Lady Savage (Zebra Regency Romance)

Donna Simpson is one of my favorite authors. Each book is different and contains wonderful characters. I am only missing a couple of her recent books and even have one of her first (perhaps her very first) books that is typewritten spiral bound from a very small publishing company. I even had an e-book she wrote until it was lost in a computer crash! Anyway ... just pumping you up to encourage you read her books! The uniqueness of the locale is what makes this book so unusual. Another reviewer mentions it. The comparison between the warm sunny Jamaica and the tropical island our intrepid group is stranded on against a cool and foggy London, England is well written. The storyline (briefly) is this. Savina who has spent 11 years of her life in Jamaica is returning with her father to England. His tour of duty as some sort of government official is over. Her mother has been long dead and her father wanted to see his daughter married and well provided for. After meeting Lord Gaston-Reade, who appeared to have a like mind and progressive attitudes towards running his plantation, she accepts his marriage proposal. But appearances are deceiving. A small family group of Savina, her father, Gaston-Reade, his sister Venture, her fiancé William Barker, Zazu, a native Jamaican and more friend than maid to Savina, Annie, Venture's maid and Anthony Heywood. Gaston-Reade's secretary set out for England. A storm blows the ship off course and it is taken over by an American Naval vessel whose own ship is listing badly. The captain asks Savina to decide the passenger's fate - pledge allegiance to the USA, sail as prisoners of the vessel or be left on an island. Savina considers carefully and decides they should be left on an island. The captain puts them on an uninhabited island with supplies and promises to notify the English of their stranding. The castaways go through all the normal trauma of disordered life. The ineptness of some is shown and the courage of others comes forward. I like that the author did not make the status change unbelievable. All rose to the occasion well ... each using their own skills to make survival bearable. This was not some "Lord of the Flies" stranding. As Gaston-Reade reveals more of his nature, Savina realizes they will be unhappy as a married couple. There is also a growing attraction between her and the secretary Tony. Are there other romances brewing as well? The castaways are rescued and the remainder of the book deals with how they are greeted and feted by society. Savina's father becomes a celebrity of sort while Savina is treated differently and called "Lady Savage" due to her unkempt appearance when rescued! Will she marry Gaston-Reade after all? All the characters are well-fleshed with many wonderful situations and stories. My description barely touches the surface. I have not read a book so compelling in quite a while. There is not much villainy (which I like) but just finely drawn persona