The prolific Small (Forbidden Pleasures
; The Last Heiress
) launches a stylish new historical romance with this action-packed erotic tale set in the English and Scottish borderlands just before and during the Tudor period. Small's never-say-die heroine is the beautiful and stubborn Adair Radcliffe, the countess of Stanton—and the bastard daughter of Edward IV. Orphaned at six during the War of the Roses, Lady Adair is taken in by King Edward and raised in the royal nursery. At 16, she flees to her family's estate to avoid a planned marriage. Undeterred, the king marries her by proxy to a 14-year-old. Adair refuses to accept him, and he is killed later by Scottish raiders, freeing her to wed handsome neighbor Andrew Lynbridge. That union ends when Andrew is killed during a dynastic struggle. The new king brands Adair a traitor and strips her of her title and property. Much worse is in store, as Scottish raiders capture and sell her into slavery. She and Conal Bruce, her new master and a local lord, fall in love and wed, and Adair looks to the future in her Scottish home. Small again delivers what her fans have come to expect—a strong heroine and steamy romance—in what promises to be a popular series. (Oct.)
