Set in 1812, Emma Prescott flees Squire
Falkner and a forced marriage in the dark of night, hoping to get to London and
a ship that will take her to her brother in the Caribbean. She runs into
Scottish Captain Morgan Reynolds who, by the way she is dressed, believes her to
be the mistress of some British lord.
Eager to get back to London and his
fiancée, and then set sail for New Brunswick, Morgan helps the mysterious
runaway only because of his Highland hatred for her English pursuers. When his
fiancé deserts him for a British lord, he talks Emma into pretending to be his
wife so he won’t look the jilted man and they sail for Canada. With a necklace
that once belonged to Marie Antoinette hidden in her bodice and a pack of
hounds at her heels, Emma has few choices.
I loved the beginning. Her escape was very convincing. The
hero and heroine are worthy: Morgan is a sexy, powerful and protective hero
(though he does fall from grace a bit as the story goes on); and Emma’s
thinking is always clear and logical (nice for a change in romance). I liked
the fact the scene changed from England to Canada and the memory of all the
Scots had to endure. It was interesting to see the other side of the War of
1812, too, since Morgan is a privateer, but not for America.
This was MacMillan’s debut novel and she did a great job.
Her dialog is realistic and convincing and her story will hold your interest.
There is no love scene but lots of interaction on the physical level (and there
seems to be a fair amount of wenching going on).
The only negatives are a few improbable moments when their
romance is tossed away for her stealing the necklace (being a whore was ok, but
stealing was a no-no). Overall, the story is a good one. An unusual Regency, to
be sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment