Say You Love Me

Romance write Lindsey stays true to form--and formula--as she continues to chronicle the romantic entanglements of the Malory clan. Set in Regency England, sometime between 1811 and 1820, the latest Malory novel (after Love Me Forever) includes the three stock romantic figures: a Virgin, a Villain and a Rogue. The Virgin is Kelsey Langton, who willingly agrees to be auctioned off in a London whorehouse to pay her uncle's debts and ensure her younger sister a marriageable future. The Rogue is handsome Lord Derek Malory, who plunks down a fortune to make Kelsey his mistress rather than see her bought by the Villain, Lord David Ashford, an insane sadist who takes his sex with a healthy splash of blood. The implausible set-up quickly becomes ludicrous as Malory falls in love with Kelsey, but her unwillingness to reveal her true background prevents a wedding. Malory's ardor for Kelsey is inflamed when Ashford kidnaps her, necessitating a heroic rescue in a grisly dungeon where Kelsey is on the verge of being whipped and mutilated for Ashford's pleasure. In the end, family secrets fall from both the Malory and Langton family trees like rotten apples while social conventions are swept aside. Scant historical detail and 20th-century dialogue make this unfortunate novel even more far-fetched. (Nov.) FYI: Avon Books will simultaneously publish Love Me Forever in paper; and will republish the four previous Malory novels.