A Passion for Glory

The daughter of a nobleman, beautiful Aimee de Chartres is left to fend for herself when her family is murdered during the French Revolution. Resourceful and spirited, she becomes a self-supporting pickpocket in Paris. But she is arrested by Lucian Napier, a spy as well as a boudoir favorite, who eventually rescues Aimee and trains her as his accomplice. Their perilous activities take them from Paris to New Orleans and Washington, and their love affair blooms from a casual seduction and name-only marriage to a full-fledged partnership, replete with passionate reunions as Aimee and Lucian endure prison, kidnapping and other hardships. Conway's (Paloma, etc.) romance is well written, her characters interesting and the history authentic. But it's slightly disappointing that climax has less to do with Aimee and Lucian than with the successful negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase. (October)