THE LAST SUMMER OF INNOCENCE
by Linda Sole
The second pseudonymous hardcover (Lovers and Sinners, p. 16) by a veteran of mystery-and-throb romances—this time about a girl betrayed by her gallivanting mom. From cottage to manor house, all taking place circa WW I. Emma Linton, ever since the death of her husband Richard, has raised her daughter Kate in humble circumstances. But now Kate, into her teens and surpassing even Emma in beauty, is dumbfounded when her beloved mother announces that she's at death's door and must go away to recuperate. Kate is to live with Sir Gerald Redfern in his manor house. The family—Sir Gerald, Lady Selina, daughter Pru, and son Harry—are ``sort of'' cousins. Kate finally settles in but not peacefully. A pregnant governess commits suicide; Kate and Harry fall desperately in love; and then Kate is told that her mother has died in France. War is declared, and eventually Kate becomes a nurse in France. As for Emma, she's very much alive, of course; her adventures are followed through two searing love affairs and, at last, through her attempts to regain the love of the man who proposes to Kate—now with child. There's a cheerful conclusion after some curtain confessions. A journeyman WW I-era romance, but with no particular period zing.