Действие февральского дебютного романа Jennifer McQuiston развивается в Шотландии, что уже интересно само по себе. Да и аннотация весьма завлекательная.
When recent widow Georgette Thorold wakes up beside an attractive but unmemorable stranger, she has more to sort out than her missing memory. Her cousin, whom she is supposed to be visiting, is nowhere in sight, and the wedding ring on her finger suggests she did more than kiss the handsome Scotsman in her bed. Determined to either correct an egregious error or pretend it never happened, Georgette does what any well-bred lady with a modicum of sense and a distrust of marriage would do: she panics, hits the man over the head with a chamber pot, and runs.
James McKenzie, Esquire has spent his adult life trying to overcome his miscreant youth and his family’s disappointment, but in a single night he may have just destroyed his hard-earned reputation. He has either spent the evening protecting a very naïve, and—dare he say it—very drunk young lady from the advances of every disreputable character in the town of Moraig, or he has gone and married a pretty, scheming thief. Not that his own head is entirely clear on the matter, but when the woman in question repays his kindness with a knock on the head, the bill for her room, and the theft of his purse, an embarrassed James is determined to track her down and show her she picked the wrong solicitor to swindle.
Despite her cowardly first impulse, Georgette realizes she must find her mystery Scotsman and have the marriage annulled or lose her financial independence to a man she doesn’t know. She sets out to discover exactly what happened during her forgotten night, and the snippets of information she starts to assemble leave her wondering if she has been too hasty in her judgment regarding the stranger she awakened with, and if perhaps her cousin is less harmless than he seems. James sets out to conduct an investigation of his own, but when his sleuthing and recovering memory reveal a woman in need of saving, the idea of revenge loses some of its luster. Georgette is initially relieved when she finds the man who saved her from a forced and possibly drugged elopement with her cousin. But instead of sweeping her into his arms and kissing her senseless, he serves her with a summons, claiming she is a thief. Now the fight is on, and the only question is was it a night worth remembering? Or a mistake they would both rather forget?
When recent widow Georgette Thorold wakes up beside an attractive but unmemorable stranger, she has more to sort out than her missing memory. Her cousin, whom she is supposed to be visiting, is nowhere in sight, and the wedding ring on her finger suggests she did more than kiss the handsome Scotsman in her bed. Determined to either correct an egregious error or pretend it never happened, Georgette does what any well-bred lady with a modicum of sense and a distrust of marriage would do: she panics, hits the man over the head with a chamber pot, and runs.
James McKenzie, Esquire has spent his adult life trying to overcome his miscreant youth and his family’s disappointment, but in a single night he may have just destroyed his hard-earned reputation. He has either spent the evening protecting a very naïve, and—dare he say it—very drunk young lady from the advances of every disreputable character in the town of Moraig, or he has gone and married a pretty, scheming thief. Not that his own head is entirely clear on the matter, but when the woman in question repays his kindness with a knock on the head, the bill for her room, and the theft of his purse, an embarrassed James is determined to track her down and show her she picked the wrong solicitor to swindle.
Despite her cowardly first impulse, Georgette realizes she must find her mystery Scotsman and have the marriage annulled or lose her financial independence to a man she doesn’t know. She sets out to discover exactly what happened during her forgotten night, and the snippets of information she starts to assemble leave her wondering if she has been too hasty in her judgment regarding the stranger she awakened with, and if perhaps her cousin is less harmless than he seems. James sets out to conduct an investigation of his own, but when his sleuthing and recovering memory reveal a woman in need of saving, the idea of revenge loses some of its luster. Georgette is initially relieved when she finds the man who saved her from a forced and possibly drugged elopement with her cousin. But instead of sweeping her into his arms and kissing her senseless, he serves her with a summons, claiming she is a thief. Now the fight is on, and the only question is was it a night worth remembering? Or a mistake they would both rather forget?