"Superb, Amusing, Entertaining!"
In 1804 Kent, England, John Bugg shows his spouse Konstanze
a book filled with naked women in bondage. He expects that
to heat her blood to the boiling point and gets his riding
crop to add to the fun. Unable to deal with her husband's
perversions, Konstanze leaves. She travels to Penperro on
the Cornish coast where Tom Trewella watches her come out
of the sea. In desperate need of tricking the crown's
Preventive Water Guards so he can continue his smuggling
operation, Tom hatches a wild idea. He offers Konstanze
the role of a mermaid, a part she cannot resist though she
knows she must stay hidden from Buggs. An attraction
between Tom and Konstanze was not expected, but feelings of
love further disrupt the con game. THE MERMAID OF PENPERRO is not the typical regency romance
as it reads as if PT Barnum decided to write a novel using
Lisa Cach's cache of talent. The story line is superb,
amusing, and quite entertaining as Tom, Konstanze, and the
townsfolk try to pull off a scam. Anyone who relishes
something unique and different in their reading material
will find this historical a
top choice.
Reviewed by Janet Miller
Posted August 23, 2001
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Though her mother had been in the opera, Konstanze had never imagined that singing could land someone in such trouble. The disrepute of the stage was nothing compared to the danger of playing a seductress of the sea or the reckless abandon she felt while doing so. She had come to Penperro to escape her past, to find careless anonymity among the simple people of Cornwall, and her inhibitions melted away as she did. But the Cornish were less simple than she expected, and the role she was forced to play was harder. For one thing, her siren song was more potent than she'd dreamed. It lured to her not only the agent of the crown she'd been paid to perplex, but the smuggler who'd hired her. And in his strong arms she found everything she'd been missing. Suddenly, Konstanze saw the true peril of her situation not that of losing her honor, but her heart.
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