Rapture Becomes Her

An American-born nobleman meets a daring English miss in a solid tale set in the last years of the 18th century. When part-Cherokee Viscount Barnaby Joslyn is injured and set adrift in the English Channel, he is rescued by an amateur band of smugglers led by 26-year-old Emily Townsend, whose unpleasant cousin Jeffery has squeezed their estate almost dry. As Jeffery plots to marry Emily's young stepmother, Anne, to the rakish Mr. Ainsworth, Barnaby suspects that his cousin Mathew, resenting the loss of his expected inheritance, might be angry enough to be behind a series of near-lethal accidents. As Barnaby and Emily are increasingly drawn to each other, Busbee (Surrender Becomes Her) ably juggles a cast of supporting characters, including Emily's bawdily outspoken great-aunt Cordelia and Barnaby's illegitimate uncle, John Lamb. Expertly combining sensual moments with family drama and brutal villains, Busbee spins a tale unusually well-balanced between its appealing central romance and lively action-adventure. (July)