cover image Veiled Promises

Veiled Promises

Tracy MacNish, . . Zebra, $3.99 (383pp) ISBN 978-0-8217-7952-1

Romance has evolved far beyond Perils-of-Pauline plotting, but you'd never know it from the star-crossed love shared between well-born Camille Bradburn and Irish sea captain Patrick Mullen in MacNish's dated debut, set in 18th-century England. The interests of Camille's father, the duke of Eton, lie in tupping the servants; her mother, the duchess, is a self-righteous harridan who beats her. When Camille, through her brother, meets Patrick, neither is prepared for the love that quickly grows between them. Their secret courtship is sweet, the stories they share revelatory, but outside forces pile ridiculous amounts of hardship and tragedy upon them. The author writes well, and a sure melancholy tone from the start foreshadows tremendous difficulties, but some readers—forced to endure the duchess's endless efforts to crush Camille's spirit, misunderstandings fueled by jealous lies, physical and sexual violence, separations and false imprisonment—may give up in despair before the couple finally achieve their happily-ever-after. Agent, Mary Sue Seymour . (Oct.)