Barbara Pierce, Sinful Between the Sheets

Sinful Between the Sheets

Barbara Pierce

St. Martin's, Apr 2007, $6.99

ISBN 0312348223

In 1809 in London when the Duke of Solitea dies in a young woman's bedchamber, his heir Fayne Carlisle mourns the loss of his sire and his own womanizing, hedonistic freedom as now he has responsibilities. However, first Fayne needs to know whether the legendary Solitea Curse struck or something more mundane like the lady poisoning his father. He plans to find out, starting with meeting Lady Kilby Fitchwolf.

Still in mourning with the shocking deaths of her parents in a yachting accident almost two years ago and only in London at the insistence of a family friend not wanting her left alone any longer with her violent half-brother Archer, Kilby swears she is innocent though she also recognizes the compromised situation the late Duke left her in when he died in her chamber. Fayne wants her and assumes she is an experienced woman, but finds strange mixed signals of desire and na ve innocence from her. As she tries to learn the truth about the death of her parents and gain custody of her still-hurting preadolescent sister "Gypsy" from Archer and Fayne likewise wants to know what happened to his father, they fall in love, but a deadly "matchmaker" lurks in the background ready to kill to keep them to keep their identity secret.

SINFUL BETWEEN THE SHEETS, the sequel to the charming WICKED UNDER THE COVERS (the tale of Fayne's sister), is a fantastic Regency amateur sleuth romantic suspense. The changing relationship between the lead couple and three strong mysteries (need to read the novel to learn the third mystery) make for a superb historical that will elate the audience. Sub-genre fans who have not read Barbara Pierce are missing out on one of the best Regency authors today.

Harriet Klausner