Help A Bitch Out

HaBO: Reader Remembers Only a Scene

This HaBO request comes from Lell, a librarian whose email became trapped in my spam filter. My apologies!

I am a reference librarian at a large public library. Occasionally I get to do something fun, like Readers’ Advisory (I also edit the Romance E-Newsletter for the Library); or even more fun, like actual research.

This question was handed-off to me by our amazing email reference team. Can you help me out? The actual question is as follows:

“I am trying to find the name or author of a book. It is a romance novel that starts out with a woman looking out the window of an inn, waiting for her brother to arrive. I think she is deaf or hard of hearing. A man sees her and of course finds her attractive but withdraws so as not to bother her. Another man accosts her and the first man “rescues” her. I can not remember the name or the author but I believe it is a fairly popular romance novelist.”

This rings a few bells for me; but, it’s a pretty general description of plot and story line; so, I’m not getting anything specific. Please help a “bitch” out? Thanks, for your time.

Oooh, boy. This isn’t ringing any bells for me, but perhaps you recognize this book?

Comments are Closed

  1. Dusty says:

    The heroine isn’t hard of hearing, but it’s probably Mary Balogh’s THE SECRET MISTRESS.

  2. HJ says:

    I just read the fist few pages of THE SECRET MISTRESS online, and agree with Dusty.

  3. Emma Barry says:

    Could it be The Rebel Pirate by Donna Thorland? About a third of the way in, the heroine (who is the titular pirate) is waiting at an inn for her lover, but he doesn’t show up. Another man does he bothers her and she’s saved by another guy who gets drawn into the plot. Her brother–entirely family actually–is there and play into the scene.

  4. Margarita says:

    I know this one!!!! Yes, it’s The Secret Mistress. The heroine’s hearing is just fine, it’s just that she is oblivious to what’s going on behind her.

  5. LadyRhian says:

    As soon as I read the description, I said, “I read this book!” and yes, it’s “The Secret Mistress” by Mary Balogh.

  6. Jacquilynne says:

    I agree that it could well be The Secret Mistress, and wanted to mention that one of the reasons you might only remember the scene is that that scene was published as a teaser in about 987 Mary Balogh books when they were re-released as e-books. I’ve only read the book once, but I’ve read the scene itself a great many times.

  7. Holly Bush says:

    The Secret Mistress for sure. I love the heroine in this one – she wears all the ridiculous hats, if I’m not mistaken.

Comments are closed.

By posting a comment, you consent to have your personally identifiable information collected and used in accordance with our privacy policy.

↑ Back to Top