In 1799, on the day of her mother's wedding to his father, Edward Weston, Marquess of Rutherford, six-year-old Lexia Cappello met her soon-to-be stepbrother, Robert Weston, Earl of Wroth. They met when she fell out of a tree and landed in a pile in front of his horse. Having been given a dozen mixed colored roses by a strange women in town just a few minutes before, Robert gave the flowers to Lexia not knowing that in Italy to give a woman roses of red, pink, white and yellow was to mean Fortuna, a prophesy that they would one day wed.

Fast forward to 1815. After a two-week marriage of convenience, Lexia was the virgin widow Contessa di Fabrianni. Her mother and father were both dead and Robert Weston had returned to Italy to take the children of her mother's and his father's union back to England to raise them properly. Lexia had never forgotten that Robert was her fortuna; Robert however did not remember Lexia at all though he was stunned and enticed by her exquisite beauty and voluptuous body.

A month later, Lexia followed the children to England. Once she was firmly ensconced in Robert's house, the cat and mouse fun between the two really began.

Ms. Knight has a real knack for creating distinctly unique characters. Her work is filled with witty, fast paced and engaging dialogue from these fun, interesting people. She obviously did her research as well, giving the reader just enough finely woven history and appropriate time and style details on fashion, art, and architecture. While the author has crafted a technically well-written story filled with lovely language, her basic plot leaves a bit more to be desired. It is weak, implausible and utterly predictable yet somehow it is still good for a bit of satisfying, light entertainment.

Reviewed By: Donna Russo Morin
© September 2004