GALLANT WAIF

GALLANT WAIF by Anne Gracie
Harlequin Historical #557
Harlequin - April 2001
ISBN:0373291574 - Paperback
Category Romance - Regency Era

Reviewed by Jo Rogers, MyShelf.com
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GALLANT WAIF marks the North American debut for Anne Gracie, a native of Australia, who was also a Rita Award finalist in 2000. I must say that this is a most auspicious debut! Ms. Gracie, who makes her home in Melbourne, fell in love with the Regency period when she was eleven years old, and borrowed a book by Georgette Heyer from the library. In this reviewer's opinion, she could not have chosen a better author to love.

GALLANT WAIF is the story of minister's daughter, Kate Farleigh. Her father had gone to the Peninsula Wars with Wellington, and had dragged his daughter along. Both her brothers, Jemmy and Ben, had been killed in the war, as well as her father, and Kate, herself was wounded. She was found wandering alone, suffering from amnesia, by the French army. She was captured and forced to live with one of the officers as his mistress. She tended to the French wounded while in captivity, but she escaped when she came to herself.

That Kate was a victim of the war, and that she had saved the lives of many British soldiers, didn't matter to the shallow and useless "ladies" of British society. She was branded a whore and a traitoress. Her reputation was ruined, and she was left penniless and starving.

GALLANT WAIF is exactly what Kate is, and how she is rescued from the vicious gossips is heartwarming. There is no explicit sex, and that was refreshing for this reviewer. The end of the story left me totally happy and satisfied. I shall not hesitate to read anything else by Anne Gracie! Welcome to America, Ms. Gracie, and we hope you send us many more wonderful Regency romances.