Masque of Jade

Rating:
Summary: She feared his love...and craved his passion!
Review: AFRAID TO LOVE...

Laura Talbot-Harrow was an expert in hiding her emotions. No one -- not even her only sister -- knew that her coldness protected a heart that could not bear to be broken again. Laura meant to stay away from society, away from men . . . until she met Clay Sutherland. Though one look from the dangerously handsome gambler shook her to her very core, she struggled to keep her distance. Then, as he wooed her with wonderous kisses, she began to change her plans. She would sample the forbidden pleasures aroused by his delicious caresses, let herself savor the bitter sweetness of his love . . . then escape before he devoured her very soul!

DETERMINED TO CONQUER...

Clay was one step ahead of his luscious Laura . . . and if she thought he would settle for a woman who would allow him to warm her bed but not her heart, she was sadly mistaken. His auburn-haired temptress was about to learn how to really please a man. He would melt her icy reserve with the heat of his body, tame her wild spirit with the warmth of his passion . . . and prove his love throughout a lifetime of sultry New Orleans nights!

Also... don't miss the unforgettable story of Judith, Laura's beautiful, passionate sister, and tempestuous love of a dashing privateer in MASQUE OF SAPPHIRE by Deana James!

Rating:
Summary: Good story with some steam
Review: Laura Talbot leaves England to avoid a scandal after bing jilted by her fiance. She is strong, confident and vows never to be hurt by another man again. She joins her father Beau, a Shipping businessman, in New Orleans. She soon takes over the command of their large sugar plantation on which they live. Clay Sutherland is owner of a sucessful gambling saloon and wants Laura the minute he sees her at a society ball. Laura tries to fight the attraction but fails. Clay gets involved in spying for the U.S. when trying to help out a friend. Several French and Creole men want Laura's land in order to help Napoleon and try several ways to cheat her out of it. Clay and Laura want to marry and she tells her father. Beau is outraged because Clay isn't part of their aristocracy and challenges Clay to a duel. Beau is killed and Clay is seriously injured by unknown men who've hidden in the bushes at the duel. Laura nurses him back to health but can't marry him because she believes he killed her father. Laura is kidnapped, learns the truth about her fathers death and who the "bad guys" are. She escapes and Clay finds her in the swamps.
This story was suspensefull and the tension between the two lovers was great.