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Lady Runaway

Fleeing arrest by a spurned suitor, Lady Riana Travistock heads for London where she is knifed in a street brawl when she helps a man attacked by footpads. Luckily for Lady Riana, the victim of the attack is army surgeon Captain Devlin Carrington who takes her home to tend her injury. When Dev cuts off her blood-soaked chemise to stitch the knife wound, a fortune in jewels spill out. Has he saved a lovely jewel thief only to watch her hang?

High tension and high risk escapades with impulsive, independent Lady Riana Travistock (a.k.a. Annie Davidson) keep the adrenaline pumping.

Determined to make a life for herself, Riana maps out a plan, but the obstacles pile up. She breaks most all the rules of conduct drilled into her by Pennywise, but she perseveres. Whether clinging to a gutter pipe three stories up on the outside of a building or sipping tea in a drawing room while socializing with nobility, Riana presses toward her goal.

Captain Devlin Carrington, third son of a lord, is a doctor on leave from the war in Portugal. On a dark street in London, his life takes a turn that sends his emotions on a rollercoaster ride. While he tells himself his association with Riana is altruistic, something deep inside him stirs to life and a part of him that he didn’t know exists emerges.

Ginger Hanson creates some of the meanest and some of the sweetest characters to inhabit the pages of Lady Runaway. She paces the story so there is hardly time to catch one’s breath between the hair-raising scrapes Riana gets into. But more than that, the way she brings Devlin and Riana together, both of whom are dead set on doing their own thing, makes the story engrossing. The witty humor that threads its way among all the rules and troubles adds a special touch of fun and joy.

The secondary characters add sub-plots that enhance the story as they tie into Devlin and Riana’s lives. Sir George, the foxhound; Jeremy, and Nellie are special among these. The changing mores of early 19th century England and the changing social structure create much of the background and the motivation for the action, while good, old-fashioned love that has found its way through all kinds of changes comes in on tiptoes and settles in to stay.

Familial relationships enrich and the conflicts excite, but the LOVE is memorable. Lady Runaway is a story to enjoy more than once. It is a KEEPER.

The Missing Review for Tennessee Waltz!

Reviewer Comments: Setting - Post Civil War, 1866 --- It had been three long years, but finally, Billie D’Angelo had tracked down and found Destiny – the horse that had been stolen from her by a Union officer during the midst of the war. Disguised as a raggedy young boy – the same disguise she’d used while spying for the Confederate army - Billie was bound and determined to steal back her horse. Unfortunately, Grayson Vanderlyn, the Union Captain who’d commandeered him during the war and bought him from the army was not about to let the rapscallion young fellow make off with ‘his’ horse!

Caught while trying to race off with Destiny, Grayson brought Billie into his home whereupon his sister Lina, decided to take the ‘young boy’ under her wing to clean and fatten ‘him’ up. After a gang of northern boys beat Billie, and a man from Billie’s past, came by saying he was Billie’s guardian as well as claiming Destiny as his, Grayson agreed to Lina’s wishes to adopt the young fellow. Once Grayson left for Albany to set in motion the adoption, Billie took that opportunity to steal back Destiny and flee with him setting into motion a cross-country chase. When Grayson finally caught up with Billie he found ‘him’ emerging from a bath and discovered the young ‘rapscallion’ had breasts and actually feeling quite relieved after questioning his seemingly unnatural attraction to the young fellow! Shortly following this discovery, Grayson and Billie were both caught unawares, tied together in a very sexually provocative manner, and Destiny was stolen again!

Grayson was more than willing to join forces and help Billie find Destiny, while Billie, confused over her attraction to a Yankee horse thief, convinced herself she wanted nothing more than to recover her horse. After Billie’s near death experience Grayson contrived to marry her, telling her it would just be until they could re-claim Destiny, but all the while praying that he could convince the stubborn rapscallion that her body was a much better barometer of what she felt than her mind.

*** This was an original well-written romance with two wonderful protagonists. The post Civil War period was well researched and the mood of that wars tragic aftermath was well defined giving the romance an emotional poignancy. Billie was creatively drawn as an endearingly non-perfect heroine sporting a slight handicap. Hanson has penned a strong story with moments that will pull at your heart strings yet still remain refreshingly delightful and totally enjoyable.