Medallion owner/ president/ executive editor Rosburg (The Dream Thief
) wraps appealing characters in a tissue-thin faux-historical romance plot. Harmony Simmons, 18 and newly orphaned, arrives in Victorian London fresh from an American cattle ranch. Her sour older sister, Agatha, is none too pleased to have a beautiful, spirited redhead to chaperone. A laughing-eyed highwayman who holds them up is curiously appreciative of Harmony's defiance. He promptly follows them and kidnaps her, and the interlude that follows has some of the novel's most fully imagined and tender writing. When the highwayman releases Harmony and then shows up in a coach and four, calling himself “Lord Farmington,” Agatha's simmering envy becomes vengefulness, and the plot froths with preposterous twists. The meager historical detail and unraveling story don't stand up to scrutiny, but Rosburg's talent for character-building keeps the silliness fun. (Nov.)
