Jo Goodman, A Season to Be Sinful

A Season to Be Sinful

Jo Goodman

Zebra, Aug 2005, $6.50, 448 pp.

ISBN: 0821777750

In 1810 the local Bishop sends the Right Honorable Lord Woodridge to "hire" a governess amongst the younger residents. He initially selects Lilith Sterling, but her limp makes him believe she is an abomination. The Abbess persuades him otherwise, but Sister Mary Joseph knowing that the English aristocrat uses, abuses and discards young teenage girls sends Lily to England for her safety.

Five years later, Lily sees three thugs ready to assault an aristocrat; one of the felons carries a skiff. She intercedes, but is stabbed for her efforts. The intended victim Viscount Wyatt Grantham assumes that she was the thief, but her compatriots took her away. Not long afterward three urchins, Pinch, Dash, and Midge arrive at Wyatt's home demanding money since his knife stabbed Lily so they can take her to a physician. He denies the knife was his, but intercedes and takes Lily into his home to heal. As they become acquainted they fall in love, but she remains unsafe amidst the Ton because Lord Woodridge will kill to keep his perversion and something even more shocking a secret.

A SEASON TO BE SINFUL is a delightful Regency romance starring a courageous young woman and the noble who admires and loves her. Her three street wards add a different flavor to the typical sub-genre story line yet Wyatt measures them as worthy because they hold in common with him a willingness to die to keep Lily safe. Though the final confrontation seems weak, fans will receive immense pleasure from this wonderful historical.

Harriet Klausner