October Revenge*
Spitfire Heroine Saves Her Man
The author does a good job right at the start in setting a mood and a tone for the book. The hero, Mark, the Earl of Gatwick, is silently walking around his own home as if trying to vanish into the woodwork himself. Soon the author reveals some of Mark’s past. Apparently, when Mark was younger, he got in with the wrong crowd. He got involved with a man named Shayles whom Mark witnessed doing terrible things. Mark feels guilty because he didn’t say anything. Now some twenty years after a particularly heinous act, Mark helped get Shayles convicted of one crime. Unfortunately, this will not keep Shayles in prison for long; in fact, he’s due to be released in a month from the start of the book. Mark knows that Shayles will kill him once he is released. Shayles’s lawyer has even sent Mark a letter stating that Mark owes the villain twenty thousand pounds, and if this is not paid, Mark will be ruined by what Shayles will divulge. Under the power of these threats, Mark feels a bit like a dead man walking.
Immediately on the heels of the receipt of this letter, Marcus is surprised when there is a knock at the door. He never has visitors. This visitor is a young black woman from New Orleans named Angelica. Mark’s uncle had moved to the States and became her adopted grandfather. In the old man’s will, Angelica who will not get her inheritance unless she marries Mark.
The young woman is quite a spitfire and rather determined, unlike any woman Mark has known. He is definitely attracted to her, probably due in part to the monkish existence he has lived. Mark comes across as a sad, vulnerable, and sweet hero.
When Shayles’ finds out about this new woman in Mark’s life, she becomes a target as well. However, Shayles has not met a woman like her! She is unwilling to back down to his threat. It was fascinating to see her strength and the way that she was able to help Mark become a stronger and better man. There is definitely violence in this book, but it is contextual and not gratuitous.
The book has some of the common issues with grammar, punctuation, and spelling, but this did not detract from my enjoyment of the book.
This is a very unusual historical romance. Not only is it interracial, but the heroine is stronger than the hero. If you’re looking for something a little different in historical romance, this book may fill the bill.
