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The combination of a horse galloping far too fast, a muddy lane with a curve, and a lady pedestrian is never a good one. Even in the best of circumstances, the odds of a positive outcome are depressingly low. But add a dog - a very big dog - and, Anna Wren reflected, disaster becomes inescapable.
Saucer-sized hooves flailed the air. And inevitably, the enormous rider on the horse’s back came unseated. The man went down at her feet like a hawk shot from the sky, if less gracefully. His long limbs sprawled as he fell, he lost his crop and tricorn, and he landed with a spectacular splash in a mud puddle. A wall of filthy water sprang up to drench her.
Idiot, Anna thought, but that was not what she said. Respectable widows of a certain age - one and thirty in two months - do not hurl epithets, however apt, at gentlemen. No, indeed.
Oh my… Roll over the
traditional hero and welcome instead (drumroll) Edward de Raaf, the Earl of
Swartingham! He’s frightened off two (male) secretaries in two weeks. Widowed
Anna Wren – desperate for funds – gets the job, and is promptly thrown into
close contact with a man who is entirely unconventional, bad tempered,
unapologetic for it, and – arousing! He’s also intelligent and expert in
agrarian matters, as becomes obvious when he slogs through mud and mire
figuring out estate management, Anna trailing behind taking notes. He’s also
engaged, anxious to continue his family line. There’s a sad tragedy behind that
and a touchingly vulnerable side to this scarred hero – scarred physically from
smallpox, and inside, on his soul, from people, especially women, being
repulsed by his appearance... When Anna discovers, to her hot dismay, he’s
about to visit a notorious brothel in London,
she secretly sneaks into his room in the brothel… Whew! Whew! Those scenes,
where Edward imagines his masked ‘prostitute’ to actually be Anna (or does he really ‘know’ the truth?!), are hot hot HOT! You know she’s going to be
unmasked eventually, and Edward hates
liars – ooh, the tension is unbearable! Like Julia Quinn’s cover quote: I didn’t want it to end. At the
beginning of each chapter there’s also a snippet from a continuous fairy story
called The Raven Prince which is
almost as interesting as Edward and Anna’s tempestuous, wicked, funny, steamy
beauty and the beast romance! |
| Book Format: Paperback |
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