From Publishers Weekly
Seasoned historical romance writer Brenda Joyce recently branched out into contemporary fiction with a new series (House of Dreams), written under the pseudonym B.D. Joyce. Beautiful socialite Francesca Cahill is a determined bluestocking who prefers learning and good causes to society's dizzying whirl. As a reluctant guest at a family ball, she meets New York's handsome, young, but feckless police commissioner, Rick Bragg, while unbeknownst to both of them, a young child is being abducted next door. Soon a series of cryptic notes begins to arrive, each more terrifying than the last. Francesca jumps into crime-solving, and in the process moves from tentative friendship to passion with the dynamic but mysterious Bragg. The implausible crime (for example, how did the child's abductorAhis father, an ineffectual socialiteAget hold of the tip of an unidentified person's ear?) and its flimsy resolution are unsatisfying, even for a lighthearted book. In contrast, Joyce excels at creating twists and turns in her characters' personal lives. The steamy revelations that confront Francesca as she probes into the secrets of friends and family are genuinely intriguing, and just enough of them are left unresolved at the book's end to leave readers waiting eagerly for the series' next installment. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In the first of a projected series that seems to derive its inspiration from Nora Roberts's J.D. Robb romantic suspense novels, Joyce takes a rebellious New York socialite who wants more from life than simply marrying well and a new police commissioner with a past. She then gives them a kidnapping to solve that drags them into New York's seamy underside and into a romantic relationship as well. Fast-paced, sensual, and intriguing, this title will hold special appeal to fans of Joyce's earlier Bragg family series because the powerful, dynamic hero is one of their own. Joyce is a popular author of a number of types of romance, including some earlier violently sensual works; this is her first book under the B.D. Joyce pseudonym. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Dear Readers:

I have a confession to make. I never know where my "muse" will take me next. It has been an exciting literary journey--my writing has evolved in many unexpected way, including recently into the realm of powerful and suspenseful contemporary women's fiction, which I shall continue to write under my own name, Brenda Joyce. I have never lost sight, however, of my audience--my historical romance readers, and especially fans of my books featuring the Bragg family. To this day, many of you still clamor for more Bragg books. Well, imagine my surprise when my "muse" prompted me to begin a new historical romance suspense series--and then I realized a Bragg had to be the hero! And so the nom de plume B.D. Joyce was born, and with it, the first book in an ongoing series, Deadly Love.

Welcome to the world of Francesca Cahill, crime-solver extraordinaire. Francesca is no ordinary heroine. She refuses to bow to convention, wears her heart on her sleeve, and is determined to right the ills and injustices of society/ Deadly love begins Francesca's mad escapades when the neighbors' little boy is kidnapped right out of his bed during a society ball. It is January 18, 1902. Francesca stumbles across the ransom note just as she meets New York City's newly appointed police commissioner, Rick Bragg. And Fracesca can no more stay out of this investigation than she can stop herself from falling love with the city's determined and powerful police commissioner. But little does she know that on this singular night, he life will change forever.

Let me take you back in time to the lost, magical world of turn-of-the-century New York City--where the glittering mansions of society's elite are only footsteps away from the impoverished back alleys of the city'sunderbelly--and into the heart of true danger and even truer passion.

Enjoy!
Best wishes and Happy Reading,

B.D. Joyce
(a.k.a. Brenda Joyce)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Welcome to the world of Francesca Cahill, crime-solver extraordinaire. Francesca is no ordinary heroine. She refuses to bow to convention, wears her heart on her sleeve, and isdetermined to right the ills and injustices of society. Deadly Love begins Francesca's mad escapades when the neighbors' little boy is kidnapped right out of his bed during a society ball. It is January 18, 1902. Francesca stumbles across the ransom note just as she meets New York City's newly appointed p olice commissioner, Rick Bragg. And Francesca can no more stay out of this investigation than she can stop herself from falling in love with the city's determined and powerful police commissioner. But little does she know that on this singular night, her life will change forever.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Seasoned historical romance writer Brenda Joyce recently branched out into contemporary fiction with a new series (House of Dreams), written under the pseudonym B.D. Joyce. Beautiful socialite Francesca Cahill is a determined bluestocking who prefers learning and good causes to society's dizzying whirl. As a reluctant guest at a family ball, she meets New York's handsome, young, but feckless police commissioner, Rick Bragg, while unbeknownst to both of them, a young child is being abducted next door. Soon a series of cryptic notes begins to arrive, each more terrifying than the last. Francesca jumps into crime-solving, and in the process moves from tentative friendship to passion with the dynamic but mysterious Bragg. The implausible crime (for example, how did the child's abductor--his father, an ineffectual socialite--get hold of the tip of an unidentified person's ear?) and its flimsy resolution are unsatisfying, even for a lighthearted book. In contrast, Joyce excels at creating twists and turns in her characters' personal lives. The steamy revelations that confront Francesca as she probes into the secrets of friends and family are genuinely intriguing, and just enough of them are left unresolved at the book's end to leave readers waiting eagerly for the series' next installment. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal