|
THE REBEL AND THE LADY
ISBN:
0373295138
Harlequin
Historicals
Kathryn
Albright
Victoria
Torrez is convinced of the justness of her cause; fighting Santa
Ana's army for the freedom of Tejas and the land her family has
owned for generations. Caught in the middle between Anglos and
Mexicans, it is the land that helps her decide her loyalties. And so
she makes the dangerous journey to the Alamo to warn her cousins of
the Mexican Army's approach.
Not
so Jake Dumont who finds himself at the Alamo as its citizens
prepare for war due only to bad luck, not choice. His brother
Brandon has fled South Carolina to fight in this war. Any war would
have suited Brandon. Jake was partially to blame for his brother's
leaving. Feeling responsible, Jake has come to Texas to find him.
He's perfectly fine leaving the fighting to others even as he's
surrounded by battles.
Instead
of his brother, however, Jake finds a fiercely loyal, passionate
woman whose pure aristocratic Spanish blood shows in every beautiful
line of her face but most obviously in her proud and defiant
demeanor.
For
Victoria, things are either right or wrong, issues are black or
white and men are either cowardly or brave. She gives no middle
ground and Jake Dumont is all about the middle ground. What starts
off as a challenge-to see if he can get a kiss from the pretty
senorita-turns into a challenge for his heart and his soul, for what
he is as a man. Preferring a drifter's life to the lies and shackles
of family, those preferences are tested as Santa Ana's army closes
in and Victoria puts herself at risk. Jake soon learns he may not
have loyalty to land, but he sure does to people.
She
is an aristocrat, he is a no-account. She views him as a man without
allegiance to anything but himself and she's all about legacy and
roots. Will she sacrifice what she believes in to save him and will
he take up a seemingly doomed cause he doesn't believe in just for
her?
Ms.
Albright has given us two strong-willed characters whose emotions
are caught in the cross-fire of a territory's fight for freedom.
Knowing how the stand at the Alamo ends only adds more poignancy and
urgency to the growing love both Victoria and Jake fight against
until they can fight no more. With one of the most famous battles in
Texas history artfully provided as backdrop, this riveting tale of
passion, loyalty, betrayal and love is a page turner from start to
its gratifying finish.
|
