The Second Lady Southvale

by Sandra Heath

Book Overview

Miss Rosalind Carberry defied all warnings when she accepted Lord Philip Southvale's proposal. Her father distrusts the breathtakingly handsome, fabulously wealthy Englishman, and meanwhile rumors... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451164334
• ISBN13: 9780451164339
• Release Date: March 1990
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 221 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Love at first sight . . .

Coincidentally, just as I was starting to read this book--for the first time, as I'd somehow missed it when it was new--there was an article in my local newspaper about a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. "He asked me to marry him the night we met," remarked the wife, "and I never regretted my decision." So, love at first sight can happen, and be the real thing, even if everyone else thinks it's a bunch of hooey. Such was the case when the British Lord Philip Southvale first saw Miss Rosalind Carberry riding by the building in which he was attending a diplomatic meeting in Washington D. C. It was 1811, and the two countries were not quite at war, but tensions were high, nonetheless. Lord Southvale had been widowed the year previously when his wife was on a ship that went down off the coast of England. In his grief, he returned to the diplomatic corps and to his surprise was sent to America, to try and keep the young country out of the Napoleon-inspired contretemps between England and France. That first glance so interested the British lord, he set out to secure an introduction, which unfortunately came during a large party to celebrate July 4th, an annual event at the home of Miss Rosalind's parents. She was expected to soon announce her intention to marry a local gentlemen, George Whitby, much encouraged by her parents. But all good intentions fled the moment she laid eyes on the Englishman. Within days, however, the young couple had convinced her parents of their sincerity, and wedding plans were underway. Diplomacy, however, interfered, sending Lord Philip back to England mere days before the planned ceremony. Fearing a military upheaval, and without telling her parents, Rosalind and her maid set off on the same journey days later. Once in England, however, all was not well. It is this author's tradition to keep all the interwoven story lines clearly sorted out, so as to not confuse the reader, while yet providing all the background one could want. Clothing, houses--great and small--society, everything is so well described that you can easily imagine yourself in the middle of each scene. The sheer sweep of the writing keeps one avidly turning pages, while wishing they'd never end! Of course, it all ends well, but only by the skin of its teeth! Sandra Heath is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to Regency-era novels. May she never go out of print!