Adieu, My Love

For all the smuggling and scheming going on in Turner's third novel (Cutter's Wake; Growing Attraction), there's surprisingly little suspense. In 1751 Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, widow Marie Jubert loses most of her inherited fortune when a ship she has a secret interest in is discovered to be carrying contraband. Marie enlists the help of Matthew Carter, one of the arrested smugglers, to determine if anyone knows about her connection to the ship and its confiscated contraband. She's weary of trusting Matthew (who, naturally, turns out to be much more than a mere smuggler), but the sparks between them mitigate her unease. Meanwhile, Capitaine Jerome de Monluc, who captured the bootlegging ship, has marrying eyes for Marie and may be using the smuggling rap as leverage to force her hand in marriage. Will Matthew's true identity be revealed in time to rescue Marie? Turner's prose is serviceable, but her plot takes nary a surprise turn.