A spy on a mission…Until he meets this heiress!
Miss Theodora Cranford’s learned to keep her impetuous nature locked away. She won’t be deceived by another man who can’t see past her fortune. She wants an honourable, sensible sort – not a self-assured scoundrel like her new neighbour, Lord Gray. Although she’s sure there’s more to him than meets the eye… But after that first captivating kiss, she’s certainly left wanting more!
When Virginia Heath was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. Then one day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Fortunately, the lovely people at Harlequin Mills & Boon took pity on her and decided to publish her romances, but it still takes her forever to fall asleep.
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Lord Graham Chadwick better known as Gray, is a member of the King’s Elite and currently hot on the trail of the elusive “Boss”, the criminal mastermind who is not only smuggling goods, but is also responsible for the death of several agents and the murder of the Elite’s best leads. Gray along with Lord Fennimore, have settled into a house neighboring their best suspect – Viscount Gislingham.
Theodora “Thea” Crawford is the niece of Lord Gislingham and a considerable heiress, but past experiences have left her a mere shadow of her former self – she is all that is proper and ladylike, and more than a bit jaded and cynical about men. So when she and her friend Harriet, Lady Crudington come across a very naked Gray taking a dip in the river, she of course averted her view (mostly) and immediately decided that he was a no-good scoundrel and most likely a fortune hunter.
Gray realizing the important opportunity being laid at his feet, immediately tries to rectify the situation, but thanks to his dog Trefor and his immediately love for Thea, things go from bad to worse. Desperate to get into her good graces, Gray tries to turn her sweet and fails miserably.
Eventually, Thea has to admit that she likes Gray and for his part, Gray finds that he likes Thea, more than he would like. But he has a job to do and no matter how delicious her kisses or how enticing her personality, he will not fail. Besides, he has been in love before and it ended badly, so he will not risk making the same mistake twice – or will he?
Can love bloom where secrets and lies abound? Will the truth ease the sting of betrayal? Will gray catch “The Boss” and earn his promotion? You will just have to read this delightful tale yourself to find out!
This story has a lot of humor, but it is tempered by deeper emotion and kept interesting with several revelations and twists. This is the third book in The King’s Elite series, and in my opinion, the best of the bunch – the writing is impeccable, the story absorbing, the mystery is good, the love scenes warmish and the characters are likable and relatable. I am happy to recommend this book and believe that it can absolutely be read as a stand alone title.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review of an eARC that was provided to me.*
This blog post contains reviews and information on each of the books in the Donet Trilogy. It is a lengthy post, so if you are interested in a specific book, click on the title below to move to that specific book. Don’t forget to read all the way to the bottom where there is a giveaway.
“A sea adventure like no other, a riveting romance!” – SHIRLEE BUSBEE, NY Times Bestselling author
Paris 1782… AN INNOCENT IS TAKEN
All Claire Donet knew was the world inside the convent walls in Saint-Denis. She had no idea her beloved papa was a pirate. But when he seized Simon Powell’s schooner, the English privateer decided to take the thing his enemy held most dear…her.
A BATTLE IS JOINED The waters between France and England roil with the clashes of Claire’s father and her captor as the last year of the American Revolution rages on the sea, spies lurk in Paris and Claire’s passion for the English captain rises.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author – and I loved it. The story is well written, well-plotted and just downright exciting. Goodness, you have just about everything – a wonderful romance, PIRATES, spies, privateers and yes – the American Revolution. While it doesn’t take place in America, it does deal with the tensions between England and France because of France’s support of the Americans.
Simon Powell is a privateer and a spy for England. He’s not against American independence – he just wants to support his country and this will gain him some favor among those who can help him in his goal of establishing a shipping company. He has two ships – and one has just been boarded and taken by the French pirate/privateer Donet. Simon will do whatever it takes to get his ship and crew back! What is Donet’s vulnerable point? He has a daughter that nobody knows about and she is unprotected in a convent school. All Simon has to do to get his ship and crew back is kidnap the girl and then trade her for what is his.
Claire Donet knows nothing of her father’s real life. She has been raised inside the cloistered walls of a convent and believes that her father is a prosperous merchant. Claire is a spitfire until something happens when she is sixteen and she feels terrible guilt. She has now committed her life to becoming a nun. Late one evening when Claire is in an exhausted sleep, she awakens to find herself being gagged, bound and lowered out a window. Her next stop is aboard ship and off to England.
Jean Donet, Claire’s father, and Simon play a game of cat and mouse between England and France – each trying to gain back what is theirs. At the same time, Simon and Claire are growing closer and closer. How will they be able to let go when the time comes and Claire has to go back to her father in exchange for Simon’s crew.
This was an excellent read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, I’m looking forward to reading the next books in the series.
Echo In The Wind
Echo in the Wind
The Donet Trilogy Book 2
“Regan Walker sweeps you away to a time and place you’ll NEVER want to leave!” ~ Danelle Harmon, NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author
England and France 1784
Cast out by his noble father for marrying the woman he loved, Jean Donet took to the sea, becoming a smuggler, delivering French brandy and tea to the south coast of England. When his young wife died, he nearly lost his sanity. In time, he became a pirate and then a privateer, vowing to never again risk his heart.
As Donet’s wealth grew, so grew his fame as a daring ship’s captain, the terror of the English Channel in the American War. When his father and older brother die in a carriage accident in France, Jean becomes the Comte de Saintonge, a title he never wanted.
Lady Joanna West cares little for London Society, which considers her its darling. Marriage in the ton is either dull or disastrous. She wants no part of it. To help the poor in Sussex, she joins in their smuggling. Now she is the master of the beach, risking her reputation and her life. One night off the coast of Bognor, Joanna encounters the menacing captain of a smuggling ship, never realizing he is the mysterious Comte de Saintonge.
Can Donet resist the English vixen who entices him as no other woman? Will Lady Joanna risk all for an uncertain chance at love in the arms of the dashing Jean Donet?
Jean Donet is a self made man, disowned by his father for marrying the woman he loved, Jean walked away from his aristocratic life without a second thought. To support his wife, he turned to the sea, as a privateer, spy and smuggler. When his wife dies, Jean is sure that he will never love again, he puts all his passion into his work, but a chance meeting with a smuggler and the death of his father and brother will change everything.
Lady Joanna West is the sister of the Earl of Torrington and she too has known her share of loss, when she learns the villagers on her brother’s estate are engaged in free trade, she jumps in to help. She formally meets Jean at a reception for the Prime Minister – she is attracted to him, even though he is much older than her and has a married daughter not much younger than Joanna. Jean immediately recognizes Joanna as the smuggler he met and becomes fascinated with her.
When another smuggling run brings them together and things go wrong, a revenue ship tries to capture them. And in the midst of the battle, Joanna is shot, leaving Jean no choice but to take Joanna with him. He cares for her wounds and insists on taking her to France to his surgeon. But once they arrive, he is not ready to let her go.
Together they will journey to his family estate and on to Paris trying to figure out they mystery of his father and brother’s deaths. Along the way, Jean will discover that his heart didn’t die with his beloved wife, but with war on the horizon, can love blossom between them?
I thought this was a very good story, but the first half is a bit wordy and there is a lot of information that is interesting, but really not necessary to the story, once they get to France, things pick up and don’t stop until the very end. The characters are likeable, the writing is good, the love scenes are mild and the ending is sweet. This is the second book in the Donet Series, but it can be read as a standalone with no problems.
A Fierce WindA Fierce Wind
The Donet Trilogy Book 3
“Simply Magnificent!” – Stew Ross, author of Where Did They Put the Guillotine?
France 1794.
Zoé Ariane Donet was in love with love until she met the young commander of the royalist army fighting the revolutionaries tearing apart France. When the dashing young general is killed, she joins the royalist cause, rescuing émigrés fleeing Robespierre’s Reign of Terror.
One man watches over her: Frederick West, the brother of an English earl, who has known Zoé since she was a precocious ten-year-old child. At sixteen, she promised great beauty, the flower of French womanhood about to bloom. Now, four years later, as the Terror seizes France by the throat, Zoé has become a beautiful temptress Freddie vows to protect with his life.
But English spies don’t live long in Revolutionary France.
Fredrick “Freddie” West is the younger brother of Lady Joanna and Zoe Donet is Jean’s niece and ward from Echo in the Wind- this book opens 6 years after the end of that story and grabs the reader from the first page.
Freddie is in love with Zoe and has been since she was 16, but he has waited patiently for her to see him as more than just a friend. He has been working for Jean and for the crown as a spy, but Zoe is always his top priority. After the death of Henri, a man she thought she loved, Zoe has thrown herself into the royalist cause in revolutionary France – she helps nobles destined for “Madame Guillotine” escape to England. The work is dangerous, but she feels it is what she must do. Freddie is always ready to help and when one of her missions goes wrong, it is Freddie who saves her and is shot in the process.
Freddie’s injury is the turning point in their relationship, for the first time Zoe sees Freddie as an attractive, eligible man, but it won’t be until they go to Brittany on a mission together and Freddie willingly sacrifices himself to save her that she realizes she loves him. But is it too late?
This was another fascinating story chocked full of historical events during the darkest days of France’s history. Zoe and Freddie are wonderful characters and are supported by several characters from the previous book, especially Jean and Joanna. This book was a page turner, filled with action, danger, sea battles and a slow burning romance. For those who don’t care for graphic love scenes, this book is for you, the book has basically no love scenes (save a couple of kisses and a closed door bedroom scene) – I personally would have liked a bit more heat, but the story doesn’t suffer from the lack. This is the third book in the Donet Series and I would recommend reading Echo in the Wind first, but it could be read as a stand alone title.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an e-book that was provided to me*
Regan Walker is an award-winning, #1 Amazon bestselling author of Regency, Georgian and Medieval romances. She writes historically authentic novels with real historical figures along with her fictional characters. Among the awards she has won are the International Book Award for Romance Fiction, the San Diego Book Award for Best Historical Romance, the RONE Award for her medievals and the Gold Medal Illumination Award.
The Disgraceful Lord Gray by Virginia Heath
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