IN THE BARRISTER'S BED - Tina Gabrielle
Barrister's Chambers , Book 2
Zebra Books
ISBN: 978-1-4201-2275-6
July 2012
Historical Romance

England 1819

James Devlin is the bastard son of the Duke of Blackwood, but outside of spending a week a year with his son at one of the lesser properties, and of course paying for schooling, neither the duke nor the rest of the family has had anything to do with James. His mother died birthing him, so he effectively has no family. He finds satisfaction in his work at the Old Bailey Courthouse in London as a defense attorney. That is, until his grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Blackwood, comes to the courthouse in person to tell him his father has died. She tells him more. On his deathbed, his father admitted James was born within wedlock. He had married James's mother, a lowborn maid, in Scotland. The dowager labels his childhood an unfortunate mistake. When James finds out his father sold Wyndmoor Manor, the place where they always spent their week together, he plans to buy it back.

After purchasing the estate, James goes to the manor only to discover someone else is in residence. It seems the previous owner sold the place twice. After her brutal and despicable husband died, Bella Sinclair inherited money from an aunt. She bought Wyndmoor Manor as a place of safe haven. She has no intention of leaving it no matter what battle she must wage with the duke over the property. Then strange things begin to happen, and both she and the duke are in danger as someone wants to harm either one or the other of them.

With a property in dispute, two worthy and likeable characters face off against each other not only legally but also romantically. Bella is not worldly, and knows little of upper class manners. James could care less about the title, or even the wealth, as he has worked all his life and loves what he does for a living. This creates interesting encounters and a few dangerous situations. The confrontations between James and Bella are entertaining, as are both their efforts to adjust to their changing lifestyles. Besides this, jealousy, dishonesty, and subterfuge play a part in the plot, and a cast of friends and foes fill out the story, making IN THE BARRISTER'S BED a pleasure to read.

Robin Lee