From Publishers Weekly
Emma Harte, the redoubtable heroine of veteran novelist Bradford's 1976 bestseller, A Woman of Substance, has been dead for 30 years, but she's still a player in the continuing family saga. Her pronouncements and unwritten rules are well remembered by all the descendants in the dynasty and business empire she founded. This installment begins where Emma's Secret (2004) left off, with Evan Hughes, the young visitor from the U.S., obtaining a dream job in fashion at the renowned London department store, Harte's, and beginning a romance with Gideon Harte, heir apparent to the family newspaper enterprise. In the previous volume, Evan learned that her own father was the illegitimate child of another Harte scion (making Evan and Gideon cousins a few times removed), and now she wonders whether she should divulge this secret to her father, who is soon to arrive in London. A true crisis distracts her, however: the disappearance of three-year-old Adele, adored daughter of store manager Tessa, one of Emma's great-grandchildren. Linnet, Tessa's half-sister and sometimes business rival, comes to the rescue and Adele soon reappears, but tensions between the sisters persist. Meanwhile, Linnet's cousin India has fallen in love with a painter from a working-class background, and India must battle her family's disapproval. The exploits and adventures of Bradford's indomitable heroines continue to make for lusty escapist fiction in this robust fifth novel in the series. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Bradford continues the saga of the descendants of Emma Harte, the heroine of A Woman of Substance (1979), in this follow-up to Emma's Secret (2004), which saw American Evan Hughes travel to England to work for Harte's department stores, only to learn she herself is actually related to the legendary matriarch. Evan has to tell her father, who is wary of the upper-class Hartes and everything they represent, about her engagement to Gideon Harte, one of Emma's descendants. Evan's cousin, Tessa, is contending with problems of her own: her young daughter was snatched from the grounds of her home. Her soon-to-be ex-husband, Mark, who is playing hardball in the divorce proceedings, is the one who took her and is dead-set on joint custody, something Tessa opposes. Another cousin, India, learns that her boyfriend, sexy artist Dusty, has a few secrets of his own when his ex-girlfriend bursts into his apartment and stabs him. And, before the novel ends, another secret about the past is discovered. Fans of Bradford's long-running Harte saga will no doubt be happy with this lively new chapter in the lives of the clan. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
The new blockbuster from one of the world's greatest storytellers delves into the life of Emma Harte--the original Woman of Substance--and the ambitious, passionate, and volatile women of the next generations.

Evan, Tessa, Linnet, and India: four remarkable women. Three generations of Hartes. One indomitable family whose loyalty binds them together and whose enemies want to tear them apart.

Evan Hughes, Emma's American great-granddaughter, is trying to integrate into the powerful Harte family. She is caught between her estranged parents, her new family, and her new love. But a dangerous enemy hovers in the background.

Tessa Longden, Evan's cousin, is battling her husband for custody of their daughter, Adele. When Adele suddenly goes missing, Tessa is forced to seek help from her half-sister Linnet-a woman who has been her rival all their lives.

Linnet, the most brilliant businesswoman of the four great-granddaughters, is desperately trying to show that she is the natural heir to her mother, Paula. But her glittering future at the helm of the vast Harte empire means many sacrifices, perhaps even the loss of her sister's fragile trust.

And India Standish, the traditionalist in the family, falls in love with a famous British artist from a working-class background. Madly in love, India is determined to marry him, no matter what her family thinks.

It is Evan who finds new perspective about her own life from the revelations in letters that Emma wrote to Evan's grandmother decades ago. But they may come too late....

As conflict and danger swirl around the Harte women, someone is pulling the strings to make sure none of them finds happiness. Who among them will rise to the challenges as only a true Harte can do? This latest dramatic story in the ongoing saga of an extraordinary family dynasty is full of love, passion, jealousy, and ambition. It is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her inimitable best.



From the Back Cover
Praise for Barbara Taylor Bradford...

"Barbara Taylor Bradford is the storyteller of substance."
- The Times (London)

"An extravagant, absorbing novel of love, courage, ambition, war, death, and passion."
- The New York Times on A Woman of Substance

"Pure gold."
- Cosmopolitan on Act of Will

"Legions of readers will be satisfied by the romantic fortunes of the cultured, wealthy, and powerful people she evokes."
- Publishers Weekly on The Women in His Life

"Few novelists are as consummate as Barbara Taylor Bradford at keeping the reader turning the page. She is one of the world's best at spinning yarns."
- The Guardian (UK) on Dangerous to Know

...And Emma's Secret

"A page-turner!"
- New York Post

"Readers who loved A Woman of Substance will enjoy Emma's Secret."
- Denver Post

"Promises to tantalize, mesmerize, and titillate readers of all ages. It has all the Bradford touches: strong and swift plot, hints of secrets about to be revealed...spellbinding."
- Roanoke Times

"It will be appreciated by those with an irresistible desire to follow the further adventures of the Harte clan."
- Publishers Weekly

"You're certain these are living, breathing people."
- USA Weekend

--A Main Selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club--



About the Author
Barbara Taylor Bradford was born in Leeds, and by the age of twenty was an editor and columnist on Fleet Street. Her first novel, A Woman of Substance, became an enduring bestseller and was followed by nineteen others, most recently Emma's Secret. Her novels have sold more than seventy-five million copies worldwide in more than ninety countries and forty languages, and ten miniseries and television movies have been made of her books. She lives in New York City with her husband, television producer Robert Bradford.



Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
PART ONE
THE STORMY PETRELS
Summer 2001

"The name 'petrel' is said to be a diminutive of Peter: when feeding the bird flits and hovers just above the water, often with feet pattering on the surface, appearing to 'walk on water' as St. Peter did in the Bible story."
- Field Guide to the Birds of Britain


CHAPTER ONE

Evan Hughes stood in the middle of the fashion floor of Harte's department store in London's Knightsbridge. It was seven o'clock in the morning, and nothing stirred. By eight the cleaners would be moving around this vast space, and by nine a few of the dedicated sales staff would be arriving to prepare for the store doors opening at ten. Now, though, she was totally alone.

She loved this store and this floor in particular. It was her domain. And hers alone. Last week she had been made head of fashion, a big promotion which had thrilled her. But in her personal life, Evan had big decisions to make.

As she moved slowly across the floor, making for the new haute couture fashion displays, she couldn't help thinking about the first day she had walked into Harte's. January 2001. Eight months ago now. She had been very lucky that day. Quite by chance she had met the man of her dreams and found the job of her dreams. She had certainly never thought her dreams would come true that day. But in some ways, they did.

Pausing for a moment, Evan glanced around, her intelligent, light gray-blue eyes devouring everything: the fashion displays under bright lights, the elegance of the whole floor, such an important one in this prestigious department store, considered the greatest in the world.

Harte's of Knightsbridge had been founded by one of the most famous merchant princes ever known: Emma Harte. She had been dead now for thirty years, and the store was run by Emma's granddaughter Paula O'Neill. Paula, an elegant woman in her mid-fifties, had inherited her grandmother's skills and brilliance as a retailer, and her daughters Tessa and Linnet were following in her footsteps. Both of them worked at the store; Tessa was in charge of the first three floors, which sold cosmetics, perfumes, leisure wear, lingerie, and active sports clothes. Linnet, Tessa's half sister, was in charge of the fashion floors and worked with Paula on public relations.

It was Linnet O'Neill who had hired Evan to be one of her assistants, and for the first few months Evan had helped Linnet put together a retrospective of fashion, which had been a huge success and pulled many new customers into the store.

Linnet. Tessa. Ambitious and complicated, they were now part of Evan's life.

As a reward for all her hard work and dedication, Linnet had given her this promotion...and Evan was in her element.

Evan stood in front of the couture fashion displays which had been finished late last night. They were great, she decided. The display staff had done a good job with the clothes she had selected.

Turning away, she walked down the floor, making for her office. Tall, slender, and dark haired, she was good looking, elegant. Back at her desk she glanced at the photograph of Gideon Harte. She had fallen in love with him, and he with her, that first day when he had bumped into her in the corridor. She had been looking for the management offices, and he had led her there, all the while firing questions at her. And it was Gideon who had told his cousin Linnet about her; Linnet had subsequently interviewed her and given her a job.

Sitting back in her chair, Evan thought about the past eight months and all that had happened.

She had never expected to find a second family in England. Only a year ago the only family she knew were her mother and father, and her two adopted sisters, who lived in Connecticut. But all that had changed because of her grandmother Glynnis Hughes. On her deathbed her grandmother had told Evan to go to England to find Emma Harte, adding that Emma was the key to her future. And Evan had done exactly that, only to discover Emma was dead. But she had fallen in love with the store and decided to get a job there.

And now here she was, working at Harte's, planning a future with Gideon, and struggling to adapt herself to a whole new family... because she herself was actually a Harte. It was Paula who had discovered through Emma's diaries that Evan was another great-granddaughter of Emma Harte's, because Evan's grandmother Glynnis had given birth to a son fathered by one of Emma's sons. And that child was Evan's father.

They had welcomed her, treated her kindly and with enormous understanding, but at times things had been difficult for Evan. So many things to unravel, so much to accept, so many people to get to know. Sometimes it seemed endless to her.

Most troubling of all was the knowledge she had about her father's biological father...which she had been afraid to relay to him. Would her father, Owen Hughes, welcome the information? Would he really want to know that the man who had brought him up was not his father after all? She didn't know, and she continued to wrestle with these questions.

Evan knew she had to come to a decision. Her mother and father were coming to London in a week or so, to spend time with her and have a vacation. Could she look her father in the eye and not tell him the truth? Could she keep it a secret? And should she? Nobody could advise her really. Gideon had told her to do what she thought best, and everyone else had been noncommittal.

The ball was back in her court.

Then there was Robin Ainsley, her new grandfather, the man who had been her grandmother's lover during the Second World War. He had been a pilot in the Royal Air Force, a Battle of Britain pilot, and her grandmother, Glynnis Jenkins then, had been a young woman from Wales who worked as Emma Harte's secretary, in this very store.

Evan liked Robin; her feelings were even stronger than that. And she knew only too well that he longed to meet his son Owen Hughes. But would her father want to meet this "stranger"...a stranger who was his real father? His mother's lover. 'Oh God.'

Evan turned on her computer and after a few moments started to work on it, but within an hour the troubling thoughts about Robin, Glynnis, and her father's imminent arrival began to intrude. Turning the computer off, she made her decision. She would take Linnet's advice and go to Yorkshire after all for a week's rest. And she would go to see Robin Ainsley, still needing to know about his relationship with her grandmother, and most of all to truly understand why Robin and Glynnis had never married.


Copyright 2005 by Barbara Taylor Bradford

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From New York Times bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford comes a blockbuster novel featuring a new generation of remarkable women in the Harte family

Linnet, Tessa, India and Evan: four remarkable women. Three generations of Hartes. One indomitable family whose loyalty binds them together and whose enemies want to tear them apart. In Emma's Secret, American Evan Hughes came to London and discovered that she's a part of the Harte family. Now, in Unexpected Blessings, Evan faces a difficult choice: should she tell her father the truth of their heritage? By keeping secrets, does she jeopardize her newfound love? Sensible Linnet is always ready to give advice, while attempting to become heiress apparent. Her half-sister Tessa has been her rival all their lives. As conflict and danger swirl around the Harte women, someone is pulling the strings to make sure none of them find happiness. Who among them will rise to the challenges as only a true Harte can do? Unexpected Blessings is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her storytelling best, a novel of family secrets, dangerous promises, and the unshakable bonds among sisters

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

What's left after Bradford tells Emma's Secret? We'll see. With an eight-city author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews