A notorious countess confesses

There's nothing like a scandal to stir up the good folk of Pennyroyal Green, so when former courtesan Evie Duggan, now the widowed Countess of Wareham, flees the cruel London gossip and moves into the neighborhood, the women are quick to close ranks against the disreputable "Black Widow." But Evie has courage and grit and is determined to fit in. Who better to ask for help than the one person everyone admires and the women all adore, Vicar Adam Sylvaine, a man with fallen angel looks, a mesmerizing voice, and wild Eversea blood in his veins? She asks, he agrees, and the results are both unexpected and, ultimately, unavoidable. VERDICT A country vicar and a soiled dove are the last people you'd envision together, but with her classic graceful prose, exceptional dialog, and lively wit, Long (How the Marquess Was Won) brings these conflicted characters to vivid life in a satisfying, ennobling, and truly memorable story. Long lives in Northern California. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.