"Scrapes abound in this hilarious romp!"

Belle Winston is not the usual simpering maiden you would normally find in a historical romance. She can gamble, ride and shoot with the best of them, thanks to her stepfather Nabob Lydgate. So she's simply furious when her supposed fiancé leaves her at a house party when they have an argument. That's where she meets Stephan Kirkton.

Stephan's biggest problem is he was born on the wrong side of the blanket. He became engaged to a woman to give him respectability but unfortunately she broke the engagement. Now he's trying to drown his sorrows and Belle just may be the person to help. After all she is a light skirt, isn't she?

As Stephan and Belle get to know each other, Stephan has decided that he must save Belle from scandal by marrying her as quickly as possible. The problem is that Belle doesn't want to be saved or married. What can Stephan do to convince her?

As Belle and Stephan ride across England for the Scottish border in order to be wed, they encounter all sorts of adventures. Will they ever reach Scotland and be married? That remains to be seen.

I do so appreciate Melanie Jackson's dry wit in her books but this one just had me holding my sides from laughing so hard. The scrapes Stephan and Belle find themselves in would try the patience of a saint. This excellent romp had me swiftly turning pages in order to number one see what they would get into and out of next and number two see how Melanie Jackson would end this magnificent story!

Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted April 4, 2002

Summary

With the letter breaking his engagement, Stephan Kirton's hopes for respectability go up in smoke. Inevitably, his "interaction with the lower classes" and the fact that he is a bastard have put him beyond the scope of polite society. He finds consolation at Ormstead Park; a place for dancing, drinking and gambling -- a place where he can find a woman for the night.

He doesn't recognize her at first; ladies don't come to Lord Duncan's masked balls. This beauty's descent into the netherworld has brought her within reach, yet she is no girl of the day. Annabelle Winston is sublime. And if he has to trick her, bribe her, protect her, whatever — one way or another he will make her an honest woman. And she will make him a happy man.