3.5 stars rounded up.

All for You by Lynn Kurland is the 12th book in the de Piaget series and the 18th in the de Piaget/MacLeod crossovers. While Lynn Kurland is one of my favorite authors, I have to say that I did not feel this book was as good as some of her others.

The book was not horrible, but it seemed much more stilted than some of her other books. There were times when it felt as though the story itself did not know where it was headed.

Peaches is also one of those heroines that I tend to despise - she doesn't have a spine. She constantly allows people to just walk all over her. Stephen, on the other hand, I've found charming since the first time he showed up (in 'One Enchanted Evening').

While it's certainly never going to be among my favorites and while it's not as well-written as some Ms. Kurland's other offerings, it was not horrible. I will also admit that it's possible I could be more biased because I have read so many of her books and I expect a certain level of quality which I felt was missing here. Give it a try, but if you're disappointed in it, please consider trying at least one of her other titles before you decide you don't like her as an author! ( )

It was okay. I'm not sure that the characterization was handled amazing. It also seemed a little reliant on the other books in the series. ( )

Peaches Alexander's life is good enough, but when her twin sister pretends to be her and ruins her career and she ends up at a house party where she's not really welcome, or so it seems, and her nemesis is there, Stephen de Piaget, who actually likes her but finds it difficult to talk coherently when she's around, her life just seems to have become a complete mess. When she ends up stumbling through a time portal she finds that maybe Stephen has his uses.

It's a fairly light, charming story with some fun characters. I found it drew me in and kept me reading. ( )

Oh, [a:Lynn Kurland|10359|Lynn Kurland|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1282191556p2/10359.jpg]. Could it be that you are getting tired of writing about the de Piaget and MacLeod families? I know it's tough to find new and unique circumstances and obstacles to romance, and I really had hope this time because the characters seemed to have some sauciness going on at the beginning. But then, quickly, it all seemed too easy on the romance front.

And then there seemed to be an actual time travel paradox going on at the end! If a certain party read certain historical documents, and then other certain parties went back in time and altered those historical documents, does it not follow that the first certain party did not, in fact, read those historical documents in the new and improved timeline? And so, does it not follow that they would have no case and would not then cause a certain other party to perish?

Much as I love this series of books, especially the earlier ones (big shout out to [b:A Garden In The Rain|13078713|A Garden In The Rain|Lynn Kurland|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nocover/60x80.png|1915771] and [b:If I Had You: De Piaget Family Series, Book 2|10268003|If I Had You De Piaget Family Series, Book 2|Lynn Kurland|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1295489162s/10268003.jpg|1353086]), perhaps it's time to take a step back and look for fresh material. It saddens me. Nobody else really writes good time travel romance. You have the corner on this market. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Get drawn in every time you pick it up.

Opening Sentence: If life were a set of scales, Peaches Alexander could safely say that Fate had just dumped a load of bricks on the opposite balance.

The Review:

Ever come across a storyline and find it difficult to be able to summarize it all in one page?

We enter this story as our heroine, Peaches’ life has suffered a major upheaval. It seems that her sister intercepted a phone call from one of her more well-known clients. Peaches Alexander is a personal organizer for the wealthy, keeping their offices and personal spaces clean, tidy and efficient. But when her twin, Tess, goes off on a prominent TV personality, Peaches’ business goes up in flames. Also, on this day of great change, just as Peaches is making a decision about her future, an invitation to a traditional English ball hosted by the dreamy David Preston, Duke of Kenneworth arrives. And it seems that a happily ever after, complete with knight in shining armor, may truly be within her reach. Unfortunately, like any good fairy tale, the trip to her HEA is riddled with speed bumps and rain storms. And the presence of the one whom she believes is her worst enemy.

The hero, Stephen de Piaget, Viscount Haulton, also a baron, and future earl, is painfully aware of Peaches and of her feelings towards him. But he certainly does not return those sentiments. In fact, his feelings for the very pretty Miss Alexander have him tongue-tied whenever he finds himself in her immediate vicinity, and in this condition, has tasted his foot more than once. One evening he is set upon by three ghosts, or shades as they are referred to in this series, and they talk him into attending a ball at the home of his greatest rival, none other than David Preston. As he reaches David’s home he finds himself taking the position of Peaches’ protector, even if she can’t know about it. And, by the end of the party, he realizes that no matter how she feels about him, he means to have her.

Peaches overhears some rather disturbing gossip while in the loo, and decides that she needs to escape from the party for a time. When she stumbles upon a time-traveling gate, her escape not only takes her away from the party, but drops her into the Middle Ages, where she is taken prisoner by some of David’s ancestors. (It is not exactly clear to me how all this works, and I assume it is explained in the earlier books in the series.) When Stephen notices her absence, he begins to look for her outside in the gardens. Like the prince in Cinderella, he is confronted by a solitary shoe, and a missing princess in a beautiful ball gown. When Stephen deduces where, or more aptly when, Peaches has disappeared to, he quickly prepares himself and rushes off to her rescue.

Their relationship develops more quickly from here on out, and eventually it becomes Stephen who needs a bit of rescuing in a time long past, when it appears as if his titles, estates and well way of life are at stake. And by the end of our time-traveling duo’s trip into the past love is truly in the air. And this love is enough to last centuries.

I must say, I enjoyed this story very much. So much in fact, that when I went to thumb back through looking for a notable scene, I ended up reading it all over again. Twice! Which I’m sure is fantastic news to my esteemed site creator, since she’s been in need of reviews…lol. It is so nice to, every so often, read a story for the story. A nice gentle flowing read that makes you feel good on a bad day. And lord knows there’s enough of those to go around.

Notable Scene:

The bloody palace was gone. In its place was a hut. Well, it wasn’t exactly a hut. If she’d been out in the Middle Ages looking for a quaint little place to crash in for the night, she would have found it perfectly acceptable. But when compared to the splendor that had been Kenneworth House, this was something else entirely.

It was a hovel.

And the unkempt, barely intelligible men standing in a little semicircle facing her were not wearing the standard uniform of David’s footmen.

She made a very quick list of her options. She could scream, which was tempting; she could faint, which was even more tempting; or she could run. She considered the last, only she wasn’t quite sure where she would run to. She backed up onto the gate and hopped up and down a time or two.

Nothing.

She swore, because it seemed like the right thing to do. She was left with her third resort, which was to run. Surely, she would find another gate somewhere in the area. After all, England and Scotland were hotbeds of paranormal activity. And who could blame a shade? The climate was unreasonably lovely, what with all that rain and cloudiness and lovely winds caressing the trees.

Or perhaps they stayed for the history. There were castle stairs to come thumping down, old enemies to continue to vanquish, king and country to defend—as well as any number of lesser territories and families to uphold the honor of.

Then again, it might have been, she had to concede, continued irritation about the food. She was all for a lovely bed-and-breakfast or well-appointed hotel, but she had had the worst meals of her life in London.

She realized that the moon, which she hadn’t noticed before, had come out in time to reveal her companions carrying a pointy thing each. She considered running again, but she only had one shoe left. Maybe the gate had rested long enough and would now carry her back to where she was supposed to be. She put aside her antipathy for everyone and everything at the future Kenneworth House and jumped forward onto the time gate.

She looked up, but no joy.

She decided that perhaps she just hadn’t been firm enough, so she jumped a few more times. Her trio of companions seemed to find the sight rather alarming because they backed away, crossing themselves, spitting over their shoulders, and making all kinds of other hand motions she didn’t recognize but imagined she wouldn’t care to know the meaning of.

It took a while, but she eventually got tired of jumping. It wasn’t that she wasn’t in decent shape, it was just that she was in one heel and a fancy ball gown, and she was slightly stressed.

She finally stopped and leaned over with her hands on her knees to try to catch her breath.

And that was the last thing she knew before blackness descended.

De Piaget Family Series:

1. Another Chance to Dream

2. If I Had You

3. Dreams of Stardust

4. When I Fall in Love

5. The Christmas Cat

6. One Enchanted Evening

7. This is All I Ask

8. The More I See You

9. From This Moment On

10. Tapestry

11. Stardust of Yesterday

12. Till There Was You

13. One Magic Moment

14. All For You

FTC Advisory: Berkley/Penguin provided me with a copy of All For You. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )