title: The Silver Touch
author: Laker, Rosalind
description: Hester Needham ... A beautiful orphan, she is mesmerized by the river-blue eyes of a talented goldsmith's apprentice who is betrothed to his master's daughter.  From her first chance meeting with John Bateman, their forbidden love shines brighter than polished sterling and burns hotter than the fiery forge.  Can she prove she deserves him by becoming one of eighteenth-century London's master silversmiths?
  
  John Bateman ... Torn between his promise to a cultured, refined gentlewoman and his passion for a girl with the tantalizing grace of a candle flame, he knows his choice could cost him a fortune.
  
  Caroline Harwood ... Her ardor refuses to die after John's betrayal, and she vows to have him at any cost.
  
  James Esdaile ... His flashing green eyes could lure Hester into temptation, and his offer of friendship carries a scandalous price.
  
  Here is the unforgettable story of generations of an extraordinary eighteenth-century family that shimmers and endures with the lure and grace of silver.