Having written my own novel based in the Cupid and Psyche vein, I've truly come to appreciate a romance novel that breaks the typical "perfectly handsome hero/heroine" mold. Sondra Allan Carr does exactly that.Jonathan, her hero, is damaged not only physically but emotionally. Her heroine, Isabelle's scars are invisible, but they affect her nonetheless. She has grown up in what she thinks of as genteel poverty; Jonathan is surrounded by wealth of which he wants no part.The two are brought together by Dr. Garrick, Jonathan's physician, as Jonathan is in need of a secretary and Isabelle is in need of money to help support her younger sister.Set in the Gilded Age on the US Eastern Seaboard, the book is rife with period details that put the reader right into the setting with the characters. The prose is rich, with an elegant vocabulary that delighted me.This is no cookie-cutter romance tale; highly recommended for those who prefer their heroes less than perfect and their heroines intelligent.
