Zebra (Paperback), ISBN 0-8217-7450-6

Katherine's father, Lord Camden, hates his only child. He desires a male heir to the family fortune, but neither of his two wives provided, so he forces Katherine to marry Lord Halsingham, who takes one look at her overweight frame and refuses to consummate the marriage. Katherine and Halsingham make a deal that he won't touch her, and they don't tell Camden. Camden visits monthly, then beats Katherine severely every time she gets her monthly.

Finally, Camden refuses to keep waiting and he orders Katherine to go to her husband in London and not return until pregnant. He sends her out in a raging storm, and on the way lightning strikes Katherine's coach driver, killing him. The carriage careens out of control and overturns in a river.

Lord Sion Sinclair believes himself responsible for the death of his pregnant wife and determines to drink himself to death. The arrival of Katherine's comatose body at his manor abruptly changes his plan. With someone now dependent upon him, Sion slowly beats his alcoholic demons and nurses Katherine back to life with the help of his housekeeper. As the months pass, her body transforms itself, shedding the excess weight.

After awakening and eventually coming to trust Sion, Katherine tells him the whole truth, then decides to have herself declared dead and take a new identity, rather than go back to her hateful father and negligent husband. She fashions herself as an Italian contessa, and Sion assists her draw up the papers declaring the contessa, Danae, as inheritor of Katherine's property as well as a death certificate and a physician's note declaring Katherine's virgin state at the time of her death.

Camden and Halsingham contest Katherine's will and much political intrigue follows, ranging from court battles to an obsessive attraction to a young boy forced to live with Camden, a boy presented as Katherine's son. Angry figures from Sion's past interfere in matters as well.

Wendy Burge writes a wonderful soap-opera-ish tale, with twists and turns coming in everywhere in the plot. She develops her characters richly, even the secondary ones. However, she doesn't reveal some small plot details, such as who found Katherine after the storm, which leave the reader wondering. Also, while the romance between Katherine and Sion develops nicely, the physical passion seems very rushed and abrupt. But otherwise, it makes for a good fun read.

Jen Foote

Jen Foote recently moved to central Florida, where she is a copy editor and page designer at a small daily newspaper. She is ecstatic to live an hour away from the ocean.

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