The Passions of Lord Trevethow (The Cornish Dukes)
Cassian Truscott, Viscount Trevethow, has a problem. To revive the Cornish economy and provide employment, he plans to build an amusement garden to attract visitors. The Earl of Redruth owns the best piece of land for the development, but he won’t sell. Is Cassian willing to abandon his aspiration for a love marriage and wed the earl’s daughter to gain the land as part of her dowry? And what about the mysterious and fascinating young woman he met at the local fair?
She turns out to be none other than Lady Penrose Prideaux, the earl’s daughter, like Cassian attending the fair in disguise, and she too wants to marry for love. But how will she and her father react when they discover his motive? This is a tangled web that will need to be sorted out if a happy ending is to be achieved.
Though they have a modern feel, Cassian’s concern for the unemployed and Pen’s desire to travel and achieve greater independence from a controlling father do gain the reader’s sympathy, and the folklore parallels discussed in the Author’s Note not only explain the rather improbable plot, but add an interesting dimension. Recommended.
