When the Earl of Deverill leaves London to return to his family home in Yorkshire, he becomes very ill and stops at an inn. As he lay dying, the innkeeper sends James Elliot to attend him. Just as the Earl draws his last breath, he begs James to return a jewel case to his wife. He tells James that hidden within the jewel case is his legacy to his wife and a treasure beyond price. James Elliot is a vicious evil man and he plans to keep the jewel case for himself. When James takes the case home and shows his wife Justine, she makes plans of her own to keep it.

Heather Duval is the beautiful orphaned ward of the Earl of Stonehurst. Her adoptive parents always told Heather that she might not be the daughter from their bodies but she has always been the daughter of their heart. She has grown up believing that her parents were friends of the Earl and that they were on their way to visit him when their deadly carriage accident occurred. Although Heather has a lame leg, the damage was not the result of the carriage accident.

Heather's real "last" name is Elliot. And, James Elliot is her father. He has just been released from prison after serving twenty years for killing two men in a bar fight and his one goal in life is to find the jewel case. James goes to the home of the new Earl of Deverill, Giles Treymayne to recover the case but when Giles has no idea what he is talking about he kills Giles in a fit of rage.

Damien Treymayne has promised to kill the man who murdered his brother. Through a private investigator, he learns about James Elliot and Heather. Damien plans to get close to her to find out what she knows about her father and use her to find him.

EVERY WISH FUFILLED was originally published in 1997 and was the sequel to Ms. James Anthology Married at Midnight, Scandals Bride. I read this book when it first came out and loved it then. When I received it to review I thought, great, I will skim through it to refresh my memory and get the review done quickly. After reading the prologue -- I was hooked and had to re-read every word. The love story between Heather and Damien is so heart warming it makes you believe that love can conqueror all. Ms. James has written Heather as a strong woman who runs her own estate and does not let her disability control her life. The book was even better the second time around. There are times that you want to take Damien by the neck and shake him for being an idiot and causing Heather pain. She has endured more in her short life than most people have had to endure in a lifetime and he doesn't have the right to hurt her more. In the end, Damien redeems himself.

Ms. James makes you feel the abuse that Heather suffered because of James Elliot. I wish she would have expanded the confrontation between them even more. It would have done my heart good to see Heather slap the spit out of Elliot. She also never explained why Elliot resented Heather's birth so much. Heather's relationship with Justine was also unclear -- Justine cared nothing for Heather, yet when she left, she took Heather with her but she never protected Heather from Elliot's abuse.

These issues aside, if you want to curl up with a good book on a cold day this is the one!

Book Summary

Damien Tremayne, earl of Deverell, has sworn he'll find—and avenge—his brother's murderer. Never does he plan on falling in love with the fiend's daughter. Damien Tremayne, earl of Deverell, has sworn he'll find—and avenge—his brother's murderer. Never does he plan on falling in love with the fiend's daughter. Heather Duval knows Damien harbors a secret, a secret that could destroy her life—and their love—forever. knows Damien harbors a secret, a secret that could destroy her life—and their love—forever.

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