"Excellent story of love and betrayal."

Anne Smythe has worked hard to make her Healing Spa and Bathing Emporium a success. She stands by the rule of catering only to women, which is acceptable to society. After arguing her rule with Lady Eleanor that a man on the property could ruin her reputation and no amount of money is worth the risk, Lady Eleanor deposits her ailing brother, Captain Stephen Chamberlin, on her doorstep anyway. This is her last hope for his recovery.

As soon as Stephen wakes from his drunken stupor, he knows he's not in his own room. All he wants is for everyone to leave him alone, but as soon as he meets Anne, he knows she can help him and begs to stay. He might be crippled, but he's not dead, and Anne is a beautiful woman. Unable to refuse him and against her better judgment , Anne finally agrees to help him.

When they finally admit their attraction for each other, they both know it will only last until Stephen is well enough to return to London and his fiancée. Neither one expected to fall in love, nor did they realize how hard it would be to be apart.

This is a sad story of two people from different social classes falling in love. Letting go without making the other feel guilty is the greatest gift they can give to each other. I was relieved when Stephen realized true love was more important than money. An excellent story of love and betrayal.

Reviewed by Tammie Ard
Posted August 16, 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?