Katherine Welles was a pawn in her father’s eyes. He obtained a withdrawal of intent to marry from her intended because that man was going to the Americas and he did not want her to wed that man. Instead, he signed papers with Richard Finch, an abusive neighbor of theirs who only wanted to marry Katherine because she was the heir to Ashfield. She was given one week to acclimate herself to this change of events.

Katherine crossed paths with Nicholas when she found him wounded and nursed him back to health. Since he was a wanted man (known in the area as The Raven), he needed to leave and she wanted to escape her father and Richard Finch’s control, they decided to run off together. Katherine wanted to get to London so she could stay with her cousin. Nicholas also needed to make that trip. They left, taking Jeremy, the young man who was a groom at Ashfields and Henry, a servant of Nicholas.

An outlaw and a runaway, along with the servants, began a lengthy trip to London. The plot is unique and very interesting. The trip, which took most of the book, explained the two main characters strong personalities and the helpfulness of the servants provided extra substance to the storyline. There were many other lesser characters that were well defined and further clarified the plot. And then—Nicholas was put in prison.

Ms. Black did a good job of introducing many surprises into the book. She gave a myriad of encounters with Nicholas and Finch, and the action was never dull. I liked this book; it was believable and appealing. I recommend that you read this book. You will not be sorry.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Very sensual

Reviewer: Brenda Talley
December 4, 2007