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4.0 out of 5 stars
Sultry and Dark. 4 Big Stars., April 8 2004
Eavin O'Flannery grew up in her mother's boarding house. To escape the crude advances of bawdy patrons, Eavin disguised her heavenly body under ugly sack dresses. When the golden opportunity came, Eavin Marie O'Flannery married Dominic Dupre. She hoped for a safe sanctuary.Their brief marriage was a failure -- sexually and spiritually. Now widowed, Eavin vows she will never be the outlet for another man's relief. Selectively, Eavin appeals to her late husband's family for shelter. The year is 1812 and Eavin leaves Baltimore and her miserable life. In New Orleans, Nicolas Saint-Just, Dominic's brother-in-law meets Eavin at the wharf. Saint-Just owes the Louisiana plantation where Eavin will launch her virtuous survival. But Patricia Rice's pen scratches in, and soon after Eavin arrives, Nicholas' wife dies in childbirth -- and Rice's romantic experience dawns . . . Applying the backdrop of war and the threat of a British invasion, Rice writes a terrific, descriptive story. Her pen paints the sultry, steamy scenes of New Orleans in the early part of the nineteenth century. The author beautifully collects and frees her characters. Eavin is a tender Irish young woman with a wicked tongue. Her words are a joy to read. Nicolas Saint-Just is a dark French aristocrat, with a sinful disposition. His words are a thrill to read. Yes, this is an intriguing dusky story, with one unmerciful drawback - the last fifty pages. Here it seemed as if the plot got away from the author. The zigzagging storyline became a hodgepodge of events. Good grief, what happened to the quiet, alluring activity of the sensual plantation? Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.
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