Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Loving a Lost Lord
First in "The Lost Lords" series

by Mary Jo Putney

     

Adam Lawford is only 10 when his father dies. Now the Duke of Ashton, Adam is taken from his Indian mother and brought back to England. Lady Agnes Westerfield, who meets Adam, realizes the boy needs love and makes him the first student of her new academy. Later in life, Adam disappears after a steamship explosion and his academy friends begin a search, hoping to find Adam alive.

Mariah Clarke’s father, a gambler, wins Hartley Manor, a Cumberland estate near the beach. Her father is away traveling when the previous owner, George Burke, arrives. He informs Mariah that highwaymen murdered her father and provides her father’s ring as proof. When George proposes marriage, Mariah suspects he wants to regain his estate, so she lies and tells him she is already married.

After George departs, Mariah goes to the beach and rescues a man floating in the water. When he revives, without any memory, Mariah tells him his name is Adam and she’s his wife. Adam believes her, for the first name sounds right. His wounds heal, but his memory is slow to return.

Mariah realizes that Adam could be married and avoids her "wifely" duty until they can no longer deny their mutual desire. Adam realizes that Mariah was a virgin and she confesses the truth: she used Adam to free her from Burke’s attentions.

When Adam’s friends discover his whereabouts and rush to Hartley Manor, they tell Adam that the explosion was no accident. When they convince Adam to return to London, Mariah joins them, intending to see her father’s solicitor regarding her father’s death. Their arrival in London leads to danger and discoveries that will change Adam’s and Mariah’s lives forever.

I loved the developing romance between Adam and Mariah—and the fears and doubts each suffer. Loving a Lost Lord has an outstanding plot, an intriguing mystery and characters so compelling that it’s the best romance I’ve read all year. I couldn’t put the book down. Mary Jo Putney is an outstanding author, one who writes with superb sensitivity, humor, and exquisite prose. After having been introduced to Adam’s academy friends in this book—the other "Lost Lords" and all charmers—I anxiously await the next release.

The Book

Zebra
July 2009
Paperback
1420103288 / 978-1420103281
Historical Romance, 1812 Kent, England
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: Mary Jo Putney has won two Romance Writers of America RITAs, is on the RWA Honor Roll for bestselling authors, received two Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards and has made all of the national bestseller lists including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday, and Publishers Weekly.

The Reviewer

Linda Morelli
Reviewed 2009
NOTE: Reviewer Linda Morelli is the award-winning author of Lani's Challenge, Shadow of Doubt and Fiery Surrender.
© 2009 MyShelf.com