"Not your run-of-the-mill historical!"

This isn't one of your usual run-of-the-mill historical romances. This one is about a Duchess who is an older woman and who has just lost her tyrannical husband through a quirk of fate. She is still numb because she cannot believe that she's finally out from under his thumb when she meets this younger man in her garden who takes her into the gardener's cottage and makes love to her all night long in such a way that she finally feels like she's come alive. Then unfortunately she becomes ill and all memories of that night are wiped from her memory. She only has her dreams of that night.

Olivia Thorpe now has to try to get on with her life. She has to get the ancestral home ready for the new heir who is going to be coming back to England from America where he has lived since he was a child. Then she is given an opportunity to get involved in politics when she's approached about the deplorable situation of the girls who work in the match factory. She also comes face to face with Willoughby Barnes, a painter and sometimes gardener. The minute she sees him face to face, all of her memories of that glorious night come rushing back. Will is 15 years her junior and many stations below her. It could never work or could it?

This book wasn't just about Olivia and Will and their great age difference. It was so much more. There were so many stories intertwined and of course, there is the mystery of how Quinton Thorpe, the Duke, really died. All these situations combined had me deeply enmeshed in this book. This is the first book of Julie Beard's that I've read but it has made me definitely want to look up her backlist.

Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted April 5, 2002

Read an Excerpt

Summary

After more than twenty years, Olivia, Duchess of Brandhust, is finally free—free from the shackles of a lovless marriage to a cruel, domineering husband. An in one reckless night of passion, she experiences that freedom—in the arms of Will Barnes, a man she meets by chance in the moonlight of a garden, a man forbidden to her by the unwritten laws of Victorian society.

Once the night is over, Livie returns to her role of grieving widow. But memories of that night haunt Livie—and Will as well. Unable to forget her or the fierce emotions she inspires in him, he returns. With his working-class background and artistic talents, Will is unlike anyone Livie has ever known. Despite the scandal that threatens their love, and the differenced between them, she cannot resist him, or the beauty he brings to her life. But when Livie's enemies try to destroy her with vicious accusations about her marriage, Will is determined to save her, even if it means giving her up. Somehow, Livie must prove to him that their passion is worth any sacrifice, and that he is much more than the duchess' lover—he is her love...