Wild About Harry

I love Anne Gracie's books. Never met one I didn't like, want to hang out with, read from cover to cover, then go back again and start all over.

I'm particularly wild about Harry, the hero of her new book, His Captive Lady, which just came out this month.

Harry Morant is the half-brother of Gabriel Renfrew, hero of the first of Anne's Devil Riders series. If Gabe's childhood was difficult, Harry's was well-nigh impossible. He's past it now. Grown up. A man of his own making -- but still something of a work in progress.

And the man Harry is going to become is in large part due to what happens when he meets Nell.

As the back cover tells us, "Harry Morant's tough exterior hides a badly scarred heart. Home after eight years at war, Harry is planning a practical, unemotional marriage. But his careful plans are threatened by an unexpected passion for an unknown lady.

"A lifetime of lies has brought Lady Helen Freymore to the brink of ruin. Forced into a marriage she never thought to have, she soon finds herself powerfully drawn to this deceptively gentle soldier... and increasingly worried about his reaction once he discovers her secret."

Oh, yeah. Wounded hero. Unexpected passion. Mysterious heroine. What's not to love?

Brooding, intense Harry captured my heart. And as she always does, Anne tells his story with equal parts deep emotion and gentle humor.

Her characters are wonderful to know. I fell in love with Harry when I read him in rough draft form. And he's only improved with polish.

And Nell? Nell is the last woman Harry would ever have imagined himself falling in love with. He fights it. So does Nell. But love is more powerful than fear, than bitterness, than the past.

Harry and Nell's love -- in spite of themselves -- is what makes the story so special.

Thanks, Anne, for another great read. Now get back to the computer, hurry up and finish Rafe's book! Your public is waiting.