The Purloined Papers

by Allison Lane and Cleo Qian

Book Overview

When Chloe Fields's estranged father dies suddenly, she returns home-and finds herself in the presence of the one man she has never stopped loving. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451206045
• ISBN13: 9780451206046
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Delightful!

Chloe Field's father gambled away his fortune and planned to marry her off to pay the debts. Instead, Chloe left and found employment with her childhood friend, William Seabrook. William hired her to be a companion to his hateful sister, Laura. Chloe needed to save enough money to allow her to purchase a modest cottage for herself, so she stuck it out no matter what Laura did. When news of her father's death arrived, Chloe could not help but feel guilty, especially since foul play was suspected. If she had let her father marry her off (basically SELL her) he might still be alive. She had hoped to someday reconcile with him. Laura continued to be someone I, as the Reader, loved to hate. Enter the hero of the story! Captain Andrew Seabrook had known Chloe since childhood. Eleven years before, he had almost seduced her! This was something he had never forgiven himself for. He had been sent home to recover from a leg wound received at Waterloo. Quietly, he was also to investigate the murder of Chloe's father. He did not know Chloe had been in love with him all these years, but felt the passion from eleven years ago return in full force! ***** Delightful! I feel this to be the best work of the author, Allison Lane, thus far! The author seems to get better with each novel that is published! I highly recommend this one! A KEEPER! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch.

an enjoyable but somber read

"The Purloined Papers" is another installation in the Seabrook saga, and this time the focal point of the novel is that of the complicated relationship between Chloe Fields and Captain Andrew Seabrook. Laura Seabrook's (also seen in "The Notorious Widow" & "The Rake and the Wallflower") crazed machinations to stop her brother's marriage to Martha Truitt (the daughter of a prosperous merchant), and the mysterious death of Chloe's estranged father also features into this interesting and compelling novel.When Chloe Field's father (Sir Nigel Fields) lost his fortune at the gambling table, rather than allow him to marry her off so that he could pay off his debts, Chloe left home in order to find employment. Luckily for her, her childhood friend, William Seabrook, was in desperate need of someone competent to be a companion to his somewhat crazed and unlikeable sister, Laura. And while life with Laura has been no picnic, Chloe has managed to save quite a bit of money (mostly bribes from Laura's brothers-in-law so that she will not leave her post), so that her dream of being able to live peacefully in a small cottage one day has almost become a reality. And then two things happen that changes the course her life seems to be set on: her father dies suddenly and under suspicious circumstances; and Captain Andrew Seabrook, her childhood friend with whom she has been in love with for years, but with whom she parted badly, returns to Exeter. Now, Chloe must somehow not only cope with Laura's obnoxious shenanigans and the loss of a father with whom she never reconciled with, but also maintain a cool facade so that Andrew never learns that she is still in love with him...Andrew has returned home in order to recover from a leg wound he sustained at Waterloo. A career soldier, he is weary of war and would dearly love to sell out, except that he isn't equipped to be anything else but a soldier. And if that's not depressing enough, watching Chole working as his nasty sister's companion is definitely enough to bring on a case of the megrims! And then there is also the guilt he feels for having almost seduced Chloe 11 years ago, and the horrid manner in which they parted. Now, however seeing Chloe everyday (esp since he is investigating her father's death), Andrew comes to the realisation that he has never stopped loving Chloe. But can he get Chloe to forgive him for past misdeeds, and to open her heart to him again?"The Purloined Papers" was a truly engrossing read -- such a lot happens in this 200 odd page romance novel. And eventhough the romance subplot was a little marginalised in favour of exploring the relationships that other characters had with each other in this novel (not to mention the murder subplot), I didn't feel this to be a flaw at all. Andrew and Chloe have quite a lot to work out, and I liked that Allison Lane allowed for their relationship to develop slowly, giving them time to become close friends again, before broaching the romance that fairl