Tag: @KensingtonBooks

Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Interwar Period (Nov 1918 - Sep 1939)Leave a comment

Treacherous Is the Night (Verity Kent, #2)Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Verity Kent #2
Publication Date: 9/25/18

This is a captivating, suspenseful and beautifully written tale set in the aftermath of WWI. It moves quickly and is filled with twists and turns. There is so much rich period detail that is so well done that you feel as if you are there. This author does a lot of research and I always learn something new when I read her work. The characters are so well written that you would like to introduce yourself and make them your friend. I particularly like Max and can’t wait for him to get his HEA. Once I began my read, I couldn’t put it down!

If you read the first book in the series, This Side of Murder, you saw Verity’s reaction to a séance. So, just imagine her reaction when her best friend, Daphne, asks her to attend a séance with her. Verity did her best to decline the request, but Daphne is a very persuasive lady, and Verity ends up at the séance. Two big surprises await her there – (1) is the fact that Max is attending with his aunt and (2) the medium ‘channels’ one of Verity’s contacts from her days as an operative during the war. Verity doesn’t believe for a minute that the reading is true, but how could that medium possibly know about Emelie. Verity is very shaken when she leaves the séance – and even more shaken when she returns to the medium’s home the next morning to find the house burning and the medium dead.

Verity immediately begins to dig into the matter and finds a trail of breadcrumbs. As she and Sidney follow them, the danger increases. They leave England and head across the channel to some of the more horrific scenes of the war – and to the areas where Verity spent a lot of time acting for the crown. The crumbs are sparse and it takes Verity a lot of effort to follow them and find the solution to the mystery – and the madman at the end of the journey.

With the backdrop of the mystery and its solution, Verity and Sidney are still trying to figure out how to make their marriage work. Their fifth anniversary is approaching, but they’ve not spent more than a couple of months of that time together. Sidney was shipped off the war three days after they married and he had very few leaves where he could come home. Then, the unthinkable happened – Sidney died – and Verity went into deep, deep mourning for him. She didn’t care whether she lived or died and she took some big risks – some of them in her spying. She is keeping secrets from Sidney and until they clear the air, they’ll never come together. She’s afraid he’ll hate her if she tells him all. So, it is really nice to see them forgive each other and get back to that love you just knew they always had for each other. Although – I still think Sidney got off a bit easy for what he put her through. All in all, I loved the character development between Verity and Sidney and Verity’s struggle with reconciling her wartime work and settling into a normal life.

I loved the mystery with Emelie because it was really well done and kept me guessing until the end. There are just so many things that I loved about this book that there is no way I can mention all of them here. I can say, however, if you want to be thoroughly entertained and learn something in the process, this book is for you! I can hardly wait for their next adventure!

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

Dauntless by Lynne Connolly

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837)1 Comment

Dauntless (The Shaws, #2)Dauntless by Lynne Connolly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Shaws #2
Publication Date: 6/26/18

If you love historical accuracy rather than historical fantasy, then you might want to try this author. The Shaws is a spin-off series from The Emperors of London series and while it doesn’t have the panache and excitement of the Emperors, it is still a very good series and is very well done. I wonder if the difference might be that this series is missing the over-arching theme that was present in Emperors.

Lady Drusilla Shaw isn’t shy, but she is a bit of an introvert and at five and twenty, she is pretty much on-the-shelf. Her parents have told her that this is the last season they will actively support her on the marriage mart. She must either choose from one of the suitors who has asked to court her or become a full-fledged spinster. Dru isn’t excited about any of the candidates on the list, but she has sorta-kinda resigned herself to choose among the suitors on her mother’s list. Then, she has a dance with Oliver and is entranced – until he turns and leaves her mid-dance at her aunt’s ball. She’s not entranced any longer – she dislikes him thoroughly. How does she display that anger? Well, Dru is a bit of a writer – not for publication, but for her own enjoyment. So, she writes a story with Oliver as the villain. Her vivid imagination invents some scenarios that hit too close to the reality in Oliver’s life.

Oliver, Duke of Mountsorrel, is being pressured by his mother to marry and, to be honest, he feels that he needs to marry as well. He needs to produce an heir since his brother is unable to step into that role should the need arise. So, while he is in London on other business, he will just find himself a bride. His plan? Well, he’ll attend balls and dance with all of the debutants until he decides on one. Then, he dances with one of the older unmarried ladies and finds himself enchanted – until – she teasingly starts throwing out potential answers to a question. Some of those answers are dreadfully close to his real life and his anger flares. He spins around and walks off the dance floor leaving her standing.

Oliver comes by Dru’s home the following morning to apologize and he’s even more entranced by her. Then, accidents start to happen to them. Their curricle crashes and it could have killed them both – then a horse with a stone that could have thrown Dru and caused her harm. What is behind all of these accidents? Who would want to harm Dru? Or, is it Oliver who is the target? Well – the answer is that there is a real snake-in-the-grass with a deadly plot and you’ll just have to read the book to find out who it is and why they are doing it.

The reason that this is my least favorite of the Shaws/Emperor’s series is that the characters are both pretty milquetoast. I loved them, but neither of them was an alpha. Each of them gets intensely angry at times, but neither of them really does anything about it. He just gives her the cold shoulder and she writes nasty things about him in a story. Neither of those solves anything. They don’t talk. If either of them had talked to the other or even to someone else, most of the problems could have been smoothed over. Also, both of them are perfectly willing to believe the worst of the other with absolutely no evidence. She is too easily the ‘poor pitiful me’, wallow in self-pity type and he is not one who takes the bull by the horns, stands up for himself and Dru, and solves whatever issues they have. While Beta heroes can be wonderful and interesting leads if done well, Oliver seems to have missed the mark just a bit.

All-in-all this was a lovely read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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