There is a really interesting story buried inside of "Indiscretion"--but it never has a chance to get out into the daylight. Jillian Hunter, striving for a very light touch, packs the story with silly situations and "sit-com" style conversational zingers which, in my humble opinion, make the story less than it could be. However, if that sort of story *is* your cup of tea, prepare to be entertained.

Anne Kerr was a beautiful, lonely and wild young girl when she met and was seduced by the handsome, reckless, devil-may-care Patrick Sutherland. When Patrick goes off to join the infantry, a devastated Anne ends up marrying his cousin, David. Seven years later, Anne (now a widow) and Patrick are brought together again by the order of Queen Victoria--supposedly to investigate the death of Patrick's uncle, Lord Kingairn, that occurred at a shooting party on Anne's estate one year previously. Now this is a pretty flimsy set-up to bring the hero and heroine together, but the real lynchpin of the plot is that Patrick is to pose as Anne's butler during the investigation--supposedly so that he can question the servants more easily.

I found the beginning of the book to be very heavy going--it took me *days* to get through the first 100 pages, and that for me is *forever*! The investigation is arranged by the Queen and Patrick's eccentric Aunt Nellwyn while Anne constantly snipes away at Patrick and Patrick murmurs suggestive remarks into Anne's ear (very frequently they do both in front of other people!) Then Patrick takes on the role of the butler and the book veers towards slapstick comedy. He is one heck of a rude, irreverent butler and *some* of his remarks are witty--but not enough of them to sustain the farce (in my opinion).

Anne is an interesting character and one that should have inspired sympathy (ruined and abandoned by her thoughtless lover as a young girl); however, she is so very nasty and bitter almost throughout the book that she is a little bit hard to like. In contrast, Patrick, who should be censured for his less than honorable behavior in his youth, is a delightful character--repentant, charming and passionate--a viscount who is willing to masquerade as a butler in order to be close to Anne. Frankly, I thought that the best parts of the book were the flashback scenes to Anne and Patrick's day of "indiscretion"--which had more passion and heart than the rest of the story.

In summary, this is a very light historical romance set in Victorian times with a minimal dusting of a murder mystery, a big streak of comedy and an engagingly imperfect hero.

I was looking forward to read this book. It took me a very long time to find it. It turned out to be so bad that I threw the book across the room. The plot about the uncle's death is sadly bad. So Anne and Patrick set out to find the cause of the death. I was fine with that. Anne still hold a grudge agaisnt Patrick after all those years, for what??? She wanted a liasion with him, she got it. She rode to the meeting spot with him, welcomed his touches. Anne complains and whines, if I was Patrick, I would dump her on the spot. And I just don't understand the problem between these two. There's no real chemistry between these two, I was waiting for a big chemistry explodsion somewhere in the middle of the book. However, the more I read it, the more I look for it, the more I was like, get to it! get to it! And it never get to it. It was a very fast read because there wasn't much in it to read slowly. By the end of the book, I was like, come on people! It's just not realistic. I read very good reviews for this book and I just cannot find the goodness that everyone found in it. It's merely my opinion. Read it if you want.

Whenever I've picked up a book by Jillian Hunter I know I am not going to be disappointed and "Indiscretion" - is again a testament to that fact. In a nutshell, Anne Kerr was labeled as fast and wild as a young girl. An unhappy home life made her wild and crazy horse rides across the moorlands food for fodder and the gossips had a field day. In a very impetuous moment - and possibly as an act of rebellion she arranged to meet the local noblemens son and `bad boy' Patrick Sutherland, for an afternoon delight! She innocently gave herself and her love thinking that it meant something to him, but for Patrick the loss of his mother and the apparent disdain of his father for his wild ways only spurred his rebellion. He just didn't think beyond that day, although to his credit he told her that should she become pregnant to contact him. He was sent away only to find a few months later that Anne had been married off to his cousin David.

Seven years later, Anne is now a widow whose mourning period has passed. Queen Victoria has summoned her for an audience. Who should she run into but the man who broke her heart - who as it happens has also been summoned for an audience with the queen. Queen Victoria, on the advice of her `advisor' requested that Anne and her cousin by marriage - Patrick - travel to Anne's Scotland estate to investigate the suspicious death of Patrick's Uncle Edgar and naturally, Anne's uncle by marriage. The whispered witty dialog as the plans were made that both Patrick and Anne had going back and forth were simply too, too funny. Patrick was all for the plan - Anne thought it horrendous - until the queen informed them that her `advisor' thought Patrick could travel incognito, so to speak, as none other than Anne's butler! You will just laugh yourself silly over Patrick's portrayal of the most irreverent butler you have ever seen as he tries to romance his way back into Anne's life!

Patrick, as a butler was a stroke of genius, and the numerous and colorful secondary characters, especially Patrick's very feisty, no-nonsense Aunt Nellwyn - who just happened to be Queen Victoria's `advisor' - is a gem. The plot is totally fresh and the flashbacks to Anne and Patrick's one very, very sensual indiscretion was delightful to say the least! Sit back, grab this book and totally enjoy this one very stimulating `indiscretion' !