Lord Maxwell’s Quest by Jane Charles

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Other Trents

Release Date: August 24, 2021

Lord Maxwell Trent and Miss Rosemary Fairview have known each other for ages and have been bickering for almost as long – they are both well-known antiquity hunters and have long been rivals in that field, but what neither knows is that they each have harbored a secret attraction to the other, but deny said attraction for various reasons, but primarily they both believe that they are not suited, Max believes Rosemary too reckless, and she believes he is too controlling. They are cordial and polite but go out of their way to avoid each other – a plan that has worked until now.

When a mutual friend invites them to find what may be one of Joan of Arc’s swords and return it to the rightful owner before their mutual nemesis – Rylan, a mercenary of sorts who works for Mr. Otto Fernsby, a reclusive collector who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, they will have to learn to work together or lose the sword to Fernsby. They reluctantly agree and set off, but almost immediately they realize Rylan is hot on their trail and isn’t content on waiting for them to find the sword before coming after them.

While dodging Ryland and searching for the sword, Rosemary and Max realize that there is a lot they don’t know about each other and find a new respect for one another, but even that knowledge isn’t enough to make either of them share their secret admiration. It isn’t until they find the sword and confront Fernsby that they finally admit their feelings, but by then, it might be too late for them to have a HEA.

This was a good read, with interesting characters and cameos from not only the “Other Trents”, but the Tenacious Trents too, as well as a nod to “The Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies” series. The story was good, but I felt it dragged a bit in the middle, and Rosemary and Max’s constant bickering got tedious after a while. The mystery of the sword was OK, the love scenes were very mild, but the ending is what makes this book – it was a fantastic twist that leads to a nail-biter ending! This is the second book in the series, but they are definitely standalone titles.

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