Elizabeth Ashburton, a member of the Widows Club, is not actually a widow. She has adopted the disguise for years while hiding from General Pymm – the nation’s military hero, her unwanted suitor, and the man she suspects killed her father. One day Pymm comes too close, and Elizabeth’s only recourse for help is Rowland Manning, who takes her into his household.

Rowland should be familiar to readers of the series, which, incidentally, does not include me, but I gather he perpetrated much villainy on earlier heroes. A horse breeder by trade, his stables rival those of Tattersall, and his work is his life. But this green-eyed Elizabeth, with her gingerbread and secrets, piques his curiosity. And thus does London’s most infamous blackguard, bastard son of an earl, become entangled with the woman who would bring about his redemption.

The book’s biggest problem is its attachment to other books in the series. And by attachment, I mean joined at the hip. Series-itis galore. Multiple recurring characters who get many happy endings, and about whom I really don’t give a toss. And Rowland’s so-called redemption – well, Ms. Nash never actually uses that word, but it’s difficult to understand how bad Rowland supposedly was when his past villainy is dashed off in a jumbled, confusing summary. Clearly, the book would have gone over much better if I’d read the series from beginning to end.

But there are two reasons I can still recommend this book, and it comes down to the writing. At the barest descriptive level, Ms. Nash’s prose is just damn good. There are some idiosyncrasies that may require adjustment – she has a habit of cutting from Scene A to Scene C, then relating Scene B retrospectively in slightly convoluted fashion, and she also has an unusual turn of phrase or two. But once I switched gears, I was sold.

The other thing is that Rowland and Elizabeth are enjoyable characters, barring a few matters. The General Pymm subplot had potential but was executed sloppily. Why is he obsessed with Elizabeth? Why did he kill her father? And who cares? Also, the climax had my eyes rolling. But still. Somehow, I enjoyed reading about Elizabeth’s cooking and Rowland’s growling and their love, which was strong enough to have stood independent of any external conflict.

So there you have it. A host of problems, but a passing grade based on the author’s writing and acceptable characters. I would venture a guess that Sophia Nash’s books are meant to be read like Eloisa James’ – in other words, as a complete series. Hopefully, that will make a difference next time I try Sophia Nash.