Nicole Jordan, Wicked Fantasy

Wicked Fantasy

Nicole Jordan

Ivy, Aug 2005, $6.99

ISBN: 0345467868

In 1811 adventurer Trey Deverill meets with his partner shipping magnate Samuel Maitland who introduces him to his sixteen year old daughter Antonia. That night Trey hears a strange noise outside, investigates and finds Antonia slinging arrows. They talk and she says she regrets not being able to go on a grand adventure. He asks what that would be so she responds by asking him to kiss her, which he does, but quickly leaves because she is too young and the child of a friend, who wants her wedded to nobility.

Four years later, Samuel is dead and Antonia is unofficially betrothed to another of her father's business associates Lord Heward. Family housekeeper Mrs. Peake believes Heward murdered her employer Mr. Maitland. The night before Heward and Maitland argued over the aristocrat selling slaves; afterward Maitland drank from a bottle given to him by Heward and keeled over. Heward summoned his doctor who declared heart it a attack, and the bottle vanished. Because Samuel supported the Guardian of the Sword that Trey is a member of, he must protect Antonia by finding out if Heward is a killer, but falls in love with her.

WICKED FANTASY is a cleverly crafted Regency romantic amateur sleuth thriller that grips the audience once Trey provides the details behind Mrs. Peake's suspicions. The storyline is loaded with plenty of action as Trey investigates as best he can, handicapped by needing to proceed cautiously in case Heward is innocent and the right spouse for Samuel's daughter. The heroine is a terrific amazon princess who deserves the best just as Nicole Jordan provides that to her audience.

Harriet Klausner