Love Not a Rebel

September 1, 1989
The third installment in Graham's North American Woman series ( Sweet Savage Eden ) is the best, reclaiming the familiar landscape of Revolutionary America. Eric Cameron, a rebel general, desires and eventually marries beautiful Tory Amanda Sterling even though he realizes that she spies for the British. What he does not know, however, is that blackmail has forced Amanda into espionage. The multiple misunderstandings driving the plot are developed adroitly, with the single exception of a complication involving Amanda's father, whose cruelty to her eventually is explained through a flimsy deus ex machina resolution. Graham adds a few historical figures to her cast but these portrayals (of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington) are superficial. In developing the romance element, however, Graham never falters. The bold sensuality and frankness of her descriptions convey both the physical pleasure and emotional transport of erotic love.