Review: Nicole's Story was Just as Good As Marions in Book one
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2013
This book tackles the life after Jean Cuvier's death of the second wife, Nicole.Eager and excited Nicole goes to New Orleans to share the good news that she is expecting with her husband of four years only to discover that he has been murdered and that he was a bigamist.  She is not his first wife so now her baby will bear the shame of illegitimacy.  This is a particularly hard blow for Nicole because she grew up under such circumstances and never wanted it for her own child.  Nicole learns at the reading of Jean's will that the only thing she is getting from her sham marriage is the sugar plantation because Jean put it in her name.  Nicole forms a plan and acts on it fast when she gets home.  She will marry a man to give her child a name, but the marriage will be temporary only until the birth of her child and she will have her beloved plantation home to share with her child.Maxim Viel has grown up with his grandfather and mother convincing him that it is his job to restore the family name by restoring Rosewood plantation to the Viel family.  His wealth now accumulated, he seeks to buy the plantation from Nicole one of the infamous Cuvier Widows, but she won't sell.  He decides to do a bit of reconnoitering to learn what it will take to get her to sell and gets the shock of his life when she makes him an offer of marriage.This plot is slightly similar to the first one in that the hero is trying to deceive the heroine for something she has and won't give up, she's already gone through a deep deception on the part of Jean Cuvier and in the mean time they fall in love with the hero unable to extricate himself from his lies.  However, that is where the similarities end.  Nicole is very different from Marian in that she fights the stigma of growing up a bastard child who was orphaned at ten and she really does need help running her plantation.  Maxim has his own troubles in that he's dealing with his demanding mother and the demands of the ex-lover who is mother of his son.  Normally, I am not one for deception, but this was a case that if Max told the truth Nicole wouldn't have married him and not known love or probably have been able to get the plantation running for profit.  If Max hadn't married Nicole to get the plantation, he would have never learned to love.And again, while the romance and struggles of Nicole and Maxim are the focal point there is still that side plot about Jean's murder being advanced by a few more clues to Jean's life.This series must be read in order and I recommend it to those who enjoy steamy American historical romance.