Tatika Lynch's exotic good looks first aroused the attentions of the lecherous Lord Crowley. Later, her wit and intelligence captivated him. He would possess her -- at any cost. But Tatika did not love him and would not marry him.

Desperate and alone, she fled to Scotland. There she took refuge in Castle Craig with the Dowager Duchess and her son.

The Duke was young and extraordinarily handsome. Yet there was something hidden in his past, a dreadful secret people only whispered about.

How could anyone love such a man, Tatika wondered. Yet there was a strange magnetic quality about the Duke. Tatika found herself drawn to him more and more . . . ( )

From Cover:

"Tatika Lynch's exotic good looks first aroused the attentions of the lecherous Lord Crowley. Later, her wit and intelligence captivated him. He would possess her - at any cost. But Tatika did not ove him and would not marry him. Desperate and alone, she fled to Scotland. There she took refuge in Castle Craige with the Dowager Duchess and her son. The Duke was young and extraordinarily handsom. Yet there was something hidden in his past, a dreadful secret people only whispered about. How could anyone love such a man, Tatika wondered. Yet there was a strange magnetic quality about the Duke. Tatika found herself drawn to him more and more..."

My thoughts?

Spoiler alert!

I loved this book, by far one of my fave Barbara Cartland books. However, I found the end to be somewhat muddled and confused. It was as though the publisher had told her "end at 180 pages" so she rushed the whole end of the story into the last 3 pages. When the Duke suddenly loves her and marries her after only seeing her once several months ago, I was like, wait, what? Why exactly did he suddenly declare himself maddly in love with her? We will never know, because there is absolutly no reason whatsoever given, other than, he had a dream that they were married in a past life so he must marry her in this life. It was just so random and did not fit in with the rest of the 175 pages of the story. I felt there should have been another 30 or 40 pages of him getting to know her before suddenly swooping down on her like that, because I mean, really, how is he any different from Lord Crowley who also saw her once and BAM decided instantly she was to be his wife? Other than this one strange thing that really makes no sence at all to the rest of the book, I loved this story. It was very fast moving and flowed well; it had a good eliment of suspence that kept me turning pages every second to find out what was happening next. ( )