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A Lady’s Secret by Jo Beverley (Signet $7.99)
The age-old friction of sexual conquest and surren der, the quest of a selfish man to spill himself inside a beautiful woman, disregarding fears of pregnancy-the inescapability of romantic tension-that's the focus of Jo Beverley's latest fantasy, A Lady's Secret, touted as a historical romance.
Although Beverley acquired an electronic library of books from the eighteenth century for research, A Lady's Secret contains few clues as to the exact era in which the seducer-an English nobleman who is travelling across France with two male servants in his private carriage-finally gains entry to his prey.
The love target is a beautiful woman fleeing from Italy, initially disguised as a nun named Sister Immaculata. It's the late 1760s but the politics of the day are largely irrelevant. It's sexual politics that hold sway on every page.
Our heroine Petra has spent years in a convent prior to the death of her widowed mother. She relucantly accepts a ride with the Earl of Huntersdown, a handsome cad who is merely seeking amusement during a long journey.
For about 200 pages he cajoles her with his wit, gradually wearing down her defences, while Petra is fleeing from evil pursuers, hoping to contact her real father in England who doesn't know she exists.
In return for his protection, he wants her body. They eventually do it furtively, for three pages, halfway through the book, aboard a ship crossing the English Channel:
They played, a joust of tongues and hot breath, then came together for the unavoidable kiss... "No! she gasped. He went still, rigid. She heard the silent plea. And surrendered. "Not no,"; she whispered in helpless, trembling surrender. "Yes, yes, please. Yes.
Jo Beverley is a highly skilled novelist, easily one of British Columbia's hottest selling authors. Anyone encountering her lively dialogue can understand why.
Beverley, who lives in Victoria, clearly enjoys what she's doing, and her penchant for flirting with ribald action, without descending into soft porn, has earned her appearances on the New York Times bestseller list while producing 25 romance novels and approximately 25 novellas.
Jo Beverley has won five RITA awards. Her first Georgian novel, My Lady Notorious, appeared in 1993. A Lady's Secret is her eighth instalment in her ongoing series about the Malloren family.
Once again her fiction will not receive the recognition she deserves in Canada due to the genre of her work. Her web page is www.jobev.com.
978-0-451-22419-4
[BCBW 2008]
Although Beverley acquired an electronic library of books from the eighteenth century for research, A Lady's Secret contains few clues as to the exact era in which the seducer-an English nobleman who is travelling across France with two male servants in his private carriage-finally gains entry to his prey.
The love target is a beautiful woman fleeing from Italy, initially disguised as a nun named Sister Immaculata. It's the late 1760s but the politics of the day are largely irrelevant. It's sexual politics that hold sway on every page.
Our heroine Petra has spent years in a convent prior to the death of her widowed mother. She relucantly accepts a ride with the Earl of Huntersdown, a handsome cad who is merely seeking amusement during a long journey.
For about 200 pages he cajoles her with his wit, gradually wearing down her defences, while Petra is fleeing from evil pursuers, hoping to contact her real father in England who doesn't know she exists.
In return for his protection, he wants her body. They eventually do it furtively, for three pages, halfway through the book, aboard a ship crossing the English Channel:
They played, a joust of tongues and hot breath, then came together for the unavoidable kiss... "No! she gasped. He went still, rigid. She heard the silent plea. And surrendered. "Not no,"; she whispered in helpless, trembling surrender. "Yes, yes, please. Yes.
Jo Beverley is a highly skilled novelist, easily one of British Columbia's hottest selling authors. Anyone encountering her lively dialogue can understand why.
Beverley, who lives in Victoria, clearly enjoys what she's doing, and her penchant for flirting with ribald action, without descending into soft porn, has earned her appearances on the New York Times bestseller list while producing 25 romance novels and approximately 25 novellas.
Jo Beverley has won five RITA awards. Her first Georgian novel, My Lady Notorious, appeared in 1993. A Lady's Secret is her eighth instalment in her ongoing series about the Malloren family.
Once again her fiction will not receive the recognition she deserves in Canada due to the genre of her work. Her web page is www.jobev.com.
978-0-451-22419-4
[BCBW 2008]
Submitted on June 3, 2008 in By David.
