"strong late Victorian romance"
In 1881 at the urging of her mother nouveau riche American
heiress Sophia Wilson comes to London to marry a title.
Sophia hates shopping for a spouse as she has rejected
proposals back home because she wants to marry for love.
She believes she may have found her love when she meets
the "unacceptable Duke" James Langdon. Needing money, James is also attracted to Sophia, so he
courts her. However, he vows to himself to never fall in
love with her for fear he would become as out of control
and abusive as his father was. James and Sophia marry and
share a wonderful honeymoon. However when they reach his
estate, James turns into a prim and proper aristocrat, who
deserts his wife when he is not mistreating her with cold
scorn. Still Sophia thinks she can reach her spouse that
she loves. When the tale focuses on the lead characters' relationship,
even with James' incredulous alteration from avoidance to
near worship, fans obtain a strong late Victorian romance.
When the story line switches to continental suspense, it
loses some of its "American invasion" momentum. In her
debut, Julianne MacLean keeps her plot fresh due to the
antics of the dysfunctional Langdon family that bewilder
the heroine. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted May 25, 2003
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