"Entertaining Regency romance"

In 1813 Anne Paxton Smyth, illegitimate daughter of an earl, pretends to be a widow so that she run Mrs. Anne Smythe's Healing Spa and Bathing Emporium for women. Lady Eleanor Chamberlin arrives desperately pleading with Anne to nurture her war wounded brother Stephen back to health. Anne says no in spite of the vast sum of money offered. Hopeless, Eleanor leaves Stephen on the stoop before departing.

Anne takes Stephen inside to hide him from her female patrons. When he acts ugly she returns in kind refusing to let him wallow in pity. Stephen soon finds a reason to live as Anne heals his body and soul with her love for him that he reciprocates. However, a nasty patron uses a local stalker to harm and perhaps kill Anne if necessary with only Stephen and Anne's assistant trying to keep her safe.

This is an entertaining Regency romance that showcases how love can overcome battle fatigue syndrome, but not easily especially when physical injuries are also present. Anne is a terrific heroine, but the anguish of Stephen makes the tale as a veteran who wants to die until his angel saves his soul. Treachery adds suspense but feels unneeded as this is a wonderful character study starring two delightful protagonists enhanced with a second subplot of love between his sister and his most loyal pal.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 28, 2004

Summary

Mrs. Anne Smythe's Healing Spa and Bathing Emporium is a haven for fashionable women who believe the waters have aphrodisiac properties. Yet the prim proprietress never thinks of testing that theory-until grievously injured Captain Stephen Chamberlin is deposited on her doorstep. Every minute the war hero spends under her roof courts scandal. It isn't long before she discovers that having such a man at her mercy arouses her in ways she never thought possible as their "therapeutic" sessions in the hot springs have become steamy trysts Anne wishes would never end... Stephen thought he had reached his lowest point when the war rendered him an invalid. He's proven wrong when his sister and best friend leave him in the care of the tantalizing Mrs. Anne Smythe. Yet as the healing waters work their magic, so does the widow Smythe. Beneath her unflappable exterior lies an alluring woman: warm, witty, and refreshingly open to sensual experimentation. But when mutual pleasure turns to forbidden love, can two people outwit the forces that would see them torn apart?