Thursday, September 11, 2008

Secret Desires of a Gentleman-Laura Lee Guhrke

Secret Desires of a Gentleman
Laura Lee Guhrke
Avon, Oct., 380 pp., $5.99
ISBN: 9780061456824

In 1883 Lawrence Hawthorne and Maria Martingale were attracted to one another although she was the daughter of the cook and he was the second son of the lord. She especially dreamed of marrying him one day and Lawrence wanted that as much as she did. However, Lawrence’s older brother Phillip the Marquess ended this fantasy. Maria went into exile in France where she became a famous pastry chef while Lawrence behaved like an aristocrat (in the image of his dominating sibling).

In 1895, Maria comes home to open a shop near Phillip's home. He fears she has returned to win Lawrence’s hand in marriage although his younger brother is engaged to a wealthy American. He will not allow her to cause a scandal; there is only one problem with his intervention, he is falling love with the stubborn Maria

Victorian romance fans will appreciate this fun Girl-Bachelor Chronicles saga starring a wonderful working class heroine and the haughty aristocrat who kicked her across the Channel a dozen years earlier and still has strong control of her life except this time she fights back. Filled with lighthearted humor, SECRET DESIRES OF A GENTLEMAN is an entertaining late nineteenth century historical as Laura Lee Guhrke bakes a fun tale of love and class warfare.

Harriet Klausner

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