The Choice [Hardcover]

It's set four years after The Cad; Ewen and Bridget have made Gilly and her little sister their wards, and are bringing them up as educated young ladies. (No-one claims that they are in fact 'eligible' by birth, and rumours circulate that they aren't of good family).

At a ball one night, Gilly is attacked by a young aristocrat who, having heard the rumours, assumes that she's fair game. As he's standing nearby, Damon Ryder prepares to come to the rescue; but instead he finds himself having to pull Gilly off the young man! Just who is this young woman who can fight as well as any man?

In revenge, Gilly's attacker tries to ruin her reputation, but Damon again comes to her rescue by claiming that they are long-standing acquaintances and are actually engaged. Thus begins what to Gilly is a pretend betrothal; Damon very quickly realises that he'd like nothing more than for it to be real, and sets about persuading Gilly of his intentions.

But there are several things he doesn't know about Gilly. Readers of The Cad will be aware of her origins in the slums of London; to Gilly's surprise, Damon isn't at all bothered by that discovery. So she reveals her deepest secret to him: as we know from The Cad again, it is that she was raped as a very young child. Again, Damon is only sympathetic, not disgusted as she expected.

So she agrees to marry him. But at the same time there are other complications. Drum, Ewen's cousin (minor character from The Cad), with whom Gilly has been in love ever since she met him, returns and, as the book jacket informs us, seems to see Gilly in a new light. Could he be in love with her after all?

And what about the disreputable Hathaway Wycoff? A married man legendary for his affairs, he treats Gilly as a friend - and she returns the compliment - but he makes no secret of the fact that he would like her to be his lover. And that he is aware that being somebody's mistress might be the only option open to someone of her background.

Three delicious men - all of whom will, I hope, eventually get their own stories: which one will Gilly choose?

As the story starts, Damon Ryder - newly returned from America - is strolling in the garden at a ball, and sees a beautiful young woman apparently in danger of being embraced against her will by her companion. He rushes to her rescue, only to find that she doesn't need help; he ends up having to pull her off her attacker. Thus he discovers that there is a lot more to Gilly Giles than meets the eye. However, since her attacker then tries to destroy her reputation, Damon claims that they are secretly engaged.

Gilly, although grateful, is anxious to free Damon from this obligation, but he is only too happy to make the engagement real; he fell in love with her the moment he saw her, and the more he learns about her only makes him love her more. Even when Gilly tells him the truth about her background - that she comes from the slums of London and that her father was a docker, *and* that she was raped as a small child - his feelings don't change.

But Gilly still feels that she isn't good enough for him, or for his family. And what she hasn't told anyone is that she's been secretly in love with Drum, her old friend, for years. But he never saw her as more than a child... until he returns, and it seems as if he's beginning to see her in a completely different light.

And as if having to choose between Damon and Drum isn't enough of a problem for Gilly, Lord Wycoff - married, but who lives apart from his wife - also makes it clear that he would take her any way he could have her.

Can Gilly choose between three men, all of whom want her? Or will she leave it too late to work out who she really loves, and risk losing them all?

Having read this, I now can't wait to read The Challenge, to find out how Hathaway gets on in America; and I sincerely hope that The Conquest is going to be about the last member of this little group of men!

Gilly wanted desperately to believe him. But it was obvious that she was a disappointment to his family. Although she had learned to look and act like a lady, she was afraid she would never truly belong in that world. And she worried that she would never love Damon as truly as he deserved to be loved...because her first love would always take first place in her heart, even though he didn't reciprocate.

Or did he? The Earl of Drummond never expected Gilly to turn into such a desirable woman. How could he let her marry Damon Ryder when there was just a chance that she might be the one for HIM?

A poignant tale of a woman learning about love in its many forms, as well as her own value and purpose in life. And a man who learns to fight for the desire of his heart. A real winner!

And, considering the existence of several luscious potential heroes in this book, I am eagerly looking foward to hearing more about these fascinating characters in future sequels.