The Dishonored Viscount by Sophie Barnes

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

The Dishonored Viscount (Diamonds in the Rough, #8)Barbara’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Series: Diamonds In The Rough #8
Publication Date: 9/21/21
Period: Regency (Georgian) London – 1828
Number of Pages: 246

This final entry in the Diamonds in the Rough series definitely ticks all of my boxes. If other authors want to know how to write a strong, courageous, intelligent, and resilient female lead, all they have to do is read this book. Lady Louise seems to be a very biddable young lady, doing as she is told by her parents and society, but underneath that pliant exterior resides a spine of steel and a determination that is unmatched. Then, there is Marcus, we’ve met him before, and I am so very pleased to see his HEA finally. He is one of the strongest and most honorable heroes you’ll ever meet.

Lady Louise, the youngest daughter of the Earl of Grasmere, has lost her sight on and off all of her life. Each time, she has had to undergo an excruciatingly painful procedure, cupping, to get her sight back. The procedure, inserting a needle into the eye and scraping the lens to the side, isn’t the only treatment available, but it is the only one her father will allow. Louise lives in constant fear of suddenly losing her sight in a social situation and making a fool of herself. That has happened before – and will likely happen again. The first time, she ended up sprawled in the middle of the ballroom floor. Now, she knows it is happening again – she’s lost sight in one eye and knows it will only be a matter of time before she loses the sight in the other eye. She just cannot – absolutely cannot – undergo another cupping treatment. To think that the remainder of her life will be coping with cupping treatment after cupping treatment – until finally, they don’t work anymore and she’ll be blind. When she meets a gifted eye surgeon she knows she wants to learn more about his procedure, but her father refuses to even discuss it.

Mr. Marcus Berkly, formerly Viscount Seabrook, son of the convicted and executed Earl of Hedgewick, lost all of his social and financial standing when his father was convicted of murder. It made no difference that Berkly had done the right thing and it was at his word the earl was convicted. Nope – nobody in the ton cared about that. He has spent the last decade remaking himself and has done an outstanding job of it. He didn’t spend any time with the woe-is-me attitude – he sucked it up and decided on a career – went to medical school – and is now the premier eye surgeon in England. Many doctors don’t accept his method of treating cataracts even though the procedure has been around for seventy-five years. No, these doctors don’t really understand the process – nor the science – and will continue using the cupping procedure.

When the lovely young woman he’d only met twice approached him about performing the procedure on her, his first inclination was to decline. Her father was adamantly against it and would not allow it, so it would have to be a covert process – and she’d have to lie in bed with her eyes bandaged for a month after the procedure. Not something that could be easily managed. Until her brother and sister-in-law step in to offer a solution. What a fateful solution that was!

When unwanted betrothals happen – as well as kidnappings, coach accidents, and other things – well goodness – things get really exciting. Can Louise and Marcus outwit the furious Grasmere? If they do, can Louise adapt to being a social pariah with no financial standing?

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. I even managed to get past the addressing of a duchess as ‘Lady’ rather than Duchess or Your Grace. The writing is excellent and I absolutely adored both the male and female protagonists.

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

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The Rock by L.J. Ross

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

The Rock (DCI Ryan Mysteries, #18)Barbara’s Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: DCI Ryan Mysteries #18
Publication Date: 5/5/21
Period: Contemporary Northumberland, UK
Number of Pages: 368

Goodness! I am definitely enamored of this series! The mystery is excellently plotted and perfectly paced. You’ll have a feeling of knowing all of the characters – good and bad. You’ll love the good ones and hate the bad ones – and you’ll know why in each case. We are eighteen books into the series and I still look forward to each new book with as much enthusiasm as I did in the beginning. I love that the author deals with some very gritty social issues – in this case human trafficking – and she presents the subject in such a way that you learn something at the same time you are trying to puzzle out the mystery along with Ryan’s team.  BTW – in case it matters to you – there is a lot about personal relationships within the book. It takes place around Valentine’s Day. For me, those personal tidbits and relationships are what make reading the dark, gritty subject matter tolerable. If it was just a police procedural with no personal information on the investigators, I would have stopped reading the series long ago.

Twenty very scared young women are drugged and handcuffed in the hold of an old, beat-up fishing trawler bound for Scotland. Storm Edith is raging outside and the vessel is creaking and popping and the water is coming in so fast the ship cannot be saved. The four men who are their captors free the women and force them into the freezing water. They are ordered to swim for shore and stay together. Eighteen of the women and all four of their captors make it to the shore together. Two of the women are either dead or separated. The captors search the beaches and caves, but they find no sign of the two missing women.

The broken, bloated body of a young woman is found the next morning – in/near the wreckage of a fishing trawler. DCI Ryan and his team get the call to come to the scene and when they see the body – and notice the bruising on the wrists, they are sure they have more than just a drowning victim.

While Ryan’s team doesn’t know about the woman who is still missing, we do – and so do the kidnappers. What happens to that missing woman – and separately to the other eighteen women is our story. And – it is a doozie of a story. We meet some of the most despicable characters you’ll ever read. They are cruel, unfeeling, selfish, and … well, you name it and if it is bad, they fit. With delight, we watch Ryan and his team methodically follow the leads and dismantle this human trafficking organization. We also witness horrible abuse – and a sad death for a boy I’d hope could be rescued and redeemed.

I definitely recommend this book – and this series. It is an exciting, fast-paced read that will keep you interested from the first page to the last. I read it straight through in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down – I had to know what happened next. I hope you’ll enjoy the book as much as I did.

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