Danger makes the heart grow fonder…
Miss Philippa Wilson makes the best of a bad situation. Her lot in life isn’t what she’d choose, but being an upstairs maid for a wealthy baron is better than living on the streets. Little does she know her lackluster days are about to become decidedly more interesting…and dangerous. When a madman wants Philippa dead, it’s going to take more than the plan of her good-hearted employer to save her and find out why she’s being targeted. It’s going to take a hero…or maybe a rogue.
Beauregard Boudreaux is a notorious rogue, living uneventful days and terribly scandalous nights with little thought to settling down. He needs nothing more than a strong drink, a beautiful mistress, and a spirited card game to be happy…When he intervenes to rescue a friend’s upstairs maid from a killer, he’s drawn into a game of cat and mouse with the maid used as bait to draw out the killer. But the more time Beau spends with Philippa as her protector, the more he has an irresistible attraction to this mysterious woman. He also can’t shake the feeling that he’s seen her somewhere before.
But Beau has lost too much in life to risk being hurt again. He can’t let himself fall in love, not even with the temptation Philippa presents to him.
And bloody hell, she is oh-so tempting…
Quarter Finalist
Plot/Idea: 10 out of 10
Originality: 10 out of 10
Prose: 10 out of 10
Character/Execution: 10 out of 10
Overall: 10.00 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot: Lauren Smith flirts with the trope of mixed signals and a man filled with hesitation, when approaching affectionate feelings. The book manages to prolong this tension until its final pages, forcing readers to succumb to the author’s inventions. It has all of the qualities expected from a romance novel: maddening conflicts, charismatic characters, and a love that wreaks an undeniable giddiness.
Prose/Style: The prose is delicate in nature without being bogged down by uppity or verbose language that is commonly mistaken in old English accents. The author’s execution and thoughtfulness with her tone makes the book pleasing to modern ears.
Originality: The genre of historical romance is saturated with women brandished in luxury, but Smith’s heroine fashions an internal richness that triumphs any love based on social class. Her story is one of two beings falling for each other’s' souls and not simply their bodies.
Character Development/Execution: Every character in this book, excluding the villains Alistair Sommers and Cornelius Selkirk, are self-effacing yet gallant. The author writes her characters with a doting air that expresses their modesty and vulnerability. Readers cannot help but sympathize with them, root for them, and praise their successes.
Blurb: This is a book that delights in an emotional panorama of timidity, spirit, and desire.
Date Submitted: May 06, 2021
