Shores of Desire

Shores of Desire (1997) Tracy Grant

Set in Europe in 1815

Robert Lescaut is a French colonel and spy, who has come to Scotland to try and discover who killed his wife–a woman he believed was a Scottish Blair.

Emma Blair is tired of the feuding between the Blairs and Lauders, so when Captain Robert Melton suddenly appears, she accidentally drags him into her troubles, trying to keep peace between the two families.

As I’ve said before, the third character in this story is the war with Napoleon, and I find these historical bits fascinating. (And also terribly depressing.)

(A)n afternoon filled with horrors the like of which Emma had never seen. They went out into the streets, armed with scissors and lint and bandages and flasks of water and brandy. The wounded lay everywhere. It was more than twenty miles to Quatre Bras and some men had walked the entire way, their uniforms encrusted with blood and dirt. Others too ill to stand were brought in in carts and wagons. Now that a crisis was at hand, the people of Brussels responded with compassion and efficiency. As did the English ladies of fashion. Every house was open, but many soldiers were forced to lie in the streets, some on straw pallets, some on the cobbled stones.

The Frenchies came at us in waves. The corn was high, you know, as high as a man’s head. We could hardly see them ’til they were on top of us. And their guns kept pounding us all afternoon. The 79th took the worst of it, but we all fought like the devil was after our souls.

Eighteen hours of pelting rain had flattened the high-standing rye and turned the fields into a sea of mud. It had been near midnight before the troops were bivouacked for the night, drenched, tired, hungry, and dispirited. Many of the soldiers had arrived barefoot, their boots and shoes sucked into the mud on the slow march from Quatre Bras. There was no shelter. Officers and staff occupied the few farms and huts that could be found. No fire would burn, no musket would fire. Scarcely a shot had been exchanged the entire day.

That doesn’t mean the romance and mystery aren’t good, because they are very good. But I find the historical bits extra fascinating.
Rating: 8.5/10

Publisher: NYLA

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