Harlequin Historical #182: Sweet Sensations

Tetel's ( Sweet Seduction ) second installment in the North Point series returns to Maryland's farmlands. The recent War of 1812 has left its impact on Barbara Johnson in the form of an infant daughter, Sarah, fathered by General Ross, a British commander who forced himself on Barbara before dying in an ambush. One evening, two strangers come to the widow Johnson's door. The first is Morgan Harris, a handsome drifter with a shadowy past, who seeks employment as a farmhand. The second is Lieutenant Richards, former aide to the slain general who now represents his childless widow in her claim to the baby. Barbara passes her new farmhand off to the lieutenant as her husband and father of the child, a ruse which Morgan reluctantly corroborates. Thwarted in their claim, the Redcoats snatch the infant from her cradle and hotfoot it back home. Naturally, the Yankees give chase, resulting in an incongruously modern resolution, but not before love blooms between Barbara and her husband of convenience. Although undermined by an implausible plot, this otherwise well-written and restrained melodrama will not disappoint historical romance fans. (July)