Coming Home
This is a tightly plotted story set during the Peninsular War, with a heroine recovering from a vicious rape, and a hero who has been cut off by his family for something he did not do. Half-Portuguese and half-English, orphaned Juliana Colebrook is nursing in Portugal when she persuades ex-Brigade-Major Colly Hetherington to accompany her to England, where he has a job waiting for him. With high hopes, she arrives at her uncle’s home, but all is not as it seems and, when things go wrong, she realises she is going to need Colly’s help in foiling the villains.
With believable characters, a well-drawn background, and events arising naturally out of the preceding action, this is a well-written novel. There are, however, some internal inconsistencies, although I can forgive these as the story proceeds at a good pace. As do the horses – they cover roughly 100 miles in 4 hours, pulling a carriage. Doable, but it would be at a spanking pace.
The author’s photograph shows her in front of a collection of Georgette Heyer novels, and Heyer’s influence on her is evident in her writing. I can thoroughly recommend this novel to anyone who loves Regencies.