Victoria Vane has done it again! Well-written, entertaining, witty, inventive and sexy, I loved every moment of this novella!

Let me introduce you to the protagonists….

Lady Vesta Chambers



~ 18 years old, wilful, spirited, clever, conniving, petulant, pampered

Captain Hewett (Hew) DeVere



~ 28 years old, handsome, dashing, brave, good, honourable, straight-laced


The minute Vesta sees Hew, she falls head over heels in love, but he seems to be smitten with her godmother, Lady Diana. So convinced she can persuade Hew that she is the perfect woman for him, Vesta decides to take drastic action. KIDNAP HIM!!

What transpires is a mad-cap romp involving…


A cup of tea with a generous amount of lemon juice and copious amounts of honey in it



A ship’s crows nest



A conveniently positioned shaving mirror



The perfect punishment



culminating in…

A sizzling hot love scene with an unusual surprise



and Vesta getting her man…

“He twined a curl around his finger and kissed it. “Taken as a whole, my love, you are infinitely greater than the sum of your parts—and everything I didn’t know I needed.”

DeVere is his usual manipulative self and I’m really intrigued by the underlying tension between him and Diana. I can’t wait to read their story.

Among the secondary characters, I really like Polly, Vesta’s Abigail, with her no-nonsense bluntness which made me laugh on more than one occasion.

“Took a faint, my sweet arse!” Polly mumbled once Diana and the others had departed. “Now, young lady, you tell me what this ruckus is all about,” she began her diatribe. “You may have fooled the rest wi’ yer damsel in distress act, but don’t think to bamboozle ol’ Polly.”

There was also Pratt, DeVere’s groom, who gets entangled in all the various shenanigans.

I have one small gripe. I thought Vesta did seem a little too young for Hew but it's only a minor criticism and it certainly didn't spoil the story for me. I also appreciate that in the 18th century, gentlemen did marry ladies much younger than themselves.

I’ll finish with one of my favourite quotes.

"I have found only one effective way of dealing with a recalcitrant mount,” he said, dipping his head so his deep blue eyes bored into hers. Vesta forced her breath out slowly even as her heart rate accelerated. She swallowed hard. “And that is?”
“By riding it to exhaustion.”
“Then, Captain Hewett DeVere,” she whispered. “Do your worst.”

VERDICT: WICKEDLY FUN READ

RATING: ★★★★★


This ebook was provided by the author Victoria Vane in exchange for an honest review.