Sensuality: 8
Having sold her successful business, the Distinguished Academy of Governesses, Miss Hannah Setterington arrives in Lancashire to accept a position as caretaker to the earl of Raeburn's elderly aunt. Hannah is shocked to learn that the newly titled earl is none other than Dougald Pippard, the man she loved and ran away from nine years before. Dougald isn't the slightest bit surprised to see Hannah, for her arrival at Raeburn Castle is the result of a carefully planned scheme to bring her back into his life. Furthermore, he has the power to compel her to remain in Lancashire, for he can give Hannah something she yearns for--a meeting with her deceased father's parents.
While Hannah and Dougald are engaged in a battle of wits and wills, something wicked is afoot at the Castle. The prior two earls were killed in accidents shortly after coming into the title, and when Dougald is shot at and then attacked by thugs, it's clear that he's next on someone's hit list. Whether Hannah and Dougald will arrive at a mutually agreeable truce is debatable, but before the two can live happily ever after they must first discover the identity of the mysterious villain.
This latest in Christina Dodd's Governess series has delightfully Gothic touches with the heroine arriving at a forbidding castle on a stormy night, a dark, brooding hero, and danger threatening the two. In typical Dodd fashion, however, the Gothic elements are offset by the warmth and humor in the wonderfully interesting cast of secondary characters and plenty of romantic tension between Hannah and her earl.--Lois Faye Dyer