam, the husband and wife will soon be on a mission, to search for the truth, unraveling a complex maze of evil secrets and betrayal, within which no one can be trusted.
Charlotte de Ribard and Francis Sturbridge were what you could call best friends sometime back. However, that did not hinder Francis from always wanting more than just a friendship from Charlotte. It is many years later now, and Francis has climbed the ladders of life, currently serving as a member of the House of August.
He also happens to be her only remaining hope to rescue her family from shame. Desperate moments call for drastic measures, so she reaches out to the man she chased away like a dog a few years back and attempted to despise. At this moment she is ready to risk it all, aside from her heart and the feelings of passion that she ensured got buried long ago. However, her request comes at a cost, and the price is marriage. It came as a shock to Francis when Charlotte said yes. Charlotte agreed to a marriage of convenience. She was to be his wife, but only in name, she was also to be the mother of his orphaned family.
All of a sudden, all that he had ever wanted was within his reach, but he still could not grasp it. Has it occurred to you that that might still be the case? It takes awhile to sort everything out, and the amount of conniving and scheming and nefarious dealings are startling, but not particularly unexpected for that time. Consider that dotted throughout the story, are historical facts. Set in London in June This is a very short story.
So just be aware of what you are getting. This is the 8th book in the series, but set towards the very beginning of the overarching story, and probably a good introduction to the characters, if you are not familiar with them. The Paris Affair They are supposed to meet with a French informant who wants out of Paris, and is willing to blackmail multiple members of the British diplomatic corps in his effort to leave. He also gives Malcolm a bit of intelligence to spur him on as well—his half-sister may have had a child.
First, the Dramatis Personae was invaluable, because there are a LOT of characters, and many of them are related to each other, through complex histories of marriages and re-marraiges and bastard children. Marriages and re-marriages and illegitimate children were complicated, and the British aristocracy was just plain complicated with people having names and titles and referring to each other interchangeably with each.
For example, Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh is called Stewart, Castlereagh and Robert by different people, depending upon his relationship with those people. So the ability to jump back and forth between the Dramatis Personae and the story was a huge help. Additionally, the mystery was really complex and complicated, although in a way that was perfectly appropriate to the time period.
Women regularly went away to hide pregnancies, and there was no DNA testing to prove paternity. I found the twists and turns very enjoyable. Paul lifted his brows. Stunningly beautiful AND although there is a feeling of intrigue and danger, the woman on the cover looks neither scared nor meek. The Paris Plot I actually read this back in August, but had forgotten to review it. Set in Paris, in , this novella finds Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch awaiting the birth of their second child. The problem is that each member of the household assumes the note and rock were directed at them.
Although only a novella, I quite enjoyed checking in with the charaters I first met in The Paris Affair. The Berkeley Square Affair Set in London in Interestingly, this is a re-writing of her first book, Secrets of a Lady , so I was slightly confused for awhile, until I realized what was going on.
Though in so many ways, that makes sense, since these were arranged marriages from which there was no divorce. I also found the start of the mystery—a lost early version of Hamlet quite interesting as well. The Mayfair Affair Malcolm and Susanne Rannoch have had a difficult three months, after Malcolm finally learns that Susanne had been a French agent.
First and foremost, there was one anachronistic phrase in the book that irritated the crap out of me, mostly because I know the history and find the phrase itself incredibly irritating. That phrase dates back only to the s, and is entirely overused. So that bugged me to see the phrase there. Otherwise, is was another enjoyable historical mystery. I find the thought intolerable in general.
Publication Order of Rannoch / Fraser Books
All you can do is look at where you are on the board and make the best move possible given your past choices. Incident in Berkeley Square Set in London in April Malcolm and Suzanne are hosting a party—an event to help introduce Laura their former governess into society, when Raoul and two other spies take refuge in their library.
This is a short story, so it is a small intrigue that is the mystery, but it was still fun to see how the characters deal with the unexpected—and with each other. I will admit that an anachronism in this book started me off on a long discussion with Michael about how hard it would be to develop a program that highlights words that came into use after the book was set.
Mostly because this is the second time this author has done it to me, this time with the word introvert, which is most definitely a 20th century word. It seems to me that someone should be able to develop this. Set in London June It was too much, even to share with Simon. David looked up and tossed down the last of his brandy. God knows there are worse compromises made on the marriage mart every day. One of the things I find fascinating about this series is how we see the everyday life that surrounds the lives of these spies.
When she returned to the sofa, Cordelia had pulled the cherry-colored gauze of her scarf close about her. The book ends with a huge but not especially unexpected change in the lives of the characters. Set in London and Europe in the summer of David and Simon are still trying to work out their problems—after all it was Carfax telling Malcolm that Susanne had been a spy that caused them to leave.
Adam Durward is the son of a English father and an Indian mother, and as such has never felt comfortable anywhere, but does have the ability to blend in throughout Europe as needed, which serves him well as a spy. Caroline is a spoiled and irritating woman who turned down Adam for a safer and more conventional marriage to the more wealthy Jared Rawley. When Jared is accused of treason—by Adam—Caroline goes to Adam to beg him stop.
Interestingly, I quite liked the secondary romance, between Hawkins and his love—it was complicated, but for very good reasons. What was good about this story was the mystery. Every time a new discovery is made, it makes the mystery even more complicated, even when you consider cui bono. Pretty fascinating stuff—at least to me. So, a pretty good mystery, despite some of the characters being irritating. They had been an early gift from Jared and she wondered with a pang how much they had contributed to his mountain of debt.
Kindle Editions
Caroline fastened the second earring. That paragraph there I like so very much. Adam Durward has used his ability with languages to move throughout Europe, gathering information. He also investigated issues in England, including the problem of exploding canon. Caroline Rawley has known Adam since they were children. But when Adam is involved into a criminal investigation involving her husband, Caroline turns to Adam in the hopes he can help.
What is so compelling is the land and time they travel through. The country was wild and beautiful. As they neared the River Tagus they came upon vineyards and olive trees and groves of oranges, their golden fruit giving promise of sun and plenty. But the ravages of war remained.
Houses stood in ruin and village squares were overrun with weeds. One expects to be slaughtered by the enemy.
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We were fighting the French. These were English deaths. Caroline felt the tension coiled tight within him. Set in Scotland and France in Robert Melton and his son are traveling to Scotland to try to discover why his wife was murdered. Because he is a French spy, he is traveling under a false name and not telling the truth about why he is searching for information on Lucie. I really enjoyed the mystery here, as well as the background of the war between England and France. I especially like the look at how the French about the war and about Napoleon.
Series: Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch
The French revolution was conflicting for who wanted a revolution like the United States had, but instead got the guillotine and blood in the streets. I also very much liked Emma, who is attempting to deal with the death of her husband, and the issues they had that were never resolved by his death. She had never been able to believe that God had a plan for allocating loss and pain.
How else to account for the randomness of death? Another thing I particularly liked about this story was that the main characters were a widow and widower who had children—they were both grownups who knew what they wanted. And it made the romance far more realistic. But as I said, I especially liked the mystery, and the difficulty it caused between the hero and heroine. Emma Blair is a widow who is the titular head of the house—a house that has a feud with their neighbors that is threatening to blow out of control.
Emma looked at Arabel. Robert Lescaut is a French colonel and spy who is searching for the man who murdered his wife—a woman who was from Scotland. Not brave, I think, as much as foolhardy. These are really delightful stories. Could you pass the milk, Adam?
There are actually three primary characters in this story: Robert, Emma, and the War with Napoleon. Emma was used to dealing with everyday injuries, wounds from fights and falls and accidents. Save when Allan had been invalided home, his wounds already neatly stitched, she had never seen the damage done by musket shot or cannon or sabre. The wounds were filthy and infected. Her heart aching with pity, she cleansed and picked out pieces of cloth and debris and bandaged as best she could.
She gave water to men who could ask for nothing more. She promised to send the letters of dying men to wives and sweethearts, and when there was nothing more to be done, she closed their eyes. As she rose from the bed, Charlie took her hand. We started out in line, but later we formed a square with the 28th. We stood them off. It took all day, but we stood them off. Robert pulled his cloak closer about him and cursed the fate that had sent them storms in the middle of June. Eighteen hours of pelting rain had flattened the high-standing rye and turned the fields into a sea of mud.
It had been near midnight before the troops were bivouacked for the night, drenched, tired, hungry, and dispirited. Many of the soldiers had arrived barefoot, their boots and shoes sucked into the mud on the slow march from Quatre Bras. There was no shelter. Officers and staff occupied the few farms and huts that could be found. No fire would burn, no musket would fire. Scarcely a shot had been exchanged the entire day. Downstairs, Emma found that Adam had brought Kirsty and David back. The children were sitting on the floor, talking to the wounded men, seeming undismayed by their groans and injuries.
They had spent the day, Kirsty informed her, helping Caroline take care of the sick men who had been brought to her house. Of course there is romance and mystery as well. But the historical bits about the war she pulled from primary sources are heart breaking, and make the love and forgiveness that much more understandable.