"The Mysteriorus Ways of Love!"

"Remembrance only can remain,/But that, will make us weep the more./...Again, thou best belov'd, adieu!/Ah, If thou canst, o'ercome regret,/Nor let thy mind past joys review,/Our only hope is, to forget!"

Lord Byron's words, indeed, perfectly describe the central conflict within this multi-plotted story intriguingly crafted by Jacqueline Navin. For Lady May Ellinsworth, her adopted daughter Sophie, and her brother-in-law Gideon Hayworth all possess secrets that continuously haunt them. These are secrets that could destroy the security and love they have managed to carefully forge.

But the emergence of passionate, deep love has this uncanny effect of exposing everything about the beloved - from the most delightful virtues to the most sordid memories that evoke guilt and condemnation! How they are exposed and the response to the confessions or discoveries are masterfully presented by Ms. Navin!

Sophie is determined not to wind up in the penniless and forlorn state of her female relatives but is completely undone by the presence of Gideon, a rebel who has been severely wounded in an illegal duel! Their introduction and subsequent conversations are funny, literate, silly, and endearing on every page! Despite the efforts of both to banter and remain independent of the other's opinions, they must yield to Cupid's arrow! What follows is lovely and exciting!

Other suitors enter the picture, men who know of Sophie and Gideon's past and whose revelation could not only destroy the budding romance but also shame them with society's powerful, damning judgment!

There is so much more in this complex, romantic tale, and each scene leaves the reader anxious to read on and discover how the mysteries will unfold!

Secrets are as powerful as they are allowed to be!

Read this novel and relish love's mysterious ways!

Wonderful, J. Navin!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on October 29, 2005

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal
Courtesy Crystal Reviews
Posted October 31, 2005

Summary

Left penniless after the deaths of her courtesan mother, Sophie Temple is determined that marriage will bring her the one thing she so desperately desires-respectability. That is until she meets the very Gideon Hayworth, a dashing earl who is anything but respectable. How can this man be nothing she ever wanted in a husband and everything she ever dreamed of in a man?

The last thing Gideon is looking for is a bride, but he cannot fight the dawning truth that Sophie is all his heart desires. To win her he must redeem himself and prove himself worthy of her hand, and her love.