Product Description

The year is 1909, and Temperance O'Neil is a woman ahead of her time. At 29, she is happily married to her work helping single mothers on the streets of New York. Unfortunately, Angus McCairn -- her new stepfather -- controls the purse strings to her substantial inheritance. Angus insists she quit her career and live in his house in Edinburgh. Temperance heads for Scotland with one mission -- to drive Angus crazy. Angus asks her to pose as housekeeper to Angus' nephew, James, in a secret attempt to find him a wife. If she succeeds in matchmaking, she will be allowed to return to New York.

Although James McCairn is Laird of Clan McCairn, he's no cultured gentleman -- he's a strapping, rough-mannered giant interested only in farming. His stables are immaculate, his horses gleam with care, and he lavishes personal attention on his sheep -- but there are pigeons roosting in the kitchen and chickens in the bedrooms.

Temperance, is determined to win her return passage at any cost. But the cost may be her heart...for as Temperance O'Neil attempts to open James' eyes to the wonders of love, it is she herself who is liberated -- by the power of an overwhelming passion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1942291 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-01
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

From Amazon.com
In 1909 New York City, Temperance O'Neil is an upper class intellectual exploring the few public forums allowed her: the campaign against the tenements and the emancipation of women. When her stepfather, Angus McCairn, demands that Temperance move to Scotland to begin a more proper life, she is stuck. Dependent on his control of her money, Temperance moves to Scotland but makes his life a circus of women's committees and good works. To distract her, Angus makes an irresistible offer--once she has found a wife for his reclusive nephew, James, she may return to New York with a modest stipend. Temperance agrees, and heads for the remote laird.

Once Temperance arrives, however, she realizes that the challenge of finding James a wife is equally as intimidating as the prospect of cleaning up a tenement. The house is in shambles, the local town depressed, and his welcome perfectly horrible. Faced with this task or the return to her stepfather, Temperance digs in and focuses all her energies on making James presentable and finding a willing bride. Impressed by her tenacity, James begins to care for her, and it looks like the search for a wife may be over, if Temperance agrees.

Temperance is the heroine we've been waiting for. The descendent of Jane Austen's women, she is smart, passionate, liberated, and true to her own ideals. While at the denouement of most stories the heroine melts into a slushy pile of self-contradictions, Deveraux's character stands strong in her convictions and wins the respect of the readers, if not her fellow characters. Just like the readers, romance heroines are securing the man, the fortune, and the good ending through the quality of their characters, and not by the leverage of their charms. Temperance is the hero that we all want to be, and Jude Deveraux's work is an entertaining medium for inspiration.--Nancy R.E. O'Brien

From Publishers Weekly
Like many recent heroines of historical romance, Temperance O'Neil, turn-of-the-century New York women's rights activist, doesn't think she needs a man. The beautiful, resourceful 29-year-old has conquered politicians and audiences, even the mayor, but in 1909 men control the purse strings, so she must move to Scotland when her mother marries dour Angus McCairn. Angus soon cuts a deal with his willful stepdaughter: she can have her financial freedom and return to New York if she finds a wife for his nephew, James. Posing as James's new housekeeper, Temperance heads to his estate in the Highlands, not knowing that according to his father's will, James must marry for love before his fast-approaching 35th birthday. Other surprises await her, too. Beneath his rough exterior, James happens to be an attractive, educated, amusing, sensitive man. The Scottish Cold Comfort Farm where he tends sheep has fallen on hard times, but a treasure, hidden somewhere on the premises, promises riches galore. Fannie Farmer cookbook in hand, Temperance whips the old castle into shape, launches a millinery business for the town widow, delivers baby lambs and shares temper tantrums and passionate sex with the laird. Trouble threatens when James's ex-girlfriend reappears on the scene claiming to know where the treasure is hidden, but Temperance has handled bigger problems before. This is not the first time Deveraux (High Tide, etc.) has set a romance in the Highlands or found humor in the city slicker who tames the wilds. Here, too, she delights in the corny clashing of Temperance's modern professionalism and James's archaic near-feudal existence. Deveraux knows that the lively pace and happy endings she has delivered with relentless consistency since 1976 will keep loyal readers turning pages fast enough to overlook any lapses of accuracy, subtlety or freshness. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Temperance O'Neil, 29 and unmarried in New York City in 1909, is consumed by her work: helping poor women and their children. She is astounded when her mother marries a Scotsman and he, taking control of the money her father left her, insists that she move to Scotland with them. She is determined to annoy him so greatly that he will willingly send her back (with her financial resources) to America if she'll find a wife for his nephew, the laird of a clan in a remote village. Although Temperance is sure this will be easy, she has met her match in James McCairn, who is as stubborn as she. This spicy romance manages a few unexpected twists and turns that may surprise even the experienced romance listener, and Carrington MacDuffie has an unerring ability to switch between the most authentic of American and Scottish accents, handling age and gender well to boot. Her dialects reflect differences in education and social standing, and her narration always captures the necessary emotional tone. Quite a treat, this is highly recommended. Melody A. Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, NC
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.