Title: Whisper of Jasmine

Author: Deanna Raybourn
Publisher: Published February 1st 2014 by MIRA

ISBN: 9781488707537

Pages: ebook 50 pages

How I Read It: free download from Amazon

Genre: women’s fiction, historical fiction, romance

My Rating: 5 Crowns

Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn transports readers to a magical New Year's Eve party in 1914, where two guests will discover the passion of a lifetime in this prequel novella…

Notorious socialite Delilah Drummond won't be deterred by the war. Instead, she decides to throw the event of the year, and she's handing out invitations with an eye for wanton fun and wild abandon. There is the dashing explorer and archaeologist Gabriel Stark, a man at a crossroads in his life. Brilliant and restless, he's just committed to a secret enterprise that forces him to play a public role very different from the man he truly is. And then there is the charming if flighty Evangeline Merriweather. Evie has dreamed her whole life of adventure. Little does she know, she's about to get more than she bargained for. Especially after her vivacious Aunt Dove acts as fairy godmother, if a saucy one, providing a scandalous gown and a whisper of jasmine on her skin….

Evie will shake cool Gabriel to his core, but just how far are they willing to take love at first sight?
One seductive night will change Evie forever. Watch for her next adventure, in the City of Jasmine.

My thoughts:

I am not a big fan of novellas – but this one broke all the rules! This was more than just a fill in, a prequel, a teaser. It had a good strong plot, developed characters, a sense of completeness yet cleverly left you wanting more. And luckily there is! This book serves as a prequel to City of Jasmine and also has connections with Raybourn’s Spear of Summer Grass, which I have read and highly recommend.

Whisper of Jasmine is a romantic tale with some humour and a sense of intrigue and mystery of what is to come in the sequel. How Raybourn managed to pack so much into so little is testament to her writing finesse.

This tale of the meeting of Evie and Gabriel was the stuff movies are made of: “Does that mean a memory is all I’ll have?”....She needed an excuse for the things she wanted to say to him

…”You haven’t just met me,” he said his voice low and mesmerising, “you’ve know me all of your life haven’t you? I’ve always known you, it just took a while to find you”.

Yet somehow this ‘grand happiness, a joy so indescribable that it must be followed by a terrible calamity’ is lurking. Little snippets that there was more here than met the eye was clear - “It pierced him to know there were things he could not tell her, could never tell her…. he’d have to make a choice”.

I have NEVER come across such an enticing novella - it was BRILLIANT! Raybourn just makes you want to grab City of Jasmine and dive into it. So, now onward to City of Jasmine and the promise of more Gabriel and Evie and the delightful Aunt Dove.

Reviewed by Helen