Lawson’s review of Her Secret Fantasy by Gaelen Foley
Historical romance released by Ballantine 27 Nov 07

Gaelen Foley has been an author I’ve always watched for. She’s got a wonderful way with dialogue, historical detail and characterization. The Knight Miscellany gave some great, dashing heroes and wonderful independent heroines. I had high hopes for the Spice Trilogy and the first book was a bit of a let down. The promise of exotic India and the secrets of the East wasn’t enough for me to go out and grab this book after reading the first one. But, it’s Spring Break, this was in my box o’ books from Syb, and I thought I’d give it a try.

What I found was a decent first half of a story, but a second half that is one mishap and trite conversation after another. Lily Balfour is working hard to keep her family’s good name and fortune. She had been seduced at a young age and now is forced to marry someone with money to keep her home from falling down around her ears. So she plans to marry someone rich but stupid. The kink in the works is when she meets Major Derek Knight at night in a garden at a costume party.

The attraction is instant, but Lily has found her rich but stupid man and so she leads Derek on a merry chase until they both realize that the love each other. Through all this there is an investigation into government corruption with a large sum of money earmarked for the army, treacherous so-called friends, Derek’s brother Gabriel’s melancholy, and Lily’s constant desire to be someone she’s not.

Lily comes off not naive, not even stupid, but just clueless. She does things that she shouldn’t, she worries over the wrong things and is rather selfish in some of her actions to other people. Derek is made to be a perfect hero, but he’s got his own demons and rather than dealing with him, he wants to chase them away and not accept responsibility for his future. There is some heat between the two, but it comes off as trite as it takes them far to long to get to the main attraction, even though they have plenty of opportunities beforehand. It stalls the main even way too long and shows the insecurities and faults of Lily far too much.

This book was a big disappointment on all levels from an author I had eagerly awaited new books. Now I’m not sure I want to get Gabriel’s story or not. Could it be that the Knight family have overstayed their welcome?

     Regency London’s elegant ballrooms mask a daring world of erotic adventure. In this second novel in Gaelen Foley’s Spicy Trilogy, a mysterious beauty with a devastating secret discovers, in the arms of a bold and fearless cavalry officer, passion that breaks all boundaries.

     Some say the aristocratic Balfour clan is cursed, a once-great family now in slow decline. Graceful Lily Balfour is her family’s last hope, and she has come to London with one goal–to marry a rich man. Her well-laid plans are balked, however, by the irresistible Major Derek Knight, a handsome highborn soldier and adventurer newly returned from India.

     Hardened by battles on India’s lawless frontiers, Derek is not just a fighter but a skilled and insatiable lover–a master of the Eastern arts of pleasure. Though Derek finds no shortage of willing women in London, it is the untouchable, aloof Lily who haunts him. After one stolen moment, he hungers for nights of sensual abandon to fulfill her fantasies and free her from her self-imposed prison. But he has come to England on a vital mission, and when Lily is pledged to a wealthy man suspected of corruption, Derek must thwart the treachery that ensnares them both–for only then will ecstasy and the sweet promise of her heart be his to claim.

     Read an excerpt.