Two young people from the Americas meet in London in 1863.
Raven, a foundling passed off as the nephew of a childless
earl, is from Jamaica, while Eden is a currently wealthy
daughter of a merchant supporting the Confederate Army in
the bitter war between the States. If the Union side wins,
her dowry may be forfeited. Raven finds Eden a lot more
attractive than the simpering English girls with no idea of
business or politics - but his uncle is the one to marry
her.
SWEPT AWAY is two love stories in one, for Alex, the earl,
knows he has a weak heart and a short life left and forms a
May-September romance with Eden, who has been sent to
England to get her away from the war. Eden is swept off
her feet and happily weds Alex, who takes her to his estate
in Devon. He intends to bring her back to Jamaica aboard
his clipper ship, but sadly he dies and leaves Eden
grieving. Raven is perhaps too quick to take advantage but
his precarious hold on the earldom will be increased if he
marries the late earl's widow. Eden really has few choices
for although she would be provided for, she has no social
contacts and only men after her money would be interested
in meeting her. Raven sweeps her away in turn and marries
her, thus creating a scandal sure to exclude her from
polite society, before boarding the ship to Jamaica; and on
the voyage Eden discovers she is pregnant.
The attitudes of various members of household staff, ship's
crew, family members and Jamaicans provide plenty of
variety, while the war rears its head all too quickly and
Eden's family require a cargo of guns and some assistance
in a sea battle. The nautical part of the story is well
detailed and we realise the hardship of sailing the
Atlantic in a hurricane. We see the plantation raising
sugar, ginger and allspice, with self-assured servants of
various colours. Eden's loyalty is still divided between
Alex and his heir, while she feels Alex's first wife, long
dead, as a palpable presence in her new mansion. Pheobe
Cann has brought her period to life and the frequent
interruption of the Civil War shows how America, England
and the Indies were connected at this time. I enjoyed the
vigorous romance and can't blame brave young Eden in the
least for being SWEPT AWAY - who wouldn't be?
When the wealthy family of Virginia belle Eden Sinclair
sends her to London to escape the horrors of the Civil War,
it isn’t far enough to escape heartbreak. In a whirlwind,
she is courted by the Earl of Claiborne, married—then
widowed soon after her wedding. Her head hasn’t even
stopped spinning when the Earl’s heir, dashing sea captain
Raven Blade, offers the comfort of his arms.
Raven never wanted a wife, until Eden. Honor kept him from
competing with the Earl for her love, but now that her
marriage bed is empty, there is nothing stopping him from
making her Lady Claiborne—again—and taking her home to his
Jamaican plantation to shield her from the resulting gossip.
In a dangerous quest to win her heart, Raven volunteers to
captain one of her father’s ships, the Confederate commerce
destroyer Southern Knight. Even as he risks his life, he
harbors a dangerous secret. And his absence from the
plantation leaves Eden—and the growing child in her belly—
vulnerable to someone who would rather see her dead than
take her rightful place beside the Earl of Claiborne…
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