eyes.2c Reviews

Undressed with the Marquess (Lost Lords of London #3 ) by Christi Caldwell     ***** This final in the Lost Lord's series not only grabbed my attention, it stormed my heart. Darius (Dare) Grey's story is mostly seen through his childhood friend from the Rookeries eyes, Temperance Swift. The opening scenes, as the character of Dare is set, has all the hallmark of a fantastic thriller. A Robin Hood character who robs from the rich to feed the poor. I was there! His story is almost over before it begins.  And Temperance! As the story progresses who Temperance is and the burdens she carries unfold. Dare's story, which is partly Temprance's, is a memorable addition that goes to the heart. A Montlake ARC via NetGalley 

The Canterbury Murders (A Stanton and Barling Mystery #3) by E.M. Powell   **** It's Easter, 1711 and Aelred Barling has a personal and exacting challenge metered out from his confessor--to make a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Our dour King's clerk has a deep, dark secret that pulls him down. He takes Hugo Stanton with him. Stanton of course is looking forward to the rumoured delights that abound on the pilgrimage trail but is foiled by the more moderate stops that the sanctimonious Barling chooses, much to Stanton's bitter chagrin. After a penitent and bloody approach to the Cathederal, Barling is in line on the steps, almost through the door, ready to complete his task, yearning for the spiritual relief this will give him, when he's hauled out of the line at the King Henry II's request to support no lesser a powerful being, than Richard, Archbishop of Canterbury.  Murder has taken place and Barling is called upon to investigate. As the killings escalate he and Stanto...

Loved by the Lyon (The Lyon's Den) by Collette Cameron     *** Our hero needs an heiress, the heiress needs a hero. Ye old 'marriage of convenience' trope works nicely here. Vanessa Becket makes her way to the Lyon's Den looking to find out if her despicable step brother, Owen Elligon, has stolen her sapphire heirloom brooch for a gambling stake in this gambling hell. Kingston Barclay, heir to a dukedom has made an appointment with the Black Widow of Whitehall to broker an arranged marriage to ensure funds to provide for his siblings and put his estate in order. Barclay was injured in an explosion during the Battle of Waterloo that killed his best friend, and Vanessa's brother Gabriel. His survivor's guilt has frozen him into inaction with regards his responsibilities. I don't need to go any further, I'm sure you can read between the lines. There are challenges and some altogether too knowing glances from the younger Barclay sisters. A pleasant short re...

The Formidable Earl (Diamonds In The Rough #6) by Sophie Barnes      *** So an upright, uptight Earl, Simon Nugent, Earl of Fielding, meets his nemesis in the form of Ida Strong. The daughter of a condemned traitor, Ida has one aim, to find justice for her dead father. Simon had a hand in that, and his regrets about that incident haunts him. I couldn't help but lock into that Sinatra line 'Regrets I've had a few!'  Out of the blue, discovering Ida hiding in a brothel shocks him. Now comes a time to help Ida, but unknown threats around Ida's commitment to learning the truth hamper any growing feelings Simon might have for her. An ARC from the author via NetGalley 

A Scandalous Bargain (The Untouchables: The Pretenders #2)   by Darcy Burke    **** From being left in an upper class girls' boarding school upon the death of her mother, where she was mercilessly bullied, eventually running away preferring life on the streets, and from thence to the top echelons of society, illegitimate daughter of a Duke, Beatrix Linley has just one wish. To make contact with her father the Duke of Ramsgate, of whom she has rosy memories. Beatrix yearns to be accepted and acknowledged as part of the family, albeit quietly. Which goes in part to explain why she was sitting in a tree in the grounds belonging to Thomas Devereaux, Lord Rockbourne, disguised as a youth. Beatrix spends her nights climbing this tree dressed in men's clothing in order to spy on her father. Only this night her gaze is caught by an argument between Rockbourne and his wife that ends in tragedy. So Beatrix is a witness to what went on, something that becomes a both a blessing and a...

Virginia and the Wolf (Society of Single Ladies #3) by Lynne Connolly    **** A delectable widow tied up in knots by her late husband, bound to him as surely as if he were still alive. Virginia, Lady Dulverton's husband Ralph had been a much older man than she, a  wounded hero. Now he's reaching from beyond the grave to continue to control her as effectively as she'd been controlled before his death. Firstly by her parents, then by her husband--not only in life but also for in death! Ralph's will meant that her life was to be confined to setting up orphanages. Any future marriage could only be taken after ten years, otherwise she'd loose everything. Virginia is as just as much a captive to the man now as she has been during his lifetime. As a member of the Society of Single Ladies, Virginia is stubbornly determined to cling to her independence as an oyster clings to a rocky outcrop. Francis, Earl of Wolverley (Wolf) had loved her from afar since he first caught sigh...

Married to the Rogue  (Season of Scandal #3) by Mary Lancaster    **** Dark doings and tricked Regency ladies-in-waiting of the Princess of Wales leaves some of their number, including Deborah Shelby, returning to her home under a cloud. Hoping to ride out the gossip and scandal caused by the unfortunate happenings of their small number ending up unchaperoned at a house party that devolved into an orgy down below as the ladies stayed behind locked doors until able to leave in the morning (how does a royal lady leave some of her ladies in a compromising position btw??) Deborah is now returned home trying to keep a low profile, and as it turns out not to upset her younger sister's marriage prospects to a local Earl's son. Christopher Halland, heir to a property nearby rides out in a temper to work off his anger against his grandfather who refuses to release his fortune to him before the given time time unless he marries. A confrontation between the two after nearly riding ...

The Lady Brewer of London  by Karen Brooks     ***** The struggles of a young woman who must try to forge a new way of life when her wealthy merchant father's ship is lost.  1405 and Anneke Sheldrake finds herself destitute, the house and livelihood she took for granted gone. How to provide for her family and restore their fortunes? Her mother's people had been Brewers from Flanders. With the help of her recipe book (and the crones who whisper in the brewing commencement) Anneke forges ahead to be come a female brewer. Her successes has her come under siege from rivals, and her father's aristocratic employer,    with whom she'd struck a deal in her endeavours to come around. Their are deep secrets at play here. This wonderful medieval story set in the latter days of King Henry IV has everything. Women clawing their way back from tragedy, unlooked for alliances, acceptance and prejudices, and fighting authorities. Compassion and weaknesses are turned into st...

Gentleman Jim: A Tale of Romance and Revenge   by Mimi Matthews     ***** I found myself enchanted by the delicate yet determined Margaret Honeywell from wealthy landed gentry stock and the wonderful John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare. As St. Clare reflects, "a shapely scrap of femininity—altogether too weak and frail." He'd had an overpowering urge to protect her. A tale of lost love, of lost identity and an eventual HEA Victorian romance to be reckoned with. We begin with an illegitimate stable boy, rumoured son of highway rogue Gentleman Jim,  Seaton and a young mistress of the house separated by the dastardly  accusations of a jealous youthful neighbor, Frederick Burton-Smythe. That neighbor grows into the bully he already was, placed by her father's will as Maggie's guardian. Determined to marry her, Smythe makes her life miserable and then St .Clare arrives in London from the continent, a man in whom Maggie sees a whisper of her beloved youthful companion...

A Duchess a Day (Awakened by a Kiss #1)   by Charis  Michaels    ***** A fanciful Regency romance cleverly using the Snow White tradition as the organizing motif to give us a wonderfully witty romance. This fractured regency fairytale has a skew of cleverly inserted identifiable parts. Lady Helena Lark has been evading her arranged marriage to the Duke of Lusk for years, using more outrageously creative attempts as time moves on. Declan Shaw, a mercenary dubbed “The Huntsman” languishing in Newgate prison is released on the condition that he will guard Helena and prevent her from escaping her upcoming nuptials. Helena has other ideas. Declan is faced with a rather different challenge. Guarding this astonishing woman is a test in more ways than one. His amazement as Helena plots with all the confidence and ability of the best of spies equals my delight at Helena's capabilities. Helena plans to introduce alternative candidates to Lusk as part of her campaign. Her seven...

Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March     ***** I don't know why I'm so enamored with historical fiction/mysteries set particularly in the Indian subcontinent. But I am totally hooked! Amidst the Indian struggles for Independence, the influence of the East India Company and the results of British rule, there's much to set as a background that beckons. In this mystery, placed mostly in Bombay (now Mumbai) of 1892, an injured illegitimate Eurasian soldier formerly of the Fourteenth Light Dragoons, until recently stationed in Burma and the Northwest Frontier, Captain James Agnihotri, is recovering from terrible injuries incurred in Karachi. James reads a newspaper report about the suicides of two young women and decides there are too many loose ends. He's particularly struck by a letter to the editor written by the husband of one of the women. The young man proclaims, "They are gone but I remain."  Sentiments of grief James can relate to, particularly after Karachi....

A Christmas Resolution (Christmas Stories #18)   by Anne Perry       ***** Somehow Perry's Christmas stories always undo me. A Christmas Resolution does exactly that. Set in Victorian London in 1872, this year's tale centers around John    Hooper, a senior officer in the Thames River Police, and his lovely wife Celia who are drawn into unpleasantness in their church circle. Celia's best friend Clemintine is going to marry Seth Marlowe.    A rigid man. An unforgiving man whose former wife committed suicide and whose daughter ran from him. Indeed Seth maight have been an emotionally depleted Scrooge. When Seth roughly confronts Celia and orders her to have nothing to do with Clemantine, Celia is thrown into indignation and confusion. It turns out that Seth thinks Celia has threatened him with poisoned letters. Hooper is consumed by a cold anger and a determination to find out more about Seth and what he is frightened about, particularly after his tr...

Tall, Duke, and Dangerous (Hazards of Dukes #2) by Megan Frampton    **** Nash, the “dangerous” Duke of Malvern, silent behemoth from a young boy, fearful of his father and then fearful of becoming like his father, takes his duties seriously. Against his better wishes and at his grandmother's urging Nash decides he needs an heir. Ana Maria, glass half full, determined young woman, in true Cinderella fashion finds herself having to learn to be a lady, and not a servant. When her behavior has her half-brother deciding that lessons in self defense are needed, and that Nash is the very man, that's when both Nash and Ana's lives become slightly unhinged and way more interesting. A fun read that had me laughing and exclaiming. In fact I'm going back to read the first in this series. A HarperCollins ARC via NetGalley 

Pinot Noir: A World War II Novel by Mads Molnar III       **** The Nazis have invaded France and are picking over the spoils. An Alsace winemaker has poisoned twelve of his fabulous Pinot noir wines and gifted them to the Nazi commander, Colonel Riffel,  as his cellar is being raided. Riffel in turn gifts them to high ranking officers with whom he wants to curry favor, Generalleutnant Troy Bastick. Bastic. Bastic then gives a bottle to eleven other elite officers. After a fatal death, Mads Molnar, a German psychologist-turned detective, is requested (well that's the polite word for it) by the Gestapo to recover the bottles. Meanwile Mads is trying to gain his exit papers to Sweden. However the Arrow Cross—Hungary’s fascist party, wants him dead. Mads agrees to roundup the bottles for Riffel  in return for a pardon and an exit visit.  Hot on his trail is Wolfram Bastick, son of the Generalleutnant, a brutal German detective who is bent on vengeance. The act...

Consolation (Paul Hirschhause #3) by Garry Disher        ***** First up I've been a Garry Disher fan forever.  This third tale of a country / outback cop in Tiverton, South Australia near Flinders Ranges and Wilpena Pound (fabulous country) is taut and vivid. Constable Paul Hirschhausen or rather Hirsch could be a small town cop anywhere where spaces are wide and open, from Canada to the US. The play between the big city cops and the homegrown patrols who know their charges and the lay of the land are brilliantly depicted. The people are familiar. I loved Hirsch's concern for the elderly helping them in small and big ways. Concerned that the elderly females are being targeted by a snowdropper. I didn't know what this meant until now. Being nice sometimes doesn't pay off. Suddenly Hirsch becomes the target for a stalker. So there's  a lot happening here, all more or less connected. Plenty of drama, downplayed and yet it smacks you in the face as large as li...