The Lord Meets His Lady

Expertly developed characters populate Conkle’s powerful third Midnight Meetings historical set in Georgian England (after The Lady Meets Her Match). Lord Marcus Bowles, a marquis’s brother, is banished to Northumberland because of his excessive drinking and gambling. When he stops to assist passengers repairing their damaged coach, he encounters Genevieve Turner, who met him previously at the Golden Goose tavern in London. The forthright, brave woman has come north to take an honorable position as a housekeeper at the home of Marcus’s friend Samuel Beckworth. Samuel agrees to allow the wily yet charming Marcus to employ Genevieve if he’ll join Samuel in a business venture to breed and sell horses. The intense attraction between Marcus and Genevieve is highlighted by sensuous interludes as they work together to make his home habitable, becoming both friends and lovers in the process. Though they’re all witty banter on the surface, the undercurrent of their true feelings for each other becomes evident when Marcus risks his own safety to protect Genevieve from a dangerous man from her past. Romantic tension, clever repartee, and tender love scenes make Conkle’s fast-paced historical a winner. Agent: Sarah Younger, Nancy Yost Literary. (Dec.)