Anne Gracie's "Gallant Waif"
The first half of the book is fantastic - a completely unique and engaging heroine and a troubled, cynical, wounded hero with a bad temper but a heart of gold. If the whole book had been this good I would have given it 5 stars. The second half wasn't bad, but it had a bit too much melodrama for my liking. I also didn't like the heroine going to London and participating in the highest of high society - it just didn't seem like something she would be interested in doing, especially given her recent painful experiences during the Peninsular war. For some reason the author wanted to make her into a complete Cinderella character and it wasn't at all necessary.
