The Reluctant Smuggler: 4

Better than the average Regency, this story has elements of danger, but not totally unbelievable danger. Smuggling, was, after all, a very big thing in Regency England, when taxes were so high because of the Peninsular Campaign. The number of noblemen directly involved, other than skimming their share off the top for the use of their land, was probably a much smaller number then typical Regencies would have us believe--smuggling was so terribly romantic, you know. (Can you see my eyes rolling??) However, this book was a little bit believable in that it was the younger son of a Marquess involved in smuggling rather than the Marquess himself. I'm not sure the young widow would have been caught dead alone with the young man had he not threatened her life--she was soooo desperate to be accepted by local society--but despite that desire, in a lot of ways she really wasn't your typical Regency miss. But whatever happened to that old adage "Death before dishonor"?? Meanwhile, a big deal was made over a couple of her deep, dark secrets; they were a bit of a letdown once learned. But hey, women really didn't have a very exciting life back then... Anyway, overall the story was interesting, even funny at times, and well worth the read.

Lord Sebastian Whitbury thought himself in love with Natalie Talbot. She refused to marry him until he made his fortune. His quick fortune would be made with the arrival of a single ship.That was why he was on Charlotte Deems's cliffs when her two year old son, Oscar, needed help. However, by saving the widow's son, he could be identified and hanged as a smuggler. To keep her silent, he had her wait with him each night on the cliffs for the ship. She could not turn him in if she were an accomplice, even if an unwilling one. Time together made them become friends and an attraction grew. Sebastian no longer knew what his feelings for Natalie were, but the feelings for Charlotte were becoming even more dangerous than smuggling!***** This one will not bore its readers! Each time things seem to be calming down, more trouble erupts. Well worth you time to read!

Don't be thrown off by the dark cover, for this is really a light and very enjoyable book. True, there is a smuggler, and he is reluctant. He's also somewhat inept at the business, for his real trade is the game of cricket. Sebastian Whitbury is the third of the Whitbury boys to have his own book, and as most siblings are different from each other, these books differ greatly also. Dressed all in black, patrolling the banks of the Severn River, watching for the signal he's been awaiting for several days, Sebastian rescues a toddler who's tumbled over the edge of the cliff, landing on a ledge a couple of feet down. Little Oscar Deems has awakened in the night, and gone wandering. When his mother, the widowed Charlotte discovers he's missing, and goes to look for him, she encounters Sebastian, thus putting herself--all unknowing--in the midst of the smuggling scheme.Charlotte and Sebastian are a delightful couple as their hopes and dreams are illuminated to us and to each other. He longs to be touched, hugged, caressed; she wishes her husband had been more loving, more demonstrative. Of course, Sebastian has already chosen his wife, and it isn't Charlotte. His nominee is the beautiful Natalie Talbot, whose father doesn't agree with Sebastian's choice. Charlotte, on the other hand, has already decided she'll not re-marry. Once was enough. In and around local cricket matches and practices (Sebastian is the leader of the local effort) the two loners become friends, and then allies. And, in what is surely the first 'free-agent signing' in Regency lore, Sebastian is hired by three local, wealthy townsfolk to found the Gloucester Cricket Club. He'll actually earn a small stipend for doing what he loves most, other than being loved, that is. But Charlotte, who uses an extremely welcome amount of common sense in solving several problems, not least the smuggling, will solve that problem, too. This is indeed a very different, but very enjoyable book, with a little bit of everything in it. It should please any reader.

Lord Sebastian Whitbury thought himself in love with Natalie Talbot. She refused to marry him until he made his fortune. His quick fortune would be made with the arrival of a single ship. That was why he was on Charlotte Deems's cliffs when her two year old son, Oscar, needed help. However, by saving the widow's son, he could be identified and hanged as a smuggler. To keep her silent, he had her wait with him each night on the cliffs for the ship. She could not turn him in if she were an accomplice, even if an unwilling one. Time together made them become friends and an attraction grew. Sebastian no longer knew what his feelings for Natalie were, but the feelings for Charlotte were becoming even more dangerous than smuggling!***** This one will not bore its readers! Each time things seem to be calming down, more trouble erupts. Well worth you time to read!