Burke, The Kingpin

The Shamrock Trinity #3

by Fayrene Preston

Cara Winston appeared as a fantasy, racing on horseback to catch the day's last light — her silver hair glistening, her dress the color of the Arizona sunset...and Burke Delaney wanted her. She was on his horse, on his land: she would have to belong to him too. But Cara was quicksilver, impossible to hold, a wild creature whose scent was midnight flowers and sweet grass. Burke had always taken what he wanted, by willing it or fighting for it; Cara cherished her freedom and refused to believe his love would last. Could he make her see he'd captured her to have and hold forever?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Loveswept

182 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1986

About the author

AKA Jaelyn Conlee.

Fayrene Preston was born in Texas, USA where she raised. Her high school years were straight out of the movie American Graffiti — good friends and that wonderful rock ‘n' roll. After high school, Fayrene attended college and earned an Associate degree in Business Administration.

Almost immediately afterward the university, she married a Navy man and for the next five years they traveled back and forth across America several times and lived on both coasts. Although the marriage didn't last, she was blessed with two completely wonderful sons, both grown now, and the most beautiful little granddaughter you've ever seen in your life!

She counts herself as very lucky. Books have always been an important part of her life, and now she gets to make her living by writing them. She can't think of anything to make one happier. She published her debut novel as Jaelyn Conlee in 1982, now continued writing as Fayrene Preston.

Reviews

[Azet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burke The Kingpin starts out absolutely wonderfully with our main hero Burke Delaney getting enchanted by the marvelous heroine Cara Winston riding his arabian horse trying to catch the fires of the sun, but instead succeeds in catching the heart of our hard, cynical hero with the greatest of hearts.

I liked the introduction to the legendary family name of the Delaney and of their accomplishments in history. In this tale it is Burke and his three brothers that carry on the legacy and we get to see them fall in love with their respective soulmates. Burke & Cara made sense all the way from the start in the way they just fit so well together as a man and woman. Their chemistry totally undenyable and fiery as hell in the sense that Burke already spoke aloud that she is his and that she belongs to him and kissed her senselessly only after being a couple of minutes in each others presence when they first met each other. This is the romance i love. I totally feel at home when i read romantic stories like this with characters that are worth rooting for.

[*CJ* · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Burke, the Kingpin" is the story of Burke and Cara.
Burke the oldest of the Shamrock trinity and Delaney brothers was visiting his mother land Killara, but he never expects to see a "goddess" riding his horse and being entranced by her.
Cara has lived in the town as a kid- but the divorce of her parents drove her away and since then, she is driven by wanderlust- roaming from city to city, soaking all the happiness is, never looking for a home.. until Burke.
The book is filled with almost sex scenes, the hero pursuing and the heroine pushing away and threatening to leave.
The book ends the mystery which has been ongoing since book 1, and a surprise pairing between Bridget and Cougar.
There is some drama towards the end, but by then I was already bored and skimming.
Ok read
Safe
2/5

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final Delaney brother, Burke, the strong one with a mean, hard face, but kind of a reluctant teddy bear inside...unless he's overtaken with lust, then he's not a teddy bear. He's dealing with a host of issues, a the aftereffects of a paternity suit, a tough day at the office and he's flying his helicopter home when he spots a woman with silver hair in a sunset orange dress riding HIS horse pell mell towards the sunset. He confronts her and instead of getting angry, he kisses her, loses his head and knows he can't let her go until he's had her. She's Cara Winston, a woman who lived on the ranch as a girl before her mother divorced her father. She's living life, traveling and seeing the sights, afraid to live her mother's life but afraid to settle down, feeling like she doesn't belong. Burke wants an affair with Cara, who is at first reluctant. But after two weeks, she's less reluctant and while Burke still wants her in his bed, now he wants more, but he doesn't want to spook Cara for fear of losing her.

Of the three stories in this trio, this one was not only the most easily dated, but also the most melodramatic. I mean, mysterious goddess with silver eyes and silver hair wearing an evening gown while she gallops towards the sunset... it doesn't get more melodramatic than that. And Cara is consistently described in terms of silver, gold, silk and satin. She's quicksilver and a mystery to keep the unromantic Burke on his toes. It did feel a bit OTT, but not annoyingly so. I was kind of able to just sit back and appreciate how prosey and tropey this was. Not to mention I so enjoyed all the 80's moments. Cara goes everywhere in monochromatic fashions...a silver lame skirt with gray cashmere sweater...a white skirt, beige sweater, beige leather belt and beige boots. Was that actually a fashion? I missed that one. And I almost fell over laughing when Cougar Jones, the security expert, whips out his newfound gadgetry and says it's his new toy...he plugs it in and when the kidnapper calls his phone number shows and then they can trace his address with it. Ha! Newfound gadgetry is caller ID! It's like being in a time warp.

Burke is also rather a product of his time, which wasn't the case with the other two heroes (though I suspect with York it had something to do with his pre-1900 mining town). Burke is a bit forceful with the ladies. He spots Cara and claims her as MINE since she's on his horse and on his property. She fights this notion, but not very hard. And when he gets his mojo going and they're making out, he's all "No! You're not going to get away this time. I'll make you mine. I'll make you belong to me." She runs from him. The next day all is normal and she's totally okay with him. Burke didn't want to wait, so he kinda figured he shouldn't have to. After all, he'd given her 2 weeks to think about it. It always amazes me that this was considered kinda acceptable behavior back then...but I have to assume it was since it is ALL OVER the 1980's Harlequin and Loveswept era.

In the end, this turned out to be just an average read. The time warp was interesting, as was the melodrama. There's a touch of suspense here and I did like how the three novels ended up intertwining without really bringing in the details from the other stories. So you could absolutely read these out of order and it wouldn't make too much difference because there's no spoiler for the other stories.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delaney series

Its start of a series that was interesting in that each brother l's story was written by different author. The collaboration moved on from trilogy to series, some historical and was great read at the time. Some aspects show the tread of the genre from that period but it is still worth reading. in this instance rereading.

[María Mónica Beltrami · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was waiting for this novel in the series of the Delaneys

Many years ago I had the chance of getting the series in paperback format.
Then, I got my first Kindle but I wasn't lucky to buy the series except The Delaney Christmas Carol which I read many times.
Here I'm having the rest of the series, and I promise to read them all!!

[Ujjwala · Rating 2 out of 5]

the start had a magical quality to it, which i liked. the rest of the story was okay.

[Ning · Rating 4 out of 5]

เล่มแปล "สามหนุ่มเดลานีย์ "
พี่คนโต

[Srisurang · Rating 4 out of 5]

ชอบเรื่องของเบิร์คที่สุดในสามเรื่องชุดนี้

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 3 out of 5]

guilty pleasure romance.