Midnight Angel                                 

A noblewoman of frail beauty and exotic mystery fakes her own death to escape the gallows. And now she must flee. In diguise and under a false identity, she finds unexpected sanctuary in the arms of a handsome and arrogant yet gallant British lord -- who must defy society to keep her safe...and overcome a tragic past to claim her as his own.

Lisa's comments:

I went on a month-long trip to Russia to visit a very good friend, and I had the most amazing time there. The complex history of the country, not to mention the beautiful people I met (Yes, there are absolutely gorgeous Russians, before the lifestyle gets to them), fascinated me. I created a story of a young noblewoman who is wrongly accused of murdering her perverted fiancé. To escape being executed, she fakes her own death and flees to England, where she takes a position as governess to an aristocrat's daughter. The book stirred up a little controversy because the hero has a hook instead of a left hand (having lost it during a heroic rescue of his daughter from a deadly fire). To me, the challenge was to make the hero so sexy, smart and powerful that the reader kind of "gets over" the missing hand. For some readers, it worked, but others still prefer complete perfection in a hero (and why shouldn't they? - it's fantasy).

Lisa Kleypas, Avon Books, 1/1995