Autumn Flame: The Clan MacLean

In 1763, when it came between prostitution and thievery to survive, Lucy Graves had no doubts about stealing. Her stepfather Jocko had forced to mother to streetwalking, and frequently threatened Lucy with the same. Clap and starvation had killed her mother, but Lucy doesn't intend her fate to be the same. Further, she swore to get brother out of their London, East End world of fleas, consumption, and cutthroats. But a moment of tarot card reading goes wrong, landing Lucy in Newgate Prison and ordered to be executed. Quick thinking results not in execution, however, but indentured servitude in America. Diarmid Maclean must marry immediately to inherit the Virginia tobacco plantation where he works as an overseer. Diarmid was once a powerful laird in Scotland before he was transported to Virginia as an indentured servant guilty of treason. Selfish, calculating females have exacted quite a price in his life, but Diarmid must have a wife. Seeing Lucy, however, promises wild, exotic pleasures along with her schemes. A wager results in taking three weeks to turn her into a lady fine enough to secure the plantation for Diarmid. Separated from Mick at customs, Lucy will do anything to find her brother. Soon Diarmid makes her a bet. If the gallows bride can become a great lady then Diarmid promises to find Lucy's brother, make him a freedman, and bring back to the plantation to live until the terms of their agreement have been satisfied. Neither Lucy nor Diarmid expect the dark passion between them to erupt and threaten their simple agreement.AUTUMN FLAME provides bewitching, passionate entertainment. The undercurrents of danger resulting from manipulations of secondary characters provide a startling view of slavery and treachery. While the use of Tarot is fascinating, it isn't entirely accurate. The Ace of Swords, for example, doesn't indicate division and loss, but victory and freedom. Nevertheless, AUTUMN FLAME makes it a pleasure to watch two strong will characters learn to trust love, and comes recommended.

I picked up Autumn Flame after reading Ms. Hayworth's first book, Summer's End, a couple of months ago. Autumn Flame is the second book of a trilogy following the three MacLean brothers, wounded and torn apart after the Battle of Culloden. In this book, the middle brother, Diarmid, is the overseer on a thriving plantation in Virginia. He stands to inherit the grand estate if he finds a wife, a situation that leads Diarmid to strike a deal with an indentured servant, Lucy Graves.There is a lot of sexual tension between the main characters, which definitely works in the book's favor. A power-hungry ex-lover seeks to complicate matters and a slave smuggler adds to the tension, but somehow Lucy and Diarmid overcome everything in the end. Isn't that the way things should be?Lynne Hayworth is a great new author in the romance genre -- I would recommend her novels to anyone looking for a good story with well-fleshed characters.

I am an extremely busy lady who has to limit my fiction reading to vacations. I started to read Lynne Hayworth's "Autumn Flame" on a car trip and 4 hours later was still reading! My husband commented,"It must be quite a story to keep you interested for 3 states!" It was. As an English major in college, I apply the standards I learned for a good book to all of my reading. Does "Autumn Flame" have fully drawn characterizations that hold your attention until the end of the book? Yes it does. Heroine Lucy Graves's concern for her younger brother resonates truly. Diarmid MacLean may seem to be a typical hero-handsome, elusive, and dashing-but he possesses a dimension deeper than that. Ms. Hayworth has done a lot of historical research- I learned, for example, that playing cards of that era were made of leather. Lynne Hayworth is a very talented writer who has gained herself a new fan. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the trilogy.