The Passion

Those looking for history in their Regency may have to settle for sex in Jordan's followup to The Seduction. When her bookish and noble fianc and lifelong friend, Geoffrey, Earl of March, is lost at sea, Lady Aurora Demming, daughter of the powerful duke of Eversley, believes she has lost her only chance to be free of her abusive fatherDa fear intensified by his having arranged a marriage for her with a controlling man twice her age. An opportunity for freedom arises when Nicholas Sabine, an American about to be hanged for murder and piracy, asks her to marry him for just one dayDand one tempestuous night. His money will give her independence, while her title will enable her to guarantee that Nicholas's raven-haired half-sisterDa love child born out of wedlockDwill be accepted by British high society. Aurora's new life as a London widow and the guardian of her new ward is shattered when Nicholas appears at a masquerade ball, explaining how he escaped death and desiring to claim her publicly as his wife. Although she is desperately attracted to him, Aurora fears marriage to a man so passionateDabout danger, life and loveDwill trap her as completely as did life with her father. Just as Nicholas seems to be persuading her of their mutual love and rightness for each other, the long-lost fianc turns up, obviously not drowned at all. Jordan aptly maintains the tension between Aurora and Nicholas, while moving the plot smartly along with lively dialogue and interesting secondary characters. (Nov.)