The Last Lord of Paradise: Generations Two and Three by Vivian LeMay

The Last Lord of Paradise: Generation Two- Jean Baptiste and Louise
The Last Lord of Paradise: Generation Three- Zacharie and Pauline
By: Vivian LeMay
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Vivian LeMay Publishing
Publication Dates: December 2011 


* I received copies from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase them here:

Generation Two 

Generation Three 

Generation Two Synopsis:

 
Jean Baptiste smiled. "I'm a foundling, Thomas, penniless, landless, no family. I will always be grateful to Maman for taking me in as one of her own, but in Paradis, blood is everything."Thomas took a deep breath and tried to smile ... hoping to hide the look of guilt on his face, he turned back to his bellows. The great lie his mother had told Jean Baptiste was still a well kept secret of Paradis. His mother's power over the habitants was amazing. After all these years, they still feared her. Even Uncle Joseph went along with her great lie.

It had certainly succeeded. The boy with Jeanne's red hair, with Anton's gleam of energy in his blue eyes, was willing to work, and humble-too humble. The boy tolerated disrespect from younger habitants who had no idea who he was, and torment from his brothers.

Generation Three Synopsis:

"The scent of lilacs drifted over Paradis on a sunny June morning in 1847. Zacharie Gauchere dit Reneau, the Seigneur of Paradis, drove his cart to St. Isidore Church. The cart had been lime washed and decorated with branches of lilacs. His sixteen daughters paraded behind, their petticoats floating in the morning breeze, buttercups in their dark hair. It was Zacharie's wedding day but they did not seem to care. They whined and sniped at each other about who should ride in the cart with Papa.

Over the years the name Gauchere fell out of use and the habitants, dressed in their brightest colors and wearing their shoes, lined the Route de Rivière, waving and shouting, "Bon jour, Monsieur Reneau. Congratulations on your marriage."

Once he passed however, they whispered to each other. "Poor Monsieur Reneau. Certainly he is a fertile man, two wives, sixteen daughters, yet no son." "The Reneau seed is cursed," some surmised but others held out hope for their Seigneur. "Perhaps this third wife will give him a healthy boy, eh?"

More determined than joyful, Zacharie did not smile on his wedding day. Will this new wife give me sons? he wondered.

"Papa," Barbe called from behind, I'm tired of walking. I want to ride in the cart.

"Me too, Papa," Euphrosine whined, "Why does only Genevieve ride with you?

He glanced at his sister who rolled her eyes in tired resignation, but he did not answer them. It was no use. What one girl wanted they all wanted, no matter how small or trivial. The couple of young men who'd tried to call on his older daughters soon learned that. Overwhelmed as every girl tried to outshine the other, they quickly made excuses to escape his house and never returned.

The thought of living with sixteen whining women for the rest of his life was not a happy one. Sons, he thought, I need sons, and he urged the  pony into a trot.

My Thoughts:

More quick reads with a touch of supernatural and romance. If you like historical fiction, you'll like these books. They contain interesting characters and plots. I'm looking forward to reading the rest in the series.

 
For both books