Captain Hawkins' Dilemma

Eliza Lytton is no pampered English miss. She grew up in Egpyt with her father, who was something of a researcher. Eliza needs to take her father's documents up north, and to ensure her safety, she hires a bodyguard to accompany her. When Captain Hawkins takes a job to escort a young lady and her aunt, he doesn't expect the journey to be so harrowing. Along the way, they encounter elopers, interlopers, Eliza's slimy ex-suitor, and a relentless flirt. In addition to this, their carriage is repeatedly vandalized, and a shocking proposal is made. The Captain has his work cut out for him--but he finds he wants to protect Eliza. Not only because she's his employer... I enjoyed this book. It certainly isn't "a notch above terrible", as the other reviewer suggested. I liked this story, and I thought it was a major improvement from Maria Greene's previous novels. Most importantly, I liked the characters. Ms. Greene's heroines are sometimes annoying, but I really liked Eliza. She's a good, rational, thoughtful person. And Leo Hawkins (our hero) was a nice, serious, upstanding fellow. They're just two regular people whose feelings for each other steadily grow. There's adventure and mystery, and plenty of despicable (almost TOO despicable) characters. It does have a big fault, however. I think it could've wrapped up more nicely. Some plots were left semi-hanging, and the ending was a bit rushed. But, all in all, a good book.