"A wonderfully touching book to bring tears and laughter with love"
1861 England Nicholas Sabre is in love with the innocent and lovely
Jocelyn Laraine, the one woman who can touch his cynical
heart. Nicholas will do anything for Jocelyn -- give up
his womanizing and gambling...even fight a duel with Lord
Price when the man tries to save Nicholas from himself by
telling him about Jocelyn's own indiscretions. When Price
lies dead, Nicholas learns the truth. He's been used by
Jocelyn to try and win back Price, and she is not at all
what he believed. Guilty of murder, Nicholas is given the
choice of prison or exile in New Zealand. 1866 England Summer O'Neile leaves the home of her reluctant caretaker
to avenge her mother's death. Her mother was the mistress
of a lord who tossed her out when he tired of her after
stringing her along for years with promises of marriage.
Her one friend in Lord Pimbersham's household is Sophie
Fairburn, the maid that is the lord's current love
interest. When Summer sees Pimbersham kill Sophie, the
maid (with her last breaths) tells Summer to take her
contract as a mail-order bride to a New Zealand landowner
and flee before Pimbersham can make Summer his next
victim. Summer does that but not before she accidentally
pushes the old lord down the stairs when he tries to kill
her. On the run for a lord's murder, she has to pretend to be
S. Fairburn, Summer Fairburn of course, the mail-order
bride to a reluctant lord who wants no parts of her.
Nicholas was tricked into signing the contract in a
drunken moment, and the last thing he wants is a woman in
his life. The last thing Summer wants is to be within a
hundred miles of a lord, even a disinherited one, but she
doesn't want to go back to England -- or to leave Nicholas. This is a wonderfully touching book. Not many books can
make me break down in tears not just once but several
times. Summer's temper is something you have to see to
believe and is sure to make you laugh and roll your eyes
at the same time. Nicholas is practiced at not caring, a
completely believable situation and carried out well. His
right hand man, Frank, and his enemies, especially Sean
O'Connell, are well-defined secondary characters. You will
come to love them almost as much as you do Nicholas and
Summer. There were a few moments that made me rub my head and ask
if it was really necessary but not enough to turn me off
the rest of the book. It's definitely a keeper. Where does 'paranormal' come in if at all? Summer was
raised with stories of fairies, and before the end, you'll
wonder if the little buggers aren't doing exactly what she
says they will. You'll see what I mean when you read the
book. Reviewed for PNR Reviews by
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 6, 2003
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