Kit Stansell and Mary Penley grew up knowing that the best
way to break their quarreling families' hearts would be to
fall in love. Accordingly, as soon as they were remotely
old enough, they did so. They eloped to London, where they
learned that fierce sexual attraction and even love aren't
enough to combat the strain of sudden marriage at such a
young age. After terrible mistakes on both sides, they
separated.
Now, nine years later, they live very different lives. Kit
has distinguished himself as an officer in the military,
and Mary has turned her clever mind to the intellectual
world of social reform. When they meet by chance at an inn
at Calais, all the familiar attraction resurfaces -- and
it's made fresh again by the discovery of how each of them
has changed. One thing that hasn't changed, however, is
their explosive chemistry, and when circumstances bring Kit
home, he and Mary are thrown into constant contact. Despite
some talk of divorce, it isn't long before they're carrying
on a secret, torrid affair, arguing and laughing and making
love, just as they used to.
Kit's business in Derbyshire concerns a labor uprising, a
political intrigue that threatens to overturn the liberty
he holds so dear. Mary's intelligence and her reform
connections become useful, and through working together,
Mary gains a new respect for her formerly roguish husband.
Time apart has taught them the value of forgiveness -- the
danger they face in the present helps them to accomplish it.
Pam Rosenthal's writing is extraordinary. Fans of
Laura Kinsale and Julia Ross will adore
Rosenthal's ability to humanize her characters -- to render
their emotions and reactions realistic to a fault, while
maintaining a warmth that makes them sympathetic. Kit and
Mary breathe. They also have sex -- a lot. The passion
between them is what elevates the book above the somewhat
stodgy backdrop of labor reform, and keeps the pages flying
by.
As children of feuding Derbyshire landowners, Mary Penley
and Kit Stansell eloped against their families' wishes.
But neither their ardor nor their marriage could survive
their own restless natures. Nine years later, Kit is a
rising star in the military while Mary has made her way in
a raffish, intellectual society of poets and reformers. A
chance meeting re-ignites their passion, but still they
have very different values. Yet when Kit uncovers a
political conspiracy that threatens all of England, they
agree to put their differences aside. Amid danger and
disillusionment, Kit and Mary rediscover the bonds that
are stronger than time, the selves who have never really
parted-and the love that is their destiny.
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