"Historical romance with well-developed characters."

Malachi Breedlove was trying to escape his reputation as the fastest shootist that ever lived. People said he was the fastest gun in Montana and he was tired of having to watch his back constantly. He changed his name to Malcolm Bradley and took a job guiding a scientific expedition into the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. Professor Octavius Kremer was a noted botanist and a leading authority on the Trans Mississippi flora of the United States. The entire purpose of the expedition was to find and collect flowers. Professor Kremer hoped to find new species of plants and keep a record of where the plants were found.

Malachi didn't expect to be attracted to the professor's niece, Nellie Sanders. Her type of woman just didn't have anything to do with his kind of man. But as the days passed into weeks, Malachi Breedlove began to find out that man- eating beasts, moose the size of locomotives, and swarming mosquitoes were the least of his worries. He was in the biggest danger of all, losing his heart to a woman who might be gone when the summer ended.

Nellie Sanders was embarking on the biggest adventure of her life. She had finally managed to convince her uncle to take her on his expedition. She would only be a field assistant, but she hoped to prove herself a botanist, just as capable as any man in the study of plants and flowers. Nellie instinctively trusted the cold, hard and dangerous looking man she knew as Malcolm Bradley. When she found out who he really was, it didn't change her growing feelings. She knew he was a good man, worthy of her trust and affection. Now, if she could only convince him.

Malachi was the not-so-bad, bad guy in Ms. Glad's previous book, NOBLE SAVAGE. He was interesting then, as a man who owned only one thing of value -- his word -- and the reader wanted to know more about him. In KNIGHT IN A BLACK HAT, we get to do just that. The story is smoothly paced and well- written, with hints of a dangerous presence in the mountains. Malachi and Nellie are three-dimensional, believable characters. They almost have the feel of real people and you want everything to go well with them. There is one character who gets just what he deserves.

An enjoyable read that I highly recommend.

Reviewed by Brenda Gill
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted October 1, 2002