TREMAINE'S TRUE LOVE

A gently bred spinster scandalizes her family by providing medical care to the poor people in the local village, and even falling in love with a handsome businessman can’t dissuade her from her mission.

Lady Nita Haddonfield learned basic midwifery and first aid from her late mother but has taken her medical knowledge to the next level with years of experience and rigorous study. She spends her evenings reading medical tracts in Latin and German and subscribes to forward-thinking techniques like washing surgical tools between patients. But Nita’s siblings, especially her older brother, the Earl of Bellefonte, worry about Nita exposing herself—and them—to contagion or wearing herself out laboring to help others. Then Tremaine St. Michael, a Scottish and French businessman who doesn't use his title of comte, visits the family in order to buy a herd of rare sheep from the earl. He's captivated by Nita’s intelligence and selflessness. But he too thinks she’s foolish to risk her own health caring for the poor. He hopes marriage to him will occupy her so she won’t be tempted to hare off in the middle of the night delivering babies. But he underestimates Nita’s dedication and must find a way to accept her desire to protect her native village and its inhabitants from the incompetent local physician. The second installment of Burrowes’ (The Duke’s Disaster, 2015, etc.) new True Gentlemen series is a tightly woven story that deals with many of the world’s timeless moral issues—poverty, domestic violence, professional recognition for women, and animal rights. The characters are complicated and compelling and experience enough personal growth during the course of the novel to keep the reader enthralled.

Burrowes is at the top of her game, and this latest offering is not to be missed.