*I received a free ARC via Netgalley
in exchange of an honest review*
First, I wanted to love this book. I
have just read a contemporary by Brenda Kovak and I thought I was
going to love this book. I did like, but not love it. I liked
that the heroine and hero meet at the very beginning. I don't long
and drawn out stories. I also thought that they had instant
chemistry. Here comes the but... but... it fell flat in the middle.
We begin the story with Earl of
Druridge-Truman receiving a letter from his wife-Lady Katherine
explaining that she is pregnant, it is instantly obvious that child
is not his because he has been away from his wife and she has a
history of infidelity. There is a fire and she dies.
The story moves fast-forwards as Truman
is trying to find out who set the fire and also who took paintings
that belonged to his home. Rachel McTavishes becomes involved
because her father is a prime suspect. Truman goes to Rachel's
bookstore to question her about what she knows about the fire, and
his wife's death. Rachel, although a poor village girl is well-read,
very smart,strong and beautiful. She has no difficulty standing up
to Truman. She does not like Truman because her father and mother
think ill of him. He owns the mines where Rachel's father use to
work before he is fired for drinking on the job. When the story
begins her father is already dead and her mother follows.
Truman has a cousin- Wythe who plays
the part of the villain even though he is the one to rescue Truman
from the fire. He is a pretty straightforward bad guy although he is
always working to gain his cousins trust.
Truman's life is complicated by the
miners, who are also neighbors with Rachel. As her and Truman become
involved they turn on her. This is where the story becomes very
laborious for me. I've noticed that there were very few good-”guys”
in this story. All the villages turn on Rachel because she becomes
involved with Truman. She is left with no parents, no friends and a
little brother to care for. Truman offers her a place to stay and
she can not refuse after several times of trying to make it on her
own.
Katherine’s family is threatening to
hang Truman because they believe that he is responsible for the death
of Katherine and his wife. A father of Truman offers up his
protection and daughter in marriage. They are his only hope, that or
figuring out who set the fire.
The whole premise of the story becomes
Rachel and Truman trying to find out who set the fire, pushing
misunderstandings behind them and Rachel going back and forth from
Blackmoore Castle-Trumans home- and her old village.
Ultimately, all the pieces of the
puzzle fall together and we find out who set the fire and why-neither
were a big surprise.
Here are my concerns: although Rachel
starts off strong she is ultimately relying on Truman for help.
There are too many villains. The cover, although beautiful, does not
represent the heroine -she is blond. Overall, this was an enjoyable
historical romance but nothing that I would be interested in
re-reading. If you like intrigue, mystery and who-dun-it this is the
book for you.
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