Title: Tame My Heart
Author: Joan M. Fox
Genre: Regency Historical
Published in 2004 by Treble Heart Books
IBSN: 1-93174271-5
Lady Briella Thorndyke has decided to remain in London for what is left of the London Season. Her newly married brother, Antonio, and new sister-in-law Caroline, have left for Spain, and the family’s hacienda in Andalusia. She is left with her grandmother Elizabeth as her chaperone, but in spite of it all, she is not worried. She was raised Andalusian, as were the horses for which her family was so well known, and had always ridden astride until coming to England. Briella is independent, feisty, stifled by the proprieties of the society of Victorian England, and her only recourse is to rebel. One day, the squeal of a horse in pain causes her to leap from the coach, and run to the rescue. An over-turned wagon, and a struggling horse in the slimy wet streets of London is nothing new, but the sight of the owner beating the downed and panicked horse, is more than she can bear. She buys the horse and wagon outright, relieving the poor animal from the burden of such a horrible man. An Irish immigrant, and fellow horse-lover, Neil O’Toole, helps her to calm the horse, then offers to see it safely to her stables. That act of kindness impresses her, and Briella hires Neil on the spot to care and train the animal.
The horse adapts well to kindness, and among other thing, proves to have a speed and endurance that Briella decides to put to good use. She goes often to watch him, and one day, while at St. James Park, she meets Lord Terry Kilburn, another Irishman with a love, and an excellent eye for horseflesh. He is an impressive but intimidating man, with rakish good looks, a man like no other in her limited, one season experience. She recognizes the name, for her brother Antonio went to Kilburn Stud to purchase some new stock. For some reason unknown to her, Briella’s new horse has drawn his eye, a fact learned as she overhears as he and his two friends unknowingly talk before her. Being dressed as a lad, she realizes, can have advantages beyond the mere freedom to ride astride. She meets him again in the social whirl of the last of the season, her unwarranted attraction to him she finds confusing. She finds her mind constantly on him, but Kilburn’s arrogance, and reputation as a rake cause her to reject him. Her thoughts to Black Knight, and her hopes for the spring races. Finally putting Kilburn down a peg or two at the same time wouldn’t hurt either. An incident at the race, however, shakes her belief in Lord Kilburn’s honesty. Can it be that Terry Kilburn is not as ethical as she had believed him to be? Should she go back to Spain and forget she ever met him?
Terry Kilburn, Lord Landoon, tired, worried, weary, and recently returned to London, needed desperately to get help for his people. After two weeks surveying damage to the potato crop in Ireland, he was sickened. The lush and luxuriously green isle he called home was in a deadly crisis. The potato, a staple foodstuff for centuries, was infected by an unknown parasite causing the tubes to rot in the ground. Field after field had the blight and it was spreading too swiftly for is peace of mind. From one day the next, previously healthy tubers were blasted and inedible. No one knew the reason for the rot, they only saw the results. Starvation was not far away, and Terry was in London to appeal to the cabinet and the Prime Minister, to do something before total disaster struck. If starvation for the peasant class in the Emerald Isle was to be avoided, actions must be taken, and taken quickly. That was the focus of all his energy. He would not be distracted…until he meets his friend Antonio’s sister, Briella.
Now his thoughts were distracted, filled with a wild Spanish female. A lass that shared with him more than just a mutual love of horses. He loved raising the racing and hunting stock in Ireland, and it was one he would love to share. His dark-haired angel rode a horse better than most men, and with her independent ways, and her obvious intelligence, she grabbed, and intrigued him. Even after he finally decided he would like to have her for his own, she refused to fit the mold in which he felt she belonged. She not only refuses him, and ignores him, she seems to care for nothing but racing Black Knight. How can he convince her he is not as bad as the rumors would make him, or could he possibly convince her to see for herself? Her racing at Newbury dressed like a lad enraged him on many levels. Racing, in general, was a tricky sport, not only a dangerous one, and doubly so for a female. There was more danger at the tracks than just those posed by the horses, and Terry was determined to protect Briella in spite of herself. Fortuitous circumstances cause her to be dropped into his arms, and he decides the course of true love will not run smoothly for him. Nevertheless, he decides he will have Briella as his own, and just maybe he will have to take matters into his own hands.
Joan M. Fox takes us once again to the realm of Queen Victoria and brings is another memorable tale of the Thorndykes, this one centered on Antonio’s sister Briella. The main problems Spanish bred equestrian will face are the issues of trust, and the ever-present one of reputation within the ton. The latter is the easier to overcome, for her brother’s position allows her some lenience and eccentricity. The trust is another altogether along with the fact that her Spanish half does not tolerate betrayal well at all. For Lord Landoon, the question is will Briella be able to be happy in the cooler weather in Ireland? He is determined to have her as his own, but the English climate is hard enough on her, so will she thrive in the cooler, damper Irish clime?
Joan’s research of the green isle during this time period is excellent, her depictions of the potato famine are poignant as she lets her readers feel the despair of these impoverished human beings. For an “English Lord,” Lord Landoon to care so much he makes the English Parliament listen to his homelands problems is a miracle in and of itself, but it was not unprecedented. Tame My Heart brings us a wonderful finale to the adventures of Antonio and his sister, Briella. Both The Reluctant Duke and Tame My Heart are now out in e-book and available through Treble Heart Books and as a set they will be a great addition to your bookshelf. Joan Fox takes the genre to a whole new level, and makes Tame My Heart a definite must buy for lovers of a more sensual Victorian Romance.
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
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