Cloaked in Beauty
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Trust no one in the shadows of the piney woods . . .
Letty Hood has spent the last fifteen years of her life hidden away with her grandmother in the backwoods of east Texas to escape the deadly schemes of an uncle who wants her dead. Now, with her twenty-first birthday on the horizon, she is forced to accept the escort of a stranger and return to Houston in secret so she can claim a birthright that will make her one of the wealthiest women in Texas. If she lives long enough to inherit.
Pinkerton agent Philip Carmichael has one duty: get the Radcliffe heiress home alive. Expecting a spoiled girl, Philip is surprised to encounter a woman of rare strength with a kind soul and keen wit. As they journey together, Letty's resilience wins his admiration, breaking through his hardened cynicism. Yet the threat to her survival grows more menacing with every mile, and Philip fears that keeping Letty out of harm's way may be just as impossible as keeping her out of his heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Witemeyer (If the Boot Fits) continues her Texas Ever After series with an exciting if occasionally clumsy retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. After the death of her wealthy father, Scarlett Radcliffe stands to inherit a majority stake in his shipping company when she turns 21—if her greedy uncle, who wants the shares for himself, doesn't kill her first. Sent away by her mother, Scarlett has taken refuge with her grandmother in a forest, where she goes by the name Letty Hood, wears a red riding cloak, and travels with a pet wolf for protection. Five weeks before Scarlett turns 21, her mother gets wind that the threat to Scarlett's life has intensified and hires investigator Philip Carmichael to find her. Philip tracks Scarlett down and the two begin the trek home. Along the way, shadowy hit men stalk them and Philip starts to fall for his charge. Meanwhile, Scarlett, who has grown accustomed to her independent and simple life in the forest, grapples with doubts about returning to a life constrained by social expectations and power, and prays for the strength to start anew. Despite some wooden exposition shoehorned into the dialogue, the narrative charms with its twists, turns, and wry fairy tale allusions. This has plenty of heart.
