The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty by Jacqueline Navin, 2001 Harlequin

     When Mr. Adam Mannion, Esquire, hears about a mysterious lady hidden in the wilds of Northumberland he goes north is search of her fortune and her pedigree. The woman is purported to be beautiful, charming, rich, and a recluse.

     Lady Helena Rathford has hidden in her father’s home since an accident crumpled her confidence and gave her vindictive servant the ammunition to keep Helena under her thumb. When Adam arrives and convinces Lord Rathford to marry them, his invasion into her private sanctuary is unbearable.

     At first the mysteries around Helena and the Rathford home are a fence between Adam and making the Northumberland estate his home. However, as time goes on and he begins to know the people and the property, he falls in love with not only his new properties, but also his wife.

     However, things are not as they seem in Northumberland. Something is working to place the blame for mysterious events on Helena. And while she and Mannion think they are becoming closer and closer their world is falling apart.

     When Helena’s history takes over their future, Mannion discovers how far he will go for the woman he loves.

     For a romance novel The Sleeping Beauty is mild, yet it does have some explicit scenes making it suited for high schoolers and older readers. The plot itself is somewhat of a mystery mixed with the sleeping beauty fairytale.