Volatile! Riveting!
Night of the Scoundrel (The Devils of Dover #3.5)
by Kelly Bowen
King, "Lord of London's underworld," always enigmatic and aloof. Dangerous!
I felt King's story was going to be something special, I knew this was going to be a five star read before I'd reached the end of the first page.
King witnesses a fight in a darkened alleyway between three ruffians and a mysterious angel with a rapier and a knife. He is both disturbed and intrigued, "He might not know who this woman was, but he knew what she was—one who understood what lurked in the dark corners of the soul. Like recognized like, after all."
What follows is a story that reaches into the depth of King's dark corners, exposing who he is and matches him with a stunning partner grown from similar hidden places.
Adeline Archambault sees in King something that causes her to stumble, to be wary. He is "predatory and remote. Piercing and impenetrable."
In her line of work Adeline uses the nom de plume "Adrestia ... ‘the inescapable.’ Goddess of retribution and vengeance.” Adeline prefers the notion of "justice."
She infiltrates King's annual art and valuables auction at his home Helmsdale House, breaking into his study in search for a specific jewel. All to do with justice! Of course King is present, standing silently in the shadows in his omnipotent manner.
A standout vignette is King and Adeline's discussion of Caravaggio's Judith. In fact the more I think about that discussion, the ramifications, the understandings drawn from the painting, the more I am awed by the way Bowen uses that work to give leverage to the tensions and understandings between King and Adeline. A discussion that heightens the aloneness that is part of both these coldly capable people whose surface personas cover volcanic depths. This is a fulcrum moment in this fabulously well written taut novella. Everything pivots. The earth moves.
It follows that the initial sexual congress between King and Adeline would be supercharged with promise and longing. After all, "like recognizes like."
When these two join forces the result is explosive. Secrets are revealed, yet the sky doesn't fall Chicken Little.
What can I say, only that the story of these two Marvel type anti heroes, dangerous and decisive, honorable and astute, combining smoking hot sexuality with tenderness and loss is absolutely captivating.
This novella packs so much punch that the length is irrelevant. The story reigns supreme.
A Forever (Grand Central Publishing ARC via NetGalley
*****
by Kelly Bowen
I felt King's story was going to be something special, I knew this was going to be a five star read before I'd reached the end of the first page.
King witnesses a fight in a darkened alleyway between three ruffians and a mysterious angel with a rapier and a knife. He is both disturbed and intrigued, "He might not know who this woman was, but he knew what she was—one who understood what lurked in the dark corners of the soul. Like recognized like, after all."
What follows is a story that reaches into the depth of King's dark corners, exposing who he is and matches him with a stunning partner grown from similar hidden places.
Adeline Archambault sees in King something that causes her to stumble, to be wary. He is "predatory and remote. Piercing and impenetrable."
In her line of work Adeline uses the nom de plume "Adrestia ... ‘the inescapable.’ Goddess of retribution and vengeance.” Adeline prefers the notion of "justice."
She infiltrates King's annual art and valuables auction at his home Helmsdale House, breaking into his study in search for a specific jewel. All to do with justice! Of course King is present, standing silently in the shadows in his omnipotent manner.
A standout vignette is King and Adeline's discussion of Caravaggio's Judith. In fact the more I think about that discussion, the ramifications, the understandings drawn from the painting, the more I am awed by the way Bowen uses that work to give leverage to the tensions and understandings between King and Adeline. A discussion that heightens the aloneness that is part of both these coldly capable people whose surface personas cover volcanic depths. This is a fulcrum moment in this fabulously well written taut novella. Everything pivots. The earth moves.
It follows that the initial sexual congress between King and Adeline would be supercharged with promise and longing. After all, "like recognizes like."
When these two join forces the result is explosive. Secrets are revealed, yet the sky doesn't fall Chicken Little.
What can I say, only that the story of these two Marvel type anti heroes, dangerous and decisive, honorable and astute, combining smoking hot sexuality with tenderness and loss is absolutely captivating.
This novella packs so much punch that the length is irrelevant. The story reigns supreme.
A Forever (Grand Central Publishing ARC via NetGalley
*****
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