Mix together scandal
and ruin, desire and passion, mistaken identities, run down estates,
thievery and even a bit of kidnapping and you are bound to have some
fun. All I can say is that I laughed out loud so many times my family
began to wonder what I was reading. This is a story guaranteed to
tickle the funny bone of even the most stoic, as a passionate kiss in a
wardrobe is mistaken for a bat fluttering in the face and a dog that
likes to eat watches and parrots causes an all out search and arrest.
Abigail Ritchie, the daughter of a rich merchant, is engaged to the
horrible pompous Lord Dulwich. She breaks the engagement in scandal, as
she is accused of replacing the diamonds in her engagement ring with
paste. She remembers a brief run in with a handsome distant cousin who
has a house to rent in Hertfordshire. Believing him to be married and
safe, she flees London in disguise as Miss Smith in order to hide from
the scandal. But she is not alone, as she is traveling with a
hypochondriac and her chaperone, dog and parrot. Lord of the Manor,
Cary Wayborn has no idea what is in store for him when Miss Smith and
her party arrive. A storm has caused a tree to fall on the house they
are to rent and they are forced to stay in his estate manor. Cary is
drawn to the beautiful Miss Smith, who he recognizes from a bookshop in
London, believing her to be some distant cousin. He desires her for her
unique beauty and personality and when Abigail discovers him to not be
married and is drawn to him as well, she eventually surrenders to one
night of pleasure and sin. Cary offers her marriage and unexcpectedly,
she rejects his offer and returns to London, but in her absence, there
are several items of worth missing. Not wanting to believe she is a
thief, he searches for the Miss Smith, not realizing she is really
Abigail Ritchie. The real thieves are loose and want to get away by
kidnapping her and blackmailing Abigail's rich father. In the meantime,
Cary's sister and future brother-in-law get into the act with a broken
engagement and mistaken identity with a group of actors that are all
part of the theft. A real plot twister with a strange, unique cast of
characters that is fun and sexy and does make you think why be good
when being wicked can be so much more fun!
Publisher: Zebra
(January 2007)
Reviewed
by Beverly,
Beverly Romance Books
