Rigid Regency Rules are relaxed in Ms. Hern's titillating tale of five widows who have run amuck. Different degrees of widowhood are cast aside as the women, who meet in the guise of a benevolence committee, decide to take lovers. Although the author uses all five widows in her work, this is primarily the story of Marianne Nesbitt -a lady-in-waiting- to experience the true bliss of love and sensual fulfillment.

Marianne is astonished when one of the members of the widows' group confides that she's taken a lover. She is even more shocked when it is suggested that they all find someone to share their beds. After some serious thought, Marianne decides she wants to take a lover, but not just any lover, she wants the man she's been secretly in love with for years: her husband's best friend.

Adam can't believe his ears or eyes when Marianne approaches him for help with her bizarre request. Surely the woman is blind. Can't she see that he's in love with her; no matter that he's just recently become betrothed? What can she be thinking, to ask him to choose the man who will teach her the carnal sin of pleasure? It's a good thing that he's not free to indulge his physical longing -if for no other reason than to honor his best friend's memory.

Marianne and Adam play a cat-and-mouse game of love and lust. When she chooses her lover-to-be, Adam does all he can to side-rail the affair. He is so successful that he sends all the men, save one, on her list running for the hills, and the last candidate ends up in bed with a broken leg. Adam, never one to let an opportunity slide by, seeks Marianne's bed and proceeds to teach her what love is all about. This is a delightful and witty tale of regency life. The plot is well thought out and the love scenes are awesome.