A Heart for the Taking

A young widowed baroness and her sister travel from England to Virginia in 1774 only to run headlong into feuds and family secrets in this amiable but bumbling historical romance from bestselling author Busbee (Lovers Forever). Baroness Merrivale, nicknamed Fancy, accompanies her sister Ellen for a visit with planter Jonathan Walker to determine whether Ellen's attraction to him is true love. Once in America, Fancy encounters Jonathan's rough-hewn cousin Chance, who fascinates and repels her at first sight. When Chance turns out to be Jonathan's enemy, and Jonathan proves less charming than he seemed in England, Fancy is drawn into their deadly conflict, while Ellen loses her heart to yet another Walker cousin. An intriguing fish-out-of-water situation and well-researched details of colonial life are undermined by heavy-handed plotting. A major secret is hidden for decades with no credible reason; a villain unconvincingly blurts information useful to the hero and heroine; and lovers inexplicably conceal their feelings whenever they get close to resolving their conflicts. (Sept.)