Book #1 -- Cassandra, Lost

In my quest to read 50 books in 2007, I started with an EXCELLENT book -- Cassandra, Lost by Joanna Catherine Scott.

Based on a true story, an enchanting tale of an American woman who flees to France during the revolution, to be with the man she loved In the late 1800s Cassandra Van Pradelles, a headstrong seventeen-year-old, elopes with Benedict, a lieutenant from General Rochambeaus French army and flees from her familys plantation in Maryland to Revolutionary France. Once there they hide in his familys ruined mansion, nurse his deathly ill mother and plan their escape from the dangerous city. A chance meeting grows into a clandestine relationship for Cassandra with the young pirate Jean Lafitte, who helps them get out of war-torn Paris. After a harsh rejection by her father, they run again, this time to New Orleans. After Benedicts mysterious death, Cassandra embarks for her familys home hoping for a reunion, but the meeting never takes place. Her ship is taken by the notorious Lafitte and she disappears without a trace. Cassandra, Lost is an exploration of actions and their consequences, as well as the joys and perils of following ones heart.

This book has everything I love: romance, danger and excitement, New Orleans, and an amazing historical narrative. I cannot recommend this one enough. I wish whomever has The Road to Chapel Hill (Ms. Scott's newest, and an RT TopPick!) checked out from the library would return it already!!