Lucy Monroe, Touch Me

Touch Me

Lucy Monroe

Berkley, Sep 2005, $6.99

ISBN: 0425205312

In 1797 England, angry aristocrat Geoffrey Selwyn believes his wife cheated on him though Anna swore she did not. When she gives birth to a boy, he takes the boy away with him. Heartbroken she gives birth a few minutes later to a twin a girl she names Althea. Fearing Geoffrey will steal Thea if he learns about her existence, Anna flees to the British West Indies.

Twenty-three years later, Anna has been dead for a decade, but Thea is a partner in Merewether Shipping with her Uncle Ashby. Pierson Drake needs a blacksmith to fix his steam engine so that he can sail back to Liverpool in a timely manner to insure his investors make their money. He ignores Thea who offers to help him until he learns he needs her to hire the blacksmith. She assists him under the stipulation that he takes her to London because she wants to look at several discrepancies in the business books. He is blackmailed into agreeing. On the voyage over they fall in love and he wants to marry her, but she refuses because she knows what an inflexible male can do to a loving female.

TOUCH ME is an enjoyable Regency romance starring two likable protagonists carrying plenty of relationship baggage; hers as described above and his being an illegitimate offspring. The story line is character driven as the cast especially the support players vividly brings out England, the West Indies, and to a lesser degree sailing the Atlantic in 1820. Fans of historical tales will want to journey with Lucy Monroe as her wonderful tale will touch readers hearts, making them look forward to future passages starring the heroine's half-sister and twin.

Harriet Klausner