Synopsis
Jude Deveraux, the dazzling New York Times bestselling author of Wild Orchids delivers a passionate yuletide tale sure to become a classic for every holiday season.
Hollander "Holly" Latham can't believe her good fortune. After endless calls, letters, emails, and promises, she's finally persuaded her parents to buy Spring Hill Plantation just outside beautiful, historic Edenton in eastern North Carolina -- and strategically located near Belle Chere, the purest, most untouched plantation site in America.
At the tender age of thirteen, Holly fell in love with Lorrie Beaumont, who inherited the Revolutionary-period estate when his heiress mother died during childbirth. Though more than a decade has passed since Holly last locked eyes with her childhood love, the passion she felt in her young heart has never come close to extinguishing -- that is, until charming, ruggedly handsome Nick Taggert unexpectedly waltzes into her life and treats her to an unforgettable...
Library Journal
When Holly Latham's penchant for exploring derelict historic homes lands her in a 12-foot-deep pit-with a rattlesnake looking on-the handsome hunk who rescues her is the last person with whom she expects to have a wild fling. But relief and passion catch them both off guard-and the results are more far-reaching than either expects. An old plantation with a sordid past, a legendary treasure, and a pair of protagonists who want to be loved only for themselves combine with jealousy, obsession, and class issues in a fast-paced tale with more than one deadly twist. Barely within the "Holiday" camp-the final chapters take place at Christmas-this sexy story is loosely linked to Deveraux's recent Forever and Always, and fans will already be waiting. Deveraux is a New York Times best-selling author and lives in North Carolina. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/03, as A Christmas Tale.] Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.