Carla Susan Smith's MISCHANCE is part one in the Corsets and Carriages Trilogy, which is about the love story between Catherine Davenport and Rian Connor.
I kept waiting in the first two-three chapters for the main characters to meet, but it took a little longer to happen. She sets up the story by showing you into the separate lives of the Catherine and Rian that leads up to their eventual meeting. As the story progresses, Rian and Catherine are brought together under unique circumstances and are immediately attracted to each other, but there are some obstacles in their way. After Rian saves Catherine's life and she awakes from being ill, she has no memory of where she came from and about all she can remember is her first name. As she heals physically her mind is still not cooperating, but through a shared experience a name from her memory emerges. In order to be closer to Catherine, Rian tries to break it off with his mistress, Lady Isabel Howard.
Thinking that Catherine is more of a country person than living in London type of person they make arrangements to head to Oakhaven where Rian and his brother grew up. Leaving for Oakhaven is where the first part of the trilogy leaves off and keeps you wondering if Rian's patience will pay off where Catherine is concerned. Can Rian and Catherine's feelings for each other survive Catherine's memory coming back? Will Lady Isabel get what she wants and how does she play a part into what happens to Rian and Catherine? What is it that Catherine can't remember? Will it come back to her and destroy her life and Rian's or will love conquer all? The next book in the trilogy, RESOLVE, will answer some of these questions and SALVATION, the third installment, will give the answers to the rest. I look forward to reading the next two books in the Corsets and Carriages Trilogy.
After her fortune is squandered by her drunken gambler of a
father, Catherine Davenport must accept the charity of a
cousin she has never met. But the household of Phillip
Davenport is anything but welcoming. Catherine barely
survives a brutal attack that shatters her body and severs
her memory. A harrowing rescue on the London docks takes
her
into the home of two brothers: Rian and Liam Connor.
βTrust him . . . he will not hurt you.β
Mystery and scandal surround Rian, recently returned from a
plantation in the Americas. As Catherine struggles to
reclaim her identity, she must fight her overwhelming
desire
for the man who saved her life. But Rian, she learns, has
come home for a wedding, and Catherine fears her enigmatic
rescuer is already spoken for. How can a woman with no
memory, no family, no home, hope to win the heart of
Londonβs most intriguing rogue?
EXCERPT
He continued his approach, making no effort to disguise his
footsteps, but the girl gave no indication she heard him.
Whatever problem she wrestled with, it was weighty enough
to render her oblivious to everything around her. Seeing
how close she was to the edge of the wharf, Rian prayed he
did not startle her. A sudden loss of balance would send
her tumbling into the murky water, where she could easily
be carried away by the river's strong undercurrent.
The unfathomable sense that had tugged at him before now
increased in intensity. Rian could almost smell the scent
of despair clinging to the girl, and the thick, cloying
perfume filled his own nostrils. Intuition told him a
handful of coins, no matter how generous or well-
intentioned, would not aid the girl's misfortune. And that
did not sit well with him.
He was behind her now, and yet she still seemed completely
unaware of his presence, her attention firmly fixed on
something in the water. She cried out, her words mumbled
and incoherent, but Rian had no difficulty in recognizing
the anguish behind them. It was the most pitiful sound he
had ever heard, and it set his course. Carefully he reached
out a hand and grasped her shoulder. Keeping his hold firm
and true in case she might still stumble, Rian slowly
turned her toward him.
Very few things in life took Rian by surprise, but this was
one of them, and he found himself uncharacteristically
struck dumb. With one sweeping glance he took in the white
blonde hair that tumbled about her face, the swollen,
bruised mouth and the discolorations along either side of
her jaw. But what troubled him most, set him back on his
heels, was the fear, distrust and pain that were so clearly
reflected in the one eye that gazed steadily at him. An orb
of deep, infinite blue, it held him fast, refusing to look
away despite the horror Rian could see there. But then she
blinked, thick lashes sweeping downward, and this time when
she looked at him, Rian saw something else.
Beyond the terror he saw a need that called to him. A want
that awakened an unexpected impulse, inflaming a need of
his own. This one more basic, more primal, shocking Rian
with the sudden protective impulse he felt. Whoever she
was, she was no dockside whore, but as he opened his mouth
to reassure her, that disturbing blue eye rolled back in
her head, and she slumped against him.
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