Rescued by the Viscount’s Ring (Harlequin Historical)
December, 1889. After she stows away aboard a transatlantic steamer in New York, Madeline Macooish nearly dies of exposure in the lifeboat where she hides. The fireman (stoker) who rescues her not only warms her with his own body, but insists they wed since he has compromised her reputation. As an heiress, albeit one who has run away from home, she might be expected to aim higher for a husband, but after her chastening experiences she reluctantly accepts necessity, the captain performs the ceremony, and both are in love by the time they reach Liverpool.
Her social prospects brighten considerably when Rees Dalton turns out to be Viscount Glenbrook, owner of the Edwina, and working undercover, but she reacts with anger at his deception. She runs away. Again.
The contrast between the kindness Madeline encounters among the working class and the judgmental arrogance of their social superiors reflects the attitudes of the era, but the focus is very much upon Madeline’s conflicted feelings. Despite the author’s efforts to justify Madeline’s doubts, the heroine’s reluctance to accept her good fortune may strain the reader’s patience.
Recommended to those who enjoy impetuous, but kind-hearted, heroines, devoted heroes, and sentimental, if implausible, romances.
