Sara Blayne, Marrying the Marquis

Marrying the Marquis

Sara Blayne

Zebra, Oct 2004, $5.99, 352 pp.

ISBN: 082176926X

In Wells, England, highwayman Black Rose accosts Lady Constance Landford demanding her purse and a family heirloom. Constance recognizes the eyes of the masked thief as those of the Marquis of Vere, Gideon Rochelle. She feels guilty that her father ripped off Gideon when he collected on gambling debts of the latter's sire, barely buried, but refuses to give him the jewel. Gideon takes a kiss instead.

The Black Rose stops Gideon's coach and demands he hand over his money. He refuses and the woman posing as the Black Rose copycat challenges him to a duel. Before they start she kisses him. Though she is quite good and would have defeated most men, Gideon disarms her. When he realizes who the Lady Black Rose is he decides she is perfect revenge for what her father did to him and his family. However, he never expected to fall in love with his pawn.

MARRYING THE MARQUIS is a fast-paced Regency romance that hooks the audience from the moment that Gideon stops Constance's coach and never lets up until the final confrontation. The lead couple is a delightful dueling duo with Constance's love enabling Gideon to rise above his thirst for vengeance. As expected from Sara Blayne by sub-genre fans, this is a wonderful historical novel due to the solid repartee between Constance and Gideon.

Harriet Klausner