Vertigo

July 24, 2006
Baratz-Logsted (The Thin Pink Line
; A Little Change of Face
) breaks from her chick lit moorings for this entertaining novel set in Victorian England. On New Year's Eve, 1898, Emma Smith, the spoiled wife of novelist John Smith, resolves "to be a better person." John, who is researching a prison novel, suggests that Emma begin a correspondence with a prisoner to fulfill her resolution. The prisoner chosen for the project is Chance Wood, an enigmatic fellow serving a life sentence for murdering his wife. Emma, naïve and vaguely unhappy, is intrigued and excited by the exchange of letters and soon develops a strong attraction to "her prisoner." She also begins to realize that she's tired of being a "possession," a revelation the author strains to make credible. When Chance is released from prison, he and Emma begin a torrid love affair and plot to kill John. Though the plan is executed without a hitch, Emma soon finds circumstances—and Chance—aren't as she expected. Fans of the 19th-century novel of manners will recognize Baratz-Logsted's characters and themes (though the sex is now graphic). If the plot is implausible and the characters unlovable, Baratz-Logsted still keeps readers guessing up to the end.

October 1, 2006
London. December 31, 1898. Emma Smiths New Years resolution: to become a better person. In Baratz-Logsteds ("How Nancy Drew Saved My Life") third novel out this month, Emma, Victorian wife and mother, aims to fulfill that resolution. Her husband, John, who is gathering firsthand accounts of prison life for his novel, suggests that corresponding with a suffering prisoner is the path toward meeting her goal. Shocked at first, Emma soon starts writing letters to a prisoner named Chance. Thus begins the psychological drama as Emma, repressed and lonely, finds herself spinning out of her controlled sphere and into love with Chance. The novel explores the lengths to which one will goor fallfor love, control, and self-preservation while casting Victorian morals to the high winds at the dawning of a new century. Although the ending is somewhat predictable, the book has enough twists to surprise readers and is an intriguing examination of the struggle between appeasing human desire and acting morally correct. It should be noted that the novel is sexually explicit. Recommended for larger fiction collections."Susan O. Moritz, Montgomery Cty. P.L.s, MD"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2006
Baratz-Logsted is the author of three novels, including her first, " The Thin Pink Line," which launched Harlequin's chick-lit imprint, Red Dress Ink, in 2003. Her latest is being billed as a high-end literary thriller and comes complete with a discussion guide. That positioning may skew expectations. The novel would be more accurately marketed as an overtly erotic romantic suspense tale, and on those terms, it succeeds admirably. It is told in an insidiously charming voice by Emma Smith, respected Victorian-era wife and mother. Expressing her desire to be a better person, Emma is instructed by her controlling husband to begin corresponding with Chance Wood, a local prisoner. Emma and Chance start writing all right, but they're far from the ennobling letters her husband envisioned. Their steamy posts soon lead to a passionate affair when, through one improbable event after another, Chance is freed from prison and ends up in Emma's bedroom. Complete with a few delicious plot twists and some unconvincing historical detail, this is very entertaining reading on a number of levels.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)