Month: February 2021

Sweet Rogue of Mine by Shana Galen

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Sweet Rogue of MineSweet Rogue of Mine by Shana Galen

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Survivors, #9

Release Date: February 9, 2021

Nash Pope was a sharpshooter in Draven’s company and lost his sight when debris damaged his left eye – his right eye was spared, but he can barely see anything out of it, just vague shapes, and no color. Nash did not take well to blindness and as a result was sent to Wentmore, one of his father’s lesser estates in Milcroft to convalesce. But Nash did not find peace in the country, instead, he sunk deeper into despair, drinking to forget, and refusing anyone’s help. But it wasn’t until he hit rock bottom and shot one of his friends and threatened to shoot others that his father, the Earl of Beaufort, finally had enough and sent Rowden Payne in a final attempt to straighten Nash out. If Rowden fails, the earl has made it clear that he will have no choice but to commit Nash to an asylum. Angry about his father’s interference and Rowden’s willingness to do his bidding – which includes removing all the liquor from the house and hiring men to make repairs. Nash escapes the house and goes for a walk and ends up getting stuck in the mud. He is wondering how he will get out when he hears a woman singing, a very bawdy song and making effort to not be heard.

Prudence “Pru” Howard is new to the village of Milcroft, her parents are missionaries and have decided to take a post in the far East – without Pru. They leave her in the care of the local vicar, Mr. Higginbotham, and take off without a backward glance. Pru knows they are disappointed with her after she caused a scandal and her own ruin by engaging in an affair in Cairo, but she really didn’t think they would go as far as to abandon her. But Pru is a survivor and determined to be happy, so she does her best to fit in, but sadly, she is not well received and spends much of her time alone. Today she is wandering in the gardens of Wentmore, singing to herself when she notices a man stuck in the mud. She offers to help him, but her efforts are rejected and Nash threatens to have her charged with trespassing. Not one to be deterred, Pru changes her tactic and manages to get Nash back on solid ground. Afterward, Pru learns that Nash is blind and she decides to help him, after all, she has a blind sister and a talent that will help him – she learned “Ecriture Nocturne” or night writing, which was invented to help the French army, but also enables the blind to read and write – and she offers to teach it to him. An offer that he accepts, much to everyone’s surprise.

Pru and Nash begin his lessons and a true friendship develops, she soothes his anxiety and slowly he begins to realize that his life is not over, it has changed, but now the future doesn’t seem as dismal. But he is far from healed and still suffers from flashbacks. Not to mention he still has the threat of being committed hanging over his head. As his feeling for Pru deepens, Nash begins to think that he should let her go, as he can’t give her a future – but Nash grossly underestimates Pru, Rowden, and his own heart. For her part, Pru seems to have found her place in Milcroft and even befriended the curmudgeonly elderly Mrs. Northgate. And even though she doesn’t think they have any chance for a future, she loves him and will do all she can to keep him out of an asylum.

When I finished the last book, The Highlander’s Excellent Adventure, I really didn’t like Nash and wondered if it was even possible to redeem him – so I am thrilled to report – Yes, he can be redeemed, and Yes, I not only forgave him, I fell a little in love with him! This book was so good, it is well-written, interesting, emotional, uplifting, and fun. There are warm love scenes, a villain who gets his due, wonderful secondary characters, redemption, acceptance, forgiveness, a peacock, and a very sweet ending. This is the ninth book in the series, but it can easily be read as a standalone title, I would however recommend reading the previous book in the series because it gives you a glimpse of how far Nash had fallen before his father sent Rowden to him.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions are my own *

Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, MysteryLeave a comment

Faithless in Death (In Death, #52)
Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: In Death #52
Publication Date: 2/9/21
Number of Pages: 416

This book is yet another edge-of-your-seat, suspenseful, engrossing, can’t-put-it-down offering by the inimitable J.D. Robb. I can never get enough of this series and if she produced one a week, I’d read it. The first book of the series was set in 2058 and after 52 books, we are only up to the spring of 2061. I’m definitely NOT complaining about the amount of time passing – New York Homicide cops get lots of cases. What amazes me is the imagination the author has and her thorough descriptions of life in that time and the gadgets – OMGoodness, the gadgets are wonderful! I sometimes have to wonder if Robb doesn’t have a bit of the ‘fey’ within her because – well – in the books she talks about the Urban Wars of the 20’s – and just look where we are today in the real-world 20’s. Since the series began in 1995, she couldn’t have known what the real 2020’s would be like. I hope she wasn’t right about all of it – but I do hope she was right about the gadgets – I’d love to have an AutoChef and a car that can go vertical.

This case comes just on the heels of the last case, Shadows In Death. Eve has gone in early to finish up all of the paperwork for that case when she gets the call from dispatch. A body has been found in the West Village. It is a lovely young woman, Ariel Byrd, who is an up-and-coming sculptor. Her head has been bashed in with one of her own tools. The body was only discovered because a 9-1-1 caller reported the dead body. That caller, Gwen Huffman, didn’t report it right away because she panicked and ran away from the scene. Or, did she panic?

Eve and Peabody are off on an investigation that is going to lead to some totally unexpected places and people. Such a ‘normal’, almost insignificant, crime leads to a vile cult named the Natural Order, missing FBI agents, and involvement by the FBI, Interpol, and Homeland Security. OMGoodness – you are in for a roller-coaster of an investigation in this one.

It takes Eve’s entire team, along with Roarke (we can never get enough of him), Feeney and McNab with the rest of the EDD team, not to mention Nadine Furst and ADA Reo to find the real villains and see that they are brought down and punished. I also loved that Police Artist Yancy was more involved in this case. He’s always been a favorite character but doesn’t usually get much page time.

I absolutely loved this read and can highly recommend it. I was left with a bit of a puzzler though. All of those Eve was focusing on finding we definitively solved – whether dead, injured, etc. except one. There was a mention that they thought he was probably dead, but since they wrapped up everyone else, I would have liked to learn, for sure, the fate of Keene Grimsley.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.