TRIAL BY DESIRE

Author: Courtney Milan ISBN: 9780373774852 10/2010 HISTORICAL Publisher: HQN
Time Period: 1828 Regency

In the three years since her husband left her, Lady Kate Carhart has managed to forge a fulfilling life for herself. But when Ned Carhart unexpectedly returns, she finds her tranquility uprooted—and her deepest secrets threatened. Though she has no intention of falling for Ned's charms, Kate can no longer deny the desire that still burns in her heart. Ned is determined to regain his wife's trust by using unbridled seduction. But just as Kate surrenders to Ned's passion, her carefully guarded past threatens to destroy her. Now Kate must place her faith in the only man she's ever loved, and the only one who has ever betrayed her….

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Kate Carhart thinks her marriage is a very happy one, until the day her husband informs her that he’s leaving. He abandons her for three years.

Since that time, she has become fodder for the ton. Bets are being waged as to what man will be able to succeed in bedding her. When Ned returns, she hopes for their marriage to become what it hadn’t been before—full of passion, and making her long for things she couldn’t even contemplate. But as usual, he keeps himself apart from her. Little does she know that he’s hiding a very peculiar secret, and this is the reason he keeps himself at arms' length. But unbeknownst to him, Kate has a secret of her own, one that if it becomes public knowledge will ruin her, and another person’s life in the process. My lips are sealed: you’ll have to read TRIAL BY DESIRE to find out just what her secret is.

At the very beginning, there is a small part that has contemporary wording that stands out in this Regency era-based novel, wherein Kate refers to the hero to the gist of: “That he’s not doing her” with his whole heart. You wouldn’t use this turn of phrase for lovemaking, not for many more years to come. But I didn’t hold this against the author and continued to read the book with an open mind. The continued passion between the two main characters kept me on edge and had me turning pages before I knew what was happening.

All and all, the story took me to new heights, and I was very pleased with the ending. Finally, I get to this question: Would I read this novel again, or put it on my shelf to collect dust? The answer is yes, I would definitely find myself picking this delicious book up at any time of the day. I also recommend it to all my romance loving friends.

Angela Arno