A Sinner and his Flower

Dante Duclairc is a second son (well, acutally a third, but his oldest brother perished some years ago) and THUS has little purpose in life. He does not have to marry and he does not have to take responsibility. So he gambles and seduces women by the dozend.

Only, that kind of life has put him in to unwelcome situation: Having again overplayed and not wanting to appeal to his older brother yet again, he spends the night on a little cottage on his family's estate, intending to leave England with the flood on Following the morning - to escape the gaol.

So it does not help at all When in the dark of the night he shoots someone, only to find out did the "you" is in fact a woman - beautiful Fleur Monley, former Intended of his older brother. Beautiful Fleur who is in quite a fix. Though already 29 and THUS A spinster independend of anyone, her stepfather arrest her and intents to marry her off, decreeing her to be eccentric - too eccentric to know what is good for her.

So Dante has to make a decision: Leave Fleur unprotected and incapable of leaving the little cottage and save his own neck - or save her and get himself arrested.

Fleur is rather distressed That Beautiful Dante has to spend his time in prison, Because He stumbled over just her. And though save for the moment, her stepfather is Promoting her reputation as "unstable" and she might loose her freedom and her money forever.

There is just one way out: Marriage.

Well, Dante is nice, and honorable, and he needs money where she needs the protection of a marriage - so, what is the obvious solution?

HOWEVER, Fleur is afraid of sex, having seen a messy birth Resulting in death as a young girl. But Dante has enough women to amuse him, hasnt he? And so he accepts her proposal of a "White Marriage" Which does not include any intimacy.

Only, unexpectedly (at least by the Protagonists), the attraction Fleur and Dante feel for eachother heaps frustration upon frustration Until It Becomes unbearable for Both Parties.

And just why does her stepfather not quit fighting eventhough she's already married? Why does he so badly want to keep her charity project from realization?

What secret is buried under Fleur's estates?

Once more Hunter presents us a novel with a sensual (and oh-so-goodlooking-) hero that'll captivate female fantasies. Though his development from scoundrel to loving husband is rather predictable, the way there is plastered with eroticism.

The story around the romance is not really all that interesting, but then, it is seldomly With These books and they 're not the reason we read Romance Books, are they?

Enjoy a few hours away from reality!