A Matter of Indiscretion

Newly minted diplomat Thomas Pearce is sent to France, because of his near-native acumen with the language, to retrieve the love child England's Premiere and Head of State, William Pitt, has just learned about. Pitt's daughter, Sabine, is dependent on the largess of her late adoptive father's brother, who despises her and is preparing to turn her over to Napoleon Bonaparte's secret police on the grounds that she is a traitor aiding the British. Sabine is only interested in her Percheron horse breeding operation, hoping to squirrel away enough money to secure her own independence. Presenting her with a letter written by her natural father, along with evidence of her uncle's duplicity, Thomas is able to convince Sabine to willingly accompany him to the safety of England, as long as he brings her two most beloved Percherons along too. As they travel the countryside posing as newlyweds, the sexual tension and attraction blooms and grows between Thomas and Sabine. Though his position as a diplomat at the mercy of the British government means they can never truly be together, that doesn't stop them falling in love. A jealous carriage driver, enamored of Sabine is determined to keep them apart and turn her against Thomas. All of the players in this game of intrigue have their own agendas and Sabine must determine if anything that has passed between herself and Thomas is the result of genuine feelings, on both sides, or a result of his diplomatic efforts to gain her trust and cooperation through her love and feelings for him.

As they journey through France, Thomas and Sabine are inextricably drawn together and their relationship is quite steamy, so if you prefer behind-closed-doors love scenes, this one is probably not for you. However, despite the fact that there are a lot of very steamy scenes, which are important to the development of the relationship between Sabine and Thomas, don't think this book is nothing but steam and no substance; there are still spies and intrigue and dangerous plots. Sabine was one of the most likable heroines I've read in some time. She was mature and bright and willing to think and ask questions without jumping to naive conclusions. There were so many logical reasons, acknowledged by them both, for this couple to be apart that I was a bit unsure how the author would resolve their happy ending. It was refreshing to read about a couple who were truly willing to wait and fight for the opportunity to be together.

On another note: as a linguist myself I appreciated the author's discussion of and poking fun at the workings of English and French and her knowledge of the mistakes native French speakers would logically make when learning English. Furthermore, as a horse person I was also pleased with Ms. Barbosa's demonstrated knowledge of breeds of draft horses, so well done, ma'am, I applaud you.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.