Review

It would appear that Phoebe Pace and Andreas Merrick need each other desperately, although Andreas would never admit it. He’s been trying to get to her father, and she needs him to clear her family’s name. It could be such a beautiful friendship, if Andreas didn’t want to get as far away from Phoebe Pace as humanly possible. And once he does agree to help her, he’s fallen into a web of consequence and vulnerability from which he may never extricate himself.

Andreas is a fantastically complex hero. On one hand, he’s all hard lines and on the other hand, he’s soft edges. He’s a darker, more obtuse hero than in most historicals I’ve read. Not a duke or an earl, he’s unusual in station among historical heroes. Not particularly educated, not a soldier, not a benefactor. Instead, he’s something like a mercenary. And yet there’s something so unbelievably enticing about his character. I practically forgot what he did for a living, I was so engaged in seeing him fall in love with Phoebe. Meticulously and deliciously slow, that was.

And Phoebe, as a heroine, impresses me. She’s not unnaturally feisty in the way some romance novel heroines can be when writers are trying to make a statement about women’s rights or equality. But rather, she holds her own without appearing to hold her own. She’s a bit of a badass without needing to seem as such. In truth, she’s believable.

The plot was one I hadn’t seen before in a historical, which was refreshing, and between the excellence of the dialogue, historical detail, character development, and plot trajectory, I was hooked on this book and this author. I would easily recommend this to fans of historical romance, and I will likely be reading more of Anne Mallory in the future.

Reviewed by Camryn