"pleasant thriller"

Seven years ago, her father arranged for her to marry an Earl, Michael Trent, but she loved another. So Rachel Aincourt eloped with her beloved Anthony Birkshaw, but Michael and her father catch up the duo before she is compromised. Michael marries a heartbroken Rachel.

Michael loves his spouse when he married her and still does, but he hides his feelings because he knows she still cherishes another. He also hides from her his work as a Bow St. runner behind the face of a quiet aristocratic gentleman. Starting with her carriage being stopped by a highwayman who acts like a friend of her husband to being led by Anthony into the London slums, Rachel enters her husband's other life. When they meet with him in disguise, Rachel finds herself attracted not knowing that the stranger is her spouse. While she works through her feelings, someone else has other plans for her and the men in her life.

SECRETS OF THE HEART is an exciting Regency romance that hooks the audience from the moment Rachel's coach is stopped. The story line is fast-paced and readers will fully appreciate Michael, a sort of Scarlet Pimpernel though not a dandy, and wonder about Rachel's immaturity, mindful of Marguerite though no Citizen Chauvelin pressure. Fans of an electrifying historical romantic suspense will want to read Candace Camp's pleasant thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 3, 2003