Geralyn Dawson’s latest offering, Simmer All Night, is a wonderful concoction of Texas swagger and English sensibilities, with much of her trademark humor to warm up a chilly winter day.

The book opens when Cole Morgan finds out that one Christina Elizabeth Delaney has just been crowned Queen of the Chili Queens of San Antonio. The problem is that the Delaneys are a very respected and proper family, and Christina’s coronation is just the latest of the rebellious acts with which she’s bombarded the family since childhood. Cole and Christina’s brother, Jack, must find a way to deal with the scandal but Chrissy defiantly continues serving her chili and kissing men in view of everyone in town.

What Chrissy’s mother, Elizabeth, daughter of the Earl of Thornbury, has in mind this time is no mere reprimand for her wayward daughter. She will ship Christina off to England to live with her grandfather – she’s sent Chrissy away before, mind you – and hopefully it won’t be the Chili Queen who comes back, but a properly behaved lady instead. Since Cole has been enlisted to go to England to find one of the spare copies of the Declaration of Independence of Texas, he is given the role of Christina’s guardian. To Cole, who has recently begun looking at Christina as much more than the annoying little “sister” he always thought her to be, this proves unbearable news, but his devotion to Elizabeth means he would do as she bid no matter what, much to Chrissy’s chagrin.

In England, Chrissy goes back to her flirting-with-every-pair-of-pants-in-sight habits, her outward vivaciousness hiding how dejected and miserable she really is because she can never be what her family wants her to be. Cole spends much of his time glowering at Chrissy’s new fiancé, Lord Welby, and looking for the long-lost document. It is only after Cole proves that he loves Chrissy as she is – with a very satisfactory confrontation with her mother – that Chrissy’s fear of not being accepted can be conquered, and after some revelations and dangers dealing with the Declaration, can the pair can finally be together.

Although a truly enjoyable read, this book is not a keeper. The main problem between Christina and Cole – she believes he is just like her family, ashamed of who she is – drags on too long to be so neatly resolved in the end. Elizabeth is instantly transformed into a mother who loves unconditionally, which she had never been before. Lord Welby is made to be a bit of a pompous twit, up until he finds happiness with a secondary character. Why he had to be comic relief until then, I don’t understand. Cole, who has lived with the family since childhood, suddenly notices how mean everyone has been to poor Chrissy all her life. And as a fluent native Spanish speaker, I had a problem with the butchered Spanish in the book.

Chrissy gets a bit extreme now and then, and goes through some personality altering throughout the book. She is either kissing people in the town square or she is ready to marry a nobleman and be a proper English wife, and it was a little difficult to reconcile her repeated explanations of why she can’t marry Cole with all the lovemaking going on. Also, the main conflict is solved for her rather than by any action she takes. However, she is a passionate heroine, one who demands all of the man she loves or she won’t have him at all, and I did cheer at her happy ending.

Cole Morgan is Christina’s match in every way, a fact that surprises the heck out of him. The son of an English gardener and his wife, he was raised in Texas by Elizabeth and is deeply loyal to her and Jack – to the extent that for most of the book, he is blinded to the way their rigidity is stifling Christina. He loves the girl he grew up with – and not like a brother anymore – and won’t give up in convincing her that she belongs with him.

I enjoyed Simmer All Night a lot. Ms. Dawson’s next book, Sizzle All Day, is Jack Delaney’s story in Scotland where he is hunting down the Declaration. I very much look forward to it, and also look forward to seeing what Cole and Christina have been up to by then.