Coup de Grace
Lady Grace Granville's compassionate heart and lack of common sense have landed her in many a scrape. Her latest has resulted in her banishment from town to East Sussex to stay with her cousin Bernice at Crow house. Life with her pious widowed cousin is beyond bearing, so Grace resolves to travel to her elder brother's home where she would be welcome. She boards the coach to Newhaven, secure in her disguise as a boy.  Nature interferes with Grace's plans, supplying snow clogged roads that halt the coach well short of its destination. While she waits for a room to be prepared, common sense deserts Grace again, and she enters the tavern. Her masquerade as a boy is revealed by a pickpocket who encounters more than a money pouch . Grace is rescued from the resultant unwanted attention by an old friend of her brother's, Rafael Marlow, Duke of Avemar.  The Rafe she knew is gone; replaced by a man withdrawn and bitter over the deaths of his parents in a fire. What hasn't changed is her love for him, and she is determined to pull him from his drunken solitude. The winter storms force them to stay together at Rafe's hunting lodge without even a servant as chaperone! Rafe leaves Grace at his elderly aunt's estate as soon as the weather breaks, hopeful the forgetful old woman won't notice the two day discrepancy between Grace's leaving her cousin's and her arrival at the house.  A house party at her brother's throws Grace back into the bosom of her family and into contact with Rafe, who is one of the guests. All is well until Rafe's aunt reveals Grace's stay at the hunting lodge!  Despite slipping into an occasional modern phrase, Emma Jensen explores the stiff Regency codes of conduct with humor. Grace's innocent escapades combined with a sharp wit  produce a memorable character. Coup de Grace is a romp! Emma Jensen's characters come marvelously to life! Ms. Jensen captures the reader's heart with her penchant for trouble and guileless charm! Another winner for Emma Jensen!Linda Fitzner  --Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc.  All rights reserved--FromLiterary Times