Daniel’s True Desire

Burrowes’s second True Gentleman Regency (after Tremaine’s True Love) sets up a very period-appropriate conflict between love and duty. Lady Kirsten Haddonfield, sister of the Earl of Bellefonte, is beautiful, accomplished, and forthright. Her village’s new vicar, Daniel Banks, is everything Kirsten could want in a man: kind, humble, and too handsome for his own good. Unfortunately, he also has an estranged wife. While both Daniel and Kirsten acknowledge their attraction to each other, he admirably refuses to break his vows. Kirsten and Daniel continue to behave as friends as she assists him with turning the dower house into a school for the mischievous young men of the village. Yet when circumstances change, they wonder whether they can anticipate a life together. The protagonists are perfectly matched for each other in a novel complete with touching romance and an undercurrent of suspense. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Literary Agency. (Nov.)