Blog Tour – A Stolen Knight’s Kiss by Melissa Oliver

A Stolen Knights Kiss

A Stolen Knight's Kiss Harlequin

A Stolen Knight’s Kiss

Captured by a knight…
Rescued by his kiss!
When orphan Eva loses the father-figure who’d protected her on the streets of London, she suspects the Knights of Fortitude. But when she steals information from them, she’s caught by brooding knight Nicholas. Learning he might not be the villain after all, she puts her distrust aside to work with him, yet Eva must stay focussed – and not get distracted when they share a stolen kiss!

Purchase Links:

Books2Read ~ Harper Collins ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK

Author Bio :

A Stolen - Melissa Oliver pic

Melissa Oliver is from south-west London where she writes sweeping historical romance and is the winner of The Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Joan Hessayon Award for new writers 2020 for her debut, The Rebel Heiress and the Knight.

Contact & Social Media Links:

Website ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Tracy’s Review:

A Stolen Knight's Kiss (Protectors of the Crown, #2)A Stolen Knight’s Kiss by Melissa Oliver

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Protectors of the Crown, #2

Release Date: October 25, 2022

In this installment of the Protectors of the Crown, Sir Nicholas d’Amberly along with the other members of the Knights Fortitude of the Order of the Sword are hot on the trail of the Duo Dracones, a group of traitors bent on bringing down the king. Tonight Nicholas is waiting in a tavern for his informant to deliver a missive to him outlining the Duo Dracones’ next move. They complete their business quickly and within seconds, Nicholas notices a lovely young woman working her way to him, but when she is detained by a drunken patron, Nicholas is honor bound to help her. But as soon as he helps her, she turns to leave and he realizes that the missive he just received is gone and his mother’s ring along with it!. He gives chase and sees that the maiden has a partner – a young boy. He catches up to them, just as the girl is going over a wall, he thinks he will catch the boy, but after exchanging a few words, the boy too gets away.

Eva Siward was not born to the streets, but after the death of her family at the age of 12, she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle, but soon it becomes clear that Eva cannot stay and she runs away. She is rescued by a master thief named Simon the Rook, who took her under his wing and kept her safe by making everyone believe she was a boy. Simon was recently killed by a Crown Knight, so when she is offered a job to steal from one, she jumps at the chance, especially since the fee from this job will enable her to leave London and start a new life with her friend Marguerite, another girl who ran away from a bad situation. But she underestimates Sir Nicholas and finds the tables turned, as he has taken Marguerite hostage until Eva returns Nicholas’ property. An exchange is set up and Eva knows she has no choice but to comply, but she will do it on her terms!

This book was a well-written, non-stop adventure from the very first page. I loved Nicholas and Eva together, they have such chemistry and are so supportive of each other, not to mention, their passion for each other certainly heated up the pages! This book has action, betrayals, revelations, near-death moments, loss, surprises, steamyish love scenes, cameos from the other knights and their wives, some twists and turns, and finally a HEA with a glimpse of what can be expected in the next book. This is the second book in the series and can be read as a standalone title, but I really would recommend reading the books in order for the best reader experience.

*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.*

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A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder by Dianne Freeman

A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder (Countess of Harleigh Mystery, #5)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Countess of Harleigh Mystery
Publication Date: 6/28/22
Period: Victorian London
Number of Pages: Audiobook

Poor Frances (Countess Harleigh) has spent a miserable last four months. Her mother came over from America to plan her sister’s wedding – and then stayed on to plan Frances’s wedding to George. Frances’s mother is best taken in small doses – but so is all of her family. Ah! But tomorrow she and George will be wed, and while they are off in the south of France for their wedding trip, Frances’s family will head back to America.

Sigh – those best-laid plans . . . The wedding was wonderful with so much love and joy, then on to the wedding breakfast at her brother-in-law’s house. Frances and George were giddy with happiness – until . . . Yes, Frances’s brother Alonzo was arrested for murder. It seems that Alonza was murdering the neighbor next door while everyone else was celebrating Frances and George. Or was he?

So, there goes their lovely trip because they absolutely must stay and help Alonzo. They don’t believe, even for a second, that Alonzo murdered Mr. Cooper – even if he was found standing over the body with a knife in his hand. It seems Alonzo was very interested in courting Mr. Cooper’s daughter, but the nasty, scheming, Mr. Cooper wanted a title in the family. When another body is added to the count everybody is looking for motives, connections, and murderers.

This was an excellently written, well-plotted, and well-delivered mystery accompanied by a lovely romance between two bright, intelligent, witty people you just have to love. The only reason I didn’t rate this book a 5-star read is that one of the characters was heir to a title and he was threatened with being disinherited and having the title passed to one of his other brothers. You CANNOT do that and it annoys me when an author tries to use that ploy. Two minutes of research would tell you that the laws of primogeniture don’t work that way and it couldn’t be done. He could be disinherited and all of the non-entailed monies could go to his brothers, but the title, entailed properties, and entailed monies would go to the firstborn legitimate son. Anyway, it is a well-done story other than that and I do definitely recommend it.

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator, Sarah Zimmerman. Her voice was very pleasant, and you could hear the humor coming through. I could just picture my version of Frances with that exact voice. Her range of voices for the characters was well done and I loved how George’s frustration at not having any alone time with Frances came right through the voice.

I definitely recommend this book – and this audio version. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.