First
released as RAPTURE’S RANSOM, this is the story of Brien Weston, daughter of the Earl of Southwold, who one day
wakes up and realizes his daughter, now in her early 20’s is too stubborn and
willful and must be married. Believing no man would have her, the earl picks
the son of a French business associate for her husband. After she meets him,
though he is handsome and smooth talking, she discovers the French nobleman only
wants her money. So she determines to make herself unavailable to him by
marrying another. A friend finds her a husband in a dockside tavern, one Aaron
Durham. He’s a man who, for a sum of money, will wed her and then go away.
When Brien’s French fiancé learns of
this, he is furious and promises to get even. Then her father does some
investigating and tells her the wedding Brien went through with the stranger
was not a real wedding and there is no record of it in the church. Brien is
horrified, especially since the handsome stranger consummated the marriage that
wasn’t real. Thus, she is forced to marry the man she hates, but then there is
a fire…
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| Original cover, original title |
The story begins in 1787 in England but
moves to America when Brien happens to take a ship to Boston to sell a part of
her father’s business. Turns out the ship is owned by Aaron Durham. Krahn keeps
you guessing as to when Brien and Aaron will get together. Aaron is constant
throughout but Brien loathes the role of a woman and loves being an active
partner in her father’s trading business. Of course in the 18th
century nobility considered trade something for the other classes. And, for
some reason Krahn kept referring to America as “the colonies” though it was a
sovereign nation by 1783.
Still, it’s a fun tale, well-told and I
can recommend it.
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