Smitten by Books

Innocence Lost
Author: Tiffany Green
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Pub. Date: January 8, 2010
Retail Price: $6.00
256 pages

From her first glimpse of his portrait, Lady Megan Westland is smitten.  Unfortunately, the handsome face belongs to her brother’s enemy—the Duke of Claremont, Nicholas Bradshaw.  A chance encounter with the insufferable duke has her furious.  How could she possibly love such a beast?

Nicholas learns a little too late that the beautiful girl he met is not at all who he thinks.  And now, he must keep her safe from the enemy lurking close to home.

When the kidnapper does strike, Nicholas needs the assistance of his foe and a pirate captain to rescue her.  But will it be enough?

~*~*~

Tiffany Green is a new author for me, but being a fan of strong female characters in historical settings, I found INNOCENCE LOST a nice, compelling read with enough plot twists and interesting characters to keep me turning the pages.

Set in early 19^th century England, where Lady Megan Westland has dreamed of Nicholas Bradshaw, the neighboring Duke of Claremont, since gazing at his portrait as a child. Now, Megan has come of age and is about to be launched into society when an accidental meeting with the notorious Duke and a case of unknown identity, set their story in motion.

Nicholas is the picture of a stereotypical duke: a rake, jaded by wealth and all it can provide, yet deep down, is searching for a better half. He meets his match in the stunning but restless Megan when she mistakenly takes his prize stallion, forcing a showdown between the two. Their brief dalliance leaves the duke wanting to know more about Megan, including her name and any potential suitors she is about to entertain in her first season.

Clouding Megan’s future is the disappearance of her parents, a serious illness and a lackluster marriage proposal.  All of which, conspire to transform Nicholas from randy rake, to Megan’s ardent suitor. But their union is complicated by a decade-old feud between Bradshaw and Megan’s brother Julian, and the fact that she has been temporarily placed under the Duke’s guardianship.

Society embraces the plucky Megan who blossoms into a self-confident woman still pining for the man in the portrait while Nicholas’s responsibility for Megan wars with his growing need for her. When Nicholas’s past is about to crash in on the couple, deceit and betrayal force him to face the loss of the one woman he can’t live without.

Throughout the book, a sense of time and place are revealed in detailed descriptions and settings, while well-defined characters help establish this story through action and snappy dialogue. Several twists and turns carry the plot and fuel the action that features treachery, kidnapping and adventure on the high seas. But it’s also where some difficulty arises. At certain points, the momentum is jarred by improbable reactions or resolutions which occur where some character arcs or development present challenges. However, it didn’t stop me from wanting to finish the story or cheer on Nicholas and Megan. Readers are rewarded with an undeniable attraction between the two while their love scenes remain fairly tame and brief.

Overall, Green does a very good job of setting up the scenes and tension (the opener is a winner!), presenting the actors and launching a plot filled with numerous conflicts and decent suspense, which makes that sense of ‘rushed’ resolutions somewhat unsettling. It left me to wonder if editing or limited word count may have been the reason. I felt invested and wanted to spend more time with these men and women on their journeys and fully experience their transformations.

Nonetheless, the antagonist and co-conspirators, whose identities are cleverly concealed throughout the book, I came to know and understand pretty well.

And, a cast of likable personalities is presented and left me wanting to see more of them in the future. These included Julian Westland, Nicholas’s friend Jeremy, Capt. Jack and Megan’s new found friend, Evie. I am cheered to see Green has several books planned in the ‘Innocence’ series with a few of the aforementioned characters.

On the whole, Green provides a well-rounded tale and satisfying read that I would recommend, and I’m looking forward to her upcoming books, particularly those that tell the stories of Julian and Capt. Jack.

Rating: 7 (Good)

Heat Level: 2.5 (Warm)

Buy Link: Wild Rose Press $6.00