Deborah McMasters worked under General George Washington, a doctor to the wounded armies of America as it strove to gain freedom from England. Her father gave his life for this very cause. Now the general, concerned for her health, has dismissed her from the job she loves, and she is forced to return to her family in England - whom she considers to be her formidable enemy. Deborah, well acquainted with the rugged life of army camps, is a feisty lady who often finds herself in difficult situations, using violence against unsuspecting males.

Sir Christopher McChristian is a smuggler, stealing goods from the King and transporting them by ship to America to aid her in this fight for freedom. Sir Christopher is a close, trusted friend to the McMasters family. It is on a visit to the family that he meets the strong-willed Deborah. Finding her beautiful and brave, he begins to fall in love with her.

But Sir Christopher leads a dual life – one as the smuggling Dark Knight, the other as a country gentleman. In his secret life, he does not want Deborah involved for safety reasons; he knows that she plunges headfirst into any situation she deems worthwhile.

Deborah uses Christopher as an excuse to waylay the courting attentions of Captain Hammel, who reads poetry to her until she is driven to the point of violence. Sir Christopher happily plays along. When he is shot one night, Deborah uses her knowledge of medicine to fight fever and infection, and his health is restored. As Deborah begins to have feelings for Christopher, she faces down the Dark Knight o his amusement, scolding him for using Christopher in the first place and threatening the Dark Knight with physical consequences.

As The Dark Knight of Lancashire is generally an entertaining read, it’s a shame that so many sentences contain mixed tenses and misspelled or missing words. Were it not for these drawbacks, the book would rate higher. A light read with lots of action, a beautiful cover, and the promise of more to come from P.J. Kerti.