Penny for Your Secrets (Verity Kent Mystery, #3) by Anna Lee Huber – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, England, France, historical, historical mystery, London, post-war, romance, The Great War

About Penny for Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber

The Great War may be over, but for many, there are still obstacles on the home front. Reconciling with her estranged husband makes Verity sympathetic to her friend Ada’s marital difficulties. Bourgeois-bred Ada, recently married to the Marquess of Rockham, is overwhelmed trying to navigate the ways of the aristocracy. And when Lord Rockham is discovered shot through the heart with a bullet from Ada’s revolver, Verity fears her friend has made a fatal blunder.

While striving to prove Ada’s innocence, Verity is called upon for another favor. The sister of a former Secret Service colleague has been killed in what authorities believe was a home invasion gone wrong. The victim’s war work—censoring letters sent by soldiers from the front—exposed her to sensitive, disturbing material. Verity begins to suspect these two unlikely cases may be linked. But as the connections deepen, the consequences—not just for Verity, but for Britain—grow more menacing than she could have imagined.

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Review of Penny for Your Secrets

Two deaths, a missing ship, British intelligence work, and possible rebellion close to home have Verity and Sidney Kent digging up clues, history and connections in order to find the truth. The constant flow of facts can be overwhelming, but the constant conjecture by Verity and Sidney have the reader following along with bated breath.

While mysteries are being investigated, Penny for Your Secrets shows us the developing relationship between the Verity and her husband Sidney, the returned war hero. They are, at times, very close and in sync and at other times, emotionally separated due to their own war experiences. This intriguing couple will continue to grow and make the series more than just a mystery series.

I dare you to read Penny for Your Secrets and not come away with a renewed understanding of that time in history. Like any of Ms. Huber’s historical mysteries, the details are meticulously researched and beautifully drawn in her depiction of post-World War I England. The post-war atmosphere is both carefree and tense. As a reader, it is easy to see how the Great War changed society forever.

You can read the books in this series as a standalones, but the experience is enhanced by starting at the beginning.  The Verity Kent Mystery series includes This Side of Murder, Treacherous is the Night and Penny for your Secrets. If you are a fan of historical mysteries, I recommend all three books!

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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The White Hornet (The Viper and the Urchin, #5) by Celine Jeanjean – Review

Tags

5 stars, Adventure, Book Review, Celine Jeanjean, favorite characters, favorite series, romance, Steampunk

About The White Hornet by Celine Jeanjean

A city of snow and wind.
A logistical nightmare when running a mission…
…or an opportunity to explore new sartorial delights?

Rory has faced many challenges in her time, but none quite so frustrating as mastering the art of walking in a corset and bustle.

She has to pass herself off as a wealthy heiress to infiltrate the House of Bel, a mysterious and highly exclu-sive club for Airnian high society, and of course her true identity must remain hidden at all costs.

Luckily, Longinus is on hand to advise—that is, when he’s not busy discovering the giddy delights of winter outerwear and investigating the mystery of what happened to his family.

But they soon become aware of a mysterious presence—someone paying disturbingly close attention to their every move.

Who or what is the White Hornet? What is the link to Longinus’s family?

And will Rory and the gang be able to infiltrate the House of Bel before the White Hornet uncovers their true identities?

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Review of The White Hornet

As I read the opening paragraph, I remembered the end of The Doll Maker, book 4 in this series. Longinus was left with a mission. Find out if what his evil sister told him is true – Mother is still alive.

Some events change a man’s life so definitively that everything becomes defined in relation to this one moment. Such a milestone divides all other points in one’s life into Before and After.

Reading this paragraph, I figured Longinus was about to do something incredibly brave, if not well thought out.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the Cape.

Ah yes, the author reminded me immediately that Longinus’ definition of words such as milestone do not necessarily match up to my definitions.  I few paragraphs later in that chapter, we find Rory being fitted out for a fine dress with corsets, ruffles and hoops.  She rebels as you would expect a confirmed street urchin to rebel. Not at all appreciative of the fine clothes.

And this is just one reason why I love this series so much! My favorite characters in all of steampunkdom – Longinus and Rory – are so amazing. Drawn in such delightful details and portrayed with emotion and enthusiasm, these two characters are the heart of the story.

In The White Hornet, Rory, Longinus, Rafe, Cruikshank and Adelma are far from home in the Airnian Empire. Their mission is to find out who is still an ally to Damsport. And while they are there, Longinus will be searching out the truth of his sister’s pronouncement. The goal is to get to the palace, but before they can do that, they will need to navigate the incredibly snobbish social network. This involves tracking down people that will help, pretending to be someone they are not and getting into all sorts of trouble.

The titular White Hornet is a spymaster who works for the Emperor. Unless she is working for herself. Enigmatic and doubtless dangerous, she seems to be tracking the Damsians, with a special interest in Longinus. Never knowing who the White Hornet is or why she is interested in our crew makes the mission all that more dangerous – and interesting.

Eventually Rory and Rafe connect with a man who seems to help them but also seems to hinder them. Rory and Rafe use him to get what they want. Sounds terrible doesn’t it. They use him. Simeon is a strange man with strange habits and seems to appear in their path at strange times. From the moment he appeared in the story, I felt he was important, but had no idea how he would play into that importance.

The slowly evolving romance between Rory and Rafe continues to grow.  Still slowly and still sweet, it is just the right amount to mix in with the wild adventures they are involved in.

Near the end, time is running out for our crew because their concocted identities will not last much longer. By the end of The White Hornet, they have been in many wild and precarious situations, each one getting them closer to their mission. But not all the way.

Now normally, a cliffhanger ending would have me steaming. I do not like cliffhangers.  But I was warned. 🙂 The blurb for this book ends with “Please note: this book has a cliffhanger ending. The next instalment will be out early 2020 if you’d rather wait until you can read both books together.”

The White Hornet is another non-stop adventure in the highly entertaining The Viper and the Urchin series. If you haven’t read the series, I highly recommend you do so now. 2020 is not that far off. You will want to be caught up when the next book arrives!

Thanks to the author who provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

(I think Capes are pretty awesome too!)

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Winter Wishes: A Regency Christmas Anthology by Many Authors (13) – Review

Tags

5 stars, Alina K. Field, Barbara Monajem, Book Review, Bree Wolf, Bronwen Evans, Cheryl Bolen, Collette Cameron, dogs, Donna Cummings, England, Heather Boyd, historical romance, Lana Williams, Regency, romance, Samantha Grace, Sasha Cottman, Scotland, Suzanna Medeiros, Wendy Vella

About Winter Wishes

For review purposes, I am reviewing my three favorites from the collection. Those three are:

A Yuletide Highlander by Collette Cameron: A gentlewoman afraid for her life and the Scottish warrior willing to risk all to protect her.

Must Love Majors by Samantha Grace: Lady Ambrosia Everly promised to select a husband by Christmas, but when Major Rowland ambushes her at her parents’ house party with a claim to the stray dog she rescued, love becomes a battlefield. Soon the lines between enemies and lovers are blurred, and Ambrosia is faced with a tough decision: follow her heart or marry a man of her parents’ choosing.

One Enchanted Christmas by Heather Boyd: When Lord Clement finds himself in a marriage wager, finding a woman to love in a scant few months seems impossible…until he rediscovers his best friend’s sister.

In this anthology, you will find stories by Cheryl Bolen, Bronwen Evans, Lana Williams, Bree Wolf, Collette Cameron, Heather Boyd, Sasha Cottman, Samantha Grace, Donna Cummings, Barbara Monajem, Suzanna Medeiros, Wendy Vella, and Alina K. Field. For a more complete listing of story synopsis, go to Goodreads.

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Review of Winter Wishes

Winters Wishes is for romance lovers, no matter what time of the year it is. All the stories are set in the Regency period around Christmastime. Most, but not all, take place in England which you might imagine with a Regency setting. Travel to country houses, weather stranding travelers, mistletoe and family gatherings can be expected.

For my review, I am picking my three favorite stories.

Review of A Yuletide Highlander by Collette Cameron

Ms. Cameron’s story was my favorite in the collection. While most of the stories were lovely simple romances, A Yuletide Highlander mixed in a bit of danger and adventure. And a young child. And Dachshunds. Don’t let the term Highlander fool you. This story takes place in England with a Scottish man as a main character.

Sarah and Gregor meet when, being hunted by pirates, Sarah seeks refuge in Gregor’s place of work. Gregor immediately feels the need to help her even if he does not know all the facts. He does, however, have a sense that it is the right thing to do. Sarah has a young brother who is also being chased by the pirates so Gregor gives them both a place of refuge. The story follow’s Sarah attempting to connect with her Grandmother while Gregor ferrets out the bad guys in order to put them in her place. The characters were charming (except the pirates) and the road to the happily ever after was both exciting and romantic.

Review of Must Love Majors by Samantha Grace

This is the second story in the anthology where a love of dogs was a part of the story. In this case, Ambrosia rescued a dog, Mr. Perkins, that belonged to a man that was serving in the Army. Upon Phillip’s his return to England, he demands she give the dog, Orion, back. Yes, the poor dog has two different names and two different people who he loves. I felt sorry for the poor puppy, having to choose like that.

Or does he have to choose? Ambrosia, according to her parents, must marry. And soon. When Phillip’s arrival at Ambrosia’s home coincides with her parent’s holiday party meant to help Ambrosia choose her future husband, all sorts of untoward things might happen.

Must Love Majors is such a fun story. One of those where the reader knows exactly what needs to happen, but the characters take a while to figure it out.

Review of One Enchanted Christmas by Heather Boyd

As far Meg or Otis can remember, neither of them had made much of a good impression on the other when they were younger. And then they meet again years later. Seems growing up has improved both of them.

Meg’s brother wants her wed and out of his house as soon as possible. Otis and his father are not on good terms and Otis wants his family away from his father. So he agrees to wed within 3 months in order to make that happen. Such loving brothers and fathers. Hmmph. Meg and Otis are both in a situation they would do anything to get out of.

An unwanted prospective bride, a dreadful book, conniving brother and father, cute little sisters and a snowball fight all help Otis and Meg figure out what they want. Is it each other? What do you think?!

Many of the stories in this collection seem to be tied to series. If you know the series, you will like the feeling of familiarity. If you don’t, you might wonder why so many characters with tiny roles seem to be important to the heroine or hero. For those that I don’t follow, I never felt I was missing anything though.

This anthology is a delightful collection of romances that are sure to warm your heart. 13 authors with 13 lovely stories, each of which can be read in an hour or less. Winter Wishes is perfect for historical romance readers who need a break during the hectic yuletide season.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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