Review: This book gives hope.. it is romance pure and simple
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 24, 2014
Originally Reviewed For: Bodice Rippers, Femme Fatales and FantasySmuggler's Moon takes place after Spring Fires and before Surrender the Stars.. we see Devon and Andre as parents but to children not grown adults. I'm not sure why, I just think Cindy likes that era..Julia Fairchild is the only rational adult in her family, maybe the only rational member at all, that remains to be seen.. She has been taking care of the basics from a very young age as her parents seem unable to handle basic day to day life. But then her father had a purpose and now that he's inherited a home and a nice annuity one would think life would get just a little better. But nope, now it seems he has a need to gamble it away.. honestly just when life had a chance of being interesting. When he is found dead Julia is mortified to discover that Lord "Satan" AKA Lord Sebastian Trevarre has managed to win everything. The family is stranded, desperate and willing to sell of a daughter to make things better. Sebastian thinks he wants sweet sister Sarah but Julia knows that will never work. So she sacrifices all and marries him herself.Lord Sebastian Trevarre is trying to discover how his scapegrace of a brother has managed to lose everything. A game of cards or two hundred it seems. Just returned from six years in the Navy, Sebastian has nothing. No estate that was promised him, no money and worse all of his prized breeding stock has been sold off. To say he is furious would be putting it mildly. But he has a plan.. if only that Julia Fairchild would leave him alone and stay out of his mind. Is it his fault her father insisted on that last bet? That money could send Sebastian back to the world he was born in. But for some reason Sebastian feels for the Fairchild family and offers a proposition. Let him marry meek and mild Miss Sarah and the rest of the family can stay in their home, he'll even give them an allowance. Perfect! Right? *rolls eyes* men can be so dense. Fortunately for him Julia has a plan...In typical Wright fashion the heroine has a plan.. and it's not as insane as some of the other "plans" that her heroines have come up with. All she has to do is marry Sebastian herself.. and of course get him to accept that marriage rather than annul it. The plan is a bit simplistic and makes Sebastian look a little dimwitted but.. she did manage to get him plenty drunk so it works. Of course once married that's not the end of things.. Nope it seems like they are not only totally without funds but brother dear also sold off the London Townhouse.. to the Raveneaus, old friends of his mother's. Now the only place they have left to live is in a drafty, run down estate in Cornwall. A Place Sebastian hates..Yet together they manage to collect an assortment of friends and create a life worth living. Working separately but eventually finding their way to each other.. When reality slaps them both upside the head. A sweet story, lacking the darkness that is in, in today's regency romances. This book gives hope.. it is romance pure and simple.. and it doesn't hurt that we see dear friends in the process.Another name that might be familiar is St Briac.. yeppers.. Thomas' descendants play a part and they have that Mardouet swagger that I fell in love with. I was worried about timing and how she was going to play this out. Worry not, Cindy gave them a perfect history.So.. what did I really think of this book? For those Wright lovers out there Cindy has managed to grow into today's writing expectations without losing the thing that makes it a work by Wright. A grown up Cynthia Wright book! I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to many more books from her.ShauniThis review is based on the ARC of Smuggler's Moon, provided by Ms Wright for an honest opinion.