Julianne MacLean, Surrender to a Scoundrel

Surrender to a Scoundrel

Julianne MacLean

Avon, Jan 2007, $6.99

ISBN: 0060819367

In 1891, in England, everyone recognizes Lord Martin Langdon as a throwback to the great rakes of the Regency era. His reputation as a scoundrel is well earned and he cherishes every word that he hears. When he hears rumors that widow Evelyn Wheaton is the frostiest prim and proper lady of them all, Martin sees a challenge because he knows how icy she can be since she rescued him from a lake when she was a child and from a dorm when she was sixteen. Still, he decides the games afoot as he plans to have fun corrupting her.

Though she hides her regard for Martin from him, Evelyn has him on a pedestal as her hero. She rejects the common belief that he loves his notorious reputation and would like to help him regain all he lost though she knows he would not make a good second husband for her. As he teaches her to sail, he finds he enjoys her lan for life. Soon he wants much more as he has fallen in love, but will she tell him that she surrendered her heart to this scoundrel when she was still a Foster.

Though the typical plot of Guys and Dolls in a Victorian setting; readers will enjoy the game between the immovable scoundrel vs. the unbreakable moralist, as love changes the rules of their contest. The storyline is fun to follow as Martin believes he is the one to break the ice, unaware that his target worships him as she has for over a decade. Julianne MacLean provides a delightful charmer as the scoundrel surrenders to the siren.

Harriet Klausner