London's most notorious seducer, Nicholas Challoner lives solely for revenge . . .The dashing, licentious Marquess of Ranelaw can never forgive Godfrey Demarest for ruining his sister—now the time has come to repay the villain in the same coin. But one formidably intriguing impediment stands in the way of Nicholas's vengeance: Miss Antonia Smith, companion to his foe's unsuspecting daughter.
Having herself been deceived and disgraced by a rogue—banished by her privileged family as a result and forced to live a lie—Antonia vows to protect her charge from the same cruel fate. She recognizes Ranelaw for the shameless blackguard he is and will devote every ounce of her intelligence and resolve to thwarting him.
Yet Antonia has always had a fatal weakness for rakes . . .
Hey there book clubbers, Marie here taking a turn at hostess duty, and what a book we have to talk about this week! It had been a while since I'd read a juicy historical (one of my favorite genres within romance), and Anna's books never disappoint. From the time I first read Claiming the Courtesan, I have been a huge fan of her work. In this new book, Anna has given us a truly memorable hero and heroine in Nicholas, Lord Ranelaw, and Miss Antonia Smith. From their first meeting, the chemistry between Nicholas and Antonia burns up the page. Both had compelling backstories and interesting motivations for the decisions they made and the choices that drove them. I loved the way Anna tapped into the mores of the day by making Antonia's first love affair an abject disaster that poisoned the next ten years of her life, and how a similar situation in Ranelaw's past fueled his desire for revenge.
There were so many fabulous scenes in this book, but among my favorites were when Antonia clubbed him over the head with a fireplace poker (he had it coming, didn't he?) when she stared him down with a gun in hand after he kidnapped her cousin, and when she cried over his sick bed when she thought she'd lost him before she ever got to tell him she loved him. Ahhh, the stuff of classic romance novels! What were your favorite scenes in the book?
Anna will be joining us today from her home in Australia to chat about MWP and to give away a book from her back list (winner's choice) to one lucky commenter. Look forward to chatting about Midnight's Wild Passion! Find out more about Anna and her books at www.annacampbell.info.
Since I go out of my way to NEVER cook if I can avoid it, and as I have already posted the five or six recipes I make with any kind of frequency, I will offer this as my recipe for the day: RESERVATIONS, people. Make them. Often. :-)
