Historical romance favorite Medeiros (The Bride and the Beast) once again puts her personal spin on a classic fairy tale, this time lightly adapting Sleeping Beauty
by casting a man as the sleeper. Laura Fairleigh, orphaned by her rector father, has been raised by a kind benefactress who leaves her Arden Manor upon her death, provided Laura marry before she turns 21—just three weeks away when the story opens. Laura learns that her benefactress's estranged son, Sterling Harlow, a roguish duke known as the Devil of Devonbrooke, plans to return to claim his home. Laura, determined that Sterling not throw her and her young brother and sister out, literally prays to God for a man. Her prayers are answered when handsome Sterling suffers a bad fall from a horse and she discovers him unconscious. She has no idea who he is. Her kiss wakes him, but he has lost all memory of his identity. Ever resourceful, Laura convinces him they are betrothed. Will Laura get him to the altar before he discovers her deceit? And what will Laura do when she realizes that the man she plans to wed is her sworn enemy? Sweetly tinged with Christian overtones, tartly spiced with bawdy references and sexy love scenes, laced with light humor and populated with a cast of fun characters, this latest not-so-Grimm tale should please Medeiros's sturdy fan base, perhaps winning her a few new converts as well. (July 3)
