Dr. Reilly Stanton, eighth Marquis of Stillworth, must mend his injured pride by proving himself a hero -- and not a drunken wastrel, as his former fiancΓ©e claimed. Against all sane advice, the Londoner takes a medical post in a tiny fishing village on the remote Isle of Skye -- and is convinced that he can cope with the primitive conditions, horrendous Highland weather, and rampant illness. But Miss Brenna Donnegal is another matter entirely....
Try as he might, Reilly cannot ignore the toweringly tall lady with flaming chestnut locks and an equally fiery will. She has filled her father's former role as the local physician, and is more than annoyed to find the urbane Dr. Stanton taking over her work and her father's cottage. By fair means or foul, she will give the usurper his comeuppance. But what begins as a sparking tug-of-war between two proud hearts soon flames to a passionate fire...
Critically acclaimed author Patricia Cabot delivers an exquisitely warm and witty novel of love set against the dramatic backdrop of Scotland's magnificent Isle of Skye.
From Publishers Weekly
Combining romance and mystery without melodrama or fuss, Cabot's (An Improper Proposal) Victorian-era novel brims with humor, deft characterization and an intriguing plot-and is, most decidedly, a cut above the norm. Dr. Reilly Stanton, the Marquis of Stillworth, comes to the remote Scottish village of Lyming to prove to his pious and sweet ex-fiancee that he's a serious physician and not a wastrel. It appears that Reilly's handsome but loutish patron, the Earl of Glendinning, has hired him in an effort to lure Brenna Donegal, the gorgeous, independent and intelligent daughter of the town's former doctor, away from her interest in medicine so that she can become his beloved bride. But the strong-willed Brenna wants no part of Glendinning and, like Reilly, is determined to discover why epidemics of cholera continue to plague Lyming. Meanwhile, Reilly finds his fondness for his former fiancee waning and his love for Brenna growing. Cabot writes romance almost without peer, creating passionate love scenes readers will swoon over, delivered with poetry and beauty, and memorable secondary characters: the boorish, lovesick lord isn't only played for cheap laughs, and Reilly's London friends are a hoot. (Jan.9) Forecast: Historical fiction like this will draw new readers to the genre, especially if marketed as general interest and placed at point-of-sales kiosks in bookstores.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Romantic Times One of the genre's rising stars.