Falling Stars:(Rakes#2)

Anita Mills

**Blurb from Goodreads.com:** "Betrayed in a foreign land, one woman desperately attempts to return home in the sequel to AUTUMN RAIN. Never thought to be particularly pretty, Englishwoman Katherine Winsteady is flattered and overwhelmed by the attentions of the Russian Count Alexei Volsky and his sister Galena. When the Count proposes marriage, Kate thinks her dreams have come true, and readily accepts. Isolated in the Count’s frozen Russian estate, Kate quickly learns she is pregnant with the Count’s child. The celebration is short lived as Kate discovers with horror her part in an elaborate plot for an heir, and the true relationship between the Count and his sister. Driven to flee in the Russian winter, Kate turns to the rakish Viscount Townsend, a family friend who has been hiding in Russia while contemplating his return to England. After bearing such a dark betrayal, will Kate’s heart ever feel warmth again?" **Blurb from Fictiondb.com:** "THE GAMBLER'S DAUGHTER Kate Winstead's noble father had been destroyed by his weakness for gambling. Now Kate was taking a gamble that would have made her father blanch. She was giving her hand in marriage to a man she barely knew and going to live in a foreign land. Her husband, Count Alexei Volsky, was as mysterious as he was masterful, yet strangely cold even at the burning peak of passion. What secret did he and his ravishing sister conceal on his vast estate deep in Russia? And would Kate dare turn for help to Bell Townsend, London's most notorious rake who had fled from scandal at home to pursue his desires abroad? Kate was torn between a husband she did not trust and a libertine lord who made her doubt herself. It was a game of danger and desire--the stakes were shockingly high, the key cards were hidden, and love held the final startling trump." The Rakes Series: Autumn Rain (Rakes, #1) Falling Stars (Rakes, #2) Secret Nights (Rakes, #3) 384 pages Published Sept. 1993 by Diversion Books ASIN: B00IP22BT8 ISBN-10: 0451403657 ISBN-13: 978-0451403650 Original title: Falling Stars (Topaz Historical Romances) Review from Publishers Weekly*: "This intriguing but sadly chauvinistic sequel to Autumn Rain revolves around a young woman and a dastardly plot to secure an heir. Accompanying Alexander I to London in 1814, Count Alexei Volsky and his sister Galena overwhelm the plucky but not particularly attractive Katherine Winstead with their attentions. For this daughter of a gaming baron who took his own life, Volsky's proposal of marriage seems too good to be true, and of course, it is. Pregnant and isolated in the Volsky's Russian estate, Kate discovers the true nature of her role--and of Galena's. For her difficult flight home, Kate turns to her brother's friend, the rake Bellamy, Viscount Townsend, who appeared in Autumn Rain and is now laying low in Russia following another messy affair and having second thoughts about his shallow life. Mills is to be commended for creating a heroine who is truly more character than looks, nor does Mills flinch at including the more quotidian fleshy realities. The real weakness is her portrayal of Russians as sadistic and perverted. The era that gave birth to Pushkin, Gogol and Lermontov deserves a more evenhanded treatment." ** Note: I have yet to come across a completely positive review of a romance novel by Publishers Weekly. Bear that in mind while considering reading a book if you base your decision on reviews. Most of the ratings and reviews I found on various sites where regular readers can post their opinions were fairly high (ratings) and generally positive (reviews).* Goodreads page for this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20934072-falling-stars Fictiondb page for this book: http://www.fictiondb.com/author/anita-mills~falling-stars~26097~b.htm Amazon page for this book: http://www.amazon.com/Falling-Stars-Topaz-Historical-Romances/dp/0451403657 Fantastic Fiction page for this book: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/anita-mills/falling-stars.htm