Genre: Romance

Setting: London in the 1970s

POV: 1st Person

Sensuality: Warm

Violence: No

Format: Digital

My Grade: B+

In my last post, I mentioned my delight at discovering Jilly Cooper’s old romances are now available digitally. She wrote six stand alone romance novels in the Seventies, as well as a book of romantic short stories. I inhaled them when I first read them back in the early Nineties, even though they were already dated by that time, and contain more than a few tropes which would cause outrage were they to appear in a new release. I bought digital copies of Octavia and Prudence to see if they lived up to my fond memories, and read Octavia in one sitting yesterday evening. It is still that good.

Octavia is spoilt, rich and beautiful. After the Second World War, Octavia’s grandfather and an army friend formed an electrical company. The business was a success, and  Octavia and her brother, Xander, live a life of luxury on the proceeds. Apart from the odd modelling job, Octavia has never worked. She drifts through life, shopping, partying, and stealing other women’s men.

At the beginning of the story, Octavia is in a nightclub with her latest catch. She’s already bored with him, and looking around for fresh prey. She’s stunned when an old classmate arrives with her new fiancé, the handsome poet, Jeremy. Gussie, in contrast, is exactly as she was in school: plain, overweight, and badly dressed. Octavia can’t believe Jeremy is truly in love with Gussie, and decides he’s only after Gussie’s fortune. She figures she’d be doing Gussie a favour by seducing Jeremy.

Gussie is delighted to reconnect with Octavia, and soon invites her to join them on a boating holiday. The fourth member of the group is a friend of Jeremy’s, an entrepreneur called Gareth. Octavia immediately dismisses him as being beneath her notice. He’s coarse, speaks with a strong Welsh accent, and comes from a long line of miners. Gareth also takes an instant dislike to Octavia. He sees through her scheme to seduce Jeremy, and is determined to thwart her plans. Gareth has his reasons for hating Octavia, but we don’t discover them until the last third of the book.

In the first part of the story, Octavia is a total bitch. She’s amusing, but utterly selfish. She doesn’t care who she hurts as long as she gets her way. In the second half of the book, Octavia’s life takes an unexpected turn. She finds herself penniless, friendless, and in desperate need of a job. At twenty-six, she’s considered too old to model, and she’s not qualified to do much else. She’s fired from a succession of jobs before she learns to be a semi-reliable employee. Given her behaviour in the first part of the story, it’s entertaining to watch her descent. Jilly Cooper loves to make her heroines suffer before giving them their HEA, and she certainly puts Octavia through the wringer.

Gareth is a good match for Octavia. He sees through her artifice and exposes her vulnerabilities. While he’s not an alpha hero in the Harlequin Presents sense, he definitely errs on the side of machoism. Plus this book was written in the Seventies, so there are a few incidents which would be considered unacceptable in a newer romance. In one scene, for example, Gareth spanks Octavia after she humiliates Gussie. There are also a few racist comments, gay jokes, and casual references to drink-driving.

Despite the book being very much of its time, I enjoyed re-reading it. Octavia warmed on me as the story progressed, and it’s filled with Jilly Cooper’s trademark humour. There are a couple of interesting secondary storylines, including one about Octavia’s gay brother who is unhappily married to his boss’s daughter. I plan to re-read all six books.

Ah, the joys of digital reading. When I’m not feeling my blood pressure rise due to geographical restrictions, ridiculous prices and incompatible formats, there is a lot to be said in favour of ebooks.

On Christmas Day, I couldn’t decide what to read. None of the books in my mountainous print TBR pile appealed to me, nor did any in my rapidly increasing digital TBR. I was in the mood for something different. I remembered GrowlyCub mentioning Linnea Sinclair’s Science Fiction Romances recently and I thought I might try one. A few minutes later, the first two books in Linnea Sinclair’s Dock Five Universe series were on my BeBook.

I’m focusing on the first two books in the series in this post. Both are in the 1st Person told from the point of view of the heroine.

The first book is called Gabriel’s Ghost.

Blurb: After a decade of cruising interstellar patrol ships, former Captain Chasidah Bergren, onetime Pride of the Sixth Fleet, finds herself court-martialed for a crime she didn’t commit—and shipped off to a remote prison planet from which no one ever escapes. But when she kills a brutal guard in an act of self-defense, someone even more dangerous emerges from the shadows.

Gabriel Sullivan—alpha mercenary, smuggler, and rogue—is supposed to be dead. Yet now this seductive ghost from Chaz’s past is offering her a ticket to freedom—for a price. Someone in the Empire is secretly breeding jukors: vicious and uncontrollable killing machines that have long been outlawed. Gabriel needs Chaz to help him stop the practice before it decimates imperial space. For Chaz, it’s a matter of survival. For Sully it means facing the truth about who—and what—he really is. The mission means putting their lives on the line—but the tensions that heat up between them may be the riskiest part of all.

My Thoughts: I don’t read much Science Fiction. In fact, I can list the number of SciFi books I’d read before starting this series on the fingers of one hand and still have a couple to spare. I can’t say how fans of traditional SciFi would react to this series, but I found Gabriel’s Ghost to be a fun, action-packed read with memorable characters. The world Sinclair creates is accessible and I didn’t find myself getting confused between the various alien races and futuristic gadgets. I liked Chaz a lot, but I had a few reservations about Sully. Despite not feeling fully engaged with Sully, I enjoyed this book and I read it in one sitting. B

Shades of Dark is the sequel to Gabriel’s Ghost. It continues Chaz and Sully’s story.

Blurb: Before her court-martial, Captain Chasidah “Chaz” Bergren was the pride of the Sixth Fleet. Now she’s a fugitive from the “justice” of a corrupt Empire. Along with her lover, the former monk, mercenary, and telepath Gabriel Ross Sullivan, Chaz hoped to leave the past light-years behind—until the news of her brother Thad’s arrest and upcoming execution for treason. It’s a ploy by Sully’s cousin Hayden Burke to force them out of hiding and it works.

With a killer targeting human females and a renegade gen lab breeding jukor war machines, Chaz and Sully already had their hands full of treachery, betrayal—not to mention each other. Throw in Chaz’s Imperial ex-husband, Admiral Philip Guthrie, and a Kyi-Ragkiril mentor out to seduce Sully and not just loyalties but lives are at stake. For when Sully makes a fateful choice changing their relationship forever, Chaz must also choose—between what duty demands and what her heart tells her she must do.

My Thoughts: This is a strong sequel to Gabriel’s Ghost. The war heats up and new characters are introduced. Unfortunately, there is an incident towards the end of the book which upset me and turned my already ambivalent feelings towards Sully into outright dislike. Despite this, the storyline of this book is better than its predecessor and I loved getting to know Philip better. Even if the romance was less successful for me than the plot, I finished Shades of Dark in one evening and immediately purchased the rest of Linnea Sinclair’s backlist. B

Have you read any of Linnea Sinclair’s books? Can you recommend any other Science Fiction Romance authors/books?

Genre: Mystery

Setting: Bear Butte, South Dakota

Series: Book Two of the Julie Collins Mysteries

POV: 1st Person (Julie narrates)

Sensuality: Warm

Violence: Yes

Format: Digital

My Grade: A-

Hallowed Ground is the second book in the Julie Collins mystery series by Lori Armstrong. I read it over two nights and spent the second day cursing because I wanted it to be evening already so I could finish the book. It’s that good. I can’t believe this author isn’t better known.

At the start of Hallowed Ground, Julie Collins is running her best friend Kevin Wells’ P.I. business alone while Kevin deals with some personal issues. The past few months have been pretty uneventful. Most of the cases Julie’s been dealing with are fairly mundane. This all changes when Tony Martinez, the charismatic president of the local Hombres motorcycle “club”, pays her a call. Tony wants to hire Julie to find the niece of Harvey, Tony’s right hand man. Chloe was snatched by her father, who belongs to a Native American tribe, and they’ve been unable to track them down. Initially, Julie is reluctant to take on the case. She and Tony have been dancing around each other for months. Despite Julie’s unfortunate taste in men, even she is hesitant to start a relationship with a known gangster. But Julie is a sucker for kids in need and Tony soon persuades her to look for Chloe.

What starts out as a straight forward custody dispute case soon evolves into something much more sinister. Julie discovers that Chloe’s mother, Rondelle, lied to the Hombres gang because she was employed by their rivals, the Coluccis, and she didn’t want her half-brother to know. To add to the fun, Chloe’s father is the foreman on the controversial new Indian casino under construction at the base of the sacred Mato Paha. Various local businessmen, tribesmen, politicians, ranchers and criminals have a vested interest in the casino project, either for or against. One of those ranchers is Julie’s father.

When people start turning up dead, Julie finds herself in the ridiculous situation of being employed by Tony Martinez and also reliant on his protection. This brings her into more frequent contact with him than she would like, especially since she’s struggling not to succumb to his charms. Julie’s racist rancher father and his thug friends threaten Julie, as do mobsters, Native Americans and others involved in the casino project. Julie is frustrated because all she wants to do is locate Chloe, not get dragged into the conflict surrounding the casino, or be obliged to spend time with her father whom she loathes.

Hallowed Ground is an excellent mystery both in terms of the plot and the characters. I like how Julie’s story arc is developing. There are a few interesting twists and turns in store for her. We finally meet her creep of a father in this book. He reminds me of one of my own relatives, and not in a good way. I also appreciated the way in which the author is developing Julie’s relationships with Kevin and Tony. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but let’s just say she doesn’t take the predictable route. This is definitely not a Stephanie Plum situation.

The mystery is compelling and I enjoyed learning more about the uneasy relations between the Lakota tribes and the other local residents. Lori Armstrong isn’t afraid to paint a warts-and-all picture of Native American issues. There are no “good guys” on either side of the racial divide, nor anywhere in between. She also excels at creating a sense of place. Reading these books makes me want to visit South Dakota and see some of the sites she describes.

I can highly recommend Hallowed Ground to mystery fans, particularly those who like character-driven stories featuring complicated, not-always-likeable people. I’m so glad there are still two books left in the series to look forward to.

Genre: Mystery

Setting: South Dakota

Series: Book One of the Julie Collins Mysteries

POV: 1st Person (Julie narrates)

Sensuality: Subtle

Violence: Yes, but it mostly occurs off page

Format: Digital

My Grade: B

I’ve blogged recently about Lorelei James’ Rough Rider series of contemporary erotic romances. I was intrigued when I discovered that she also writes mysteries under the name Lori Armstrong. As I like her writing voice and I enjoy crime fiction, I wanted to give them a shot.

Lori Armstrong writes two contemporary mystery series set in South Dakota. Blood Ties is the first book in the Julie Collins series, and (I think) Lori/Lorelei’s first published book. It’s a snappy, character-driven mystery. It’s too gritty to be termed a cozy, but not gruesome enough to be a typical hard-boiled mystery. Lori describes her style as medium-boiled. In stark contrast to her erotic romances, there are no sex scenes in this book, although it is heavily implied at times.

Julie Collins drinks too much, smokes like a chimney, and has very bad taste in men. She’s bored in her job as secretary at the Bear Butte County Sheriff’s Office. She originally took the job to give her the opportunity to investigate the circumstances surrounding her Lakota half-brother’s murder. Three years later, neither the police nor Julie have any leads, and Julie is the only person to still give a damn.

To earn a little extra cash, Julie moonlights for her best friend’s private investigation business. Kevin Wells is a successful P.I. He and Julie have been friends since their school days. While they’ve never been romantically involved, neither one approves of the other’s taste in partners. Kevin dates wannabe homemakers, whilst Julie sleeps with whatever bad boy currently strikes her fancy.

Kevin’s latest case involves a missing sixteen-year-old girl whose boyfriend hires him to find her. When the girl is found in the creek with her throat slit, Kevin asks Julie to help out with the investigation. Kevin and Julie went to school with both the dead girl’s parents and the boyfriend’s father. All clues initially point to the girl’s father as the culprit, but as the body count starts to rise, so, too, do the number of murder suspects.

Blood Ties has a great cast of characters. I liked Julie a lot. I can imagine some readers wouldn’t warm to her as she has some less than endearing qualities, but she worked for me. She has a couple of potential TSTL moments. However, they fit her personality. She’s the type of person who acts/speaks first, and thinks later. This leads to her getting her ass kicked on a couple of occasions. Kevin is the more level-headed of the two. He’s cool, calm and collected. He’s a good investigator but he lacks Julie’s gut instinct when it comes to reading people.

The book also has a host of secondary characters, some of whom I hope to see in future books in the series. Chief among them is Tony Martinez, the leader of the local biker gang and owner of the bar in which Julie gets her ass kicked. Tony is a genuine badass who oozes criminal connections and sex appeal in equal measure.

The mystery is interesting. Until the last fifty pages or so, the murderer was only one on a list of possible suspects. I also approved of where the book left off for Julie in terms of the development of her story arc in future books. I had a few quibbles with the pacing of the story, and I also think the author’s use of dialogue improves in her later books. Overall, though, I enjoyed this book. I bought the rest of the series as soon as I’d finished, and I intend to start the second one, Hallowed Ground, this evening. That says it all, really.

♦ My poor blog has been sorely neglected of late. I’m still working on my edits for the Golden Heart. Frankly, I don’t think it’ll be as polished as I would like it to be by the end of the month, but then I am a perfectionist. I’ll give it my best shot. I’m extremely fortunate to have an excellent critique partner and beta readers. They’ve helped me enormously.

♦ My reading is very slow at the moment, but I did read a couple of good books. Here are a two mini reviews.

The Black Echo (1992) by Michael Connelly

Blurb: For LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch — hero, maverick, nighthawk — the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland dam is more than another anonymous statistic.  This one is personal.

The dead man, Billy Meadows, was a fellow Vietnam “tunnel rat” who fought side by side with him in a nightmare underground war that brought them to the depths of hell.  Now, Bosch is about to relive the horrors of Nam.  From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city to the tortuous link that must be uncovered, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit.

Joining with an enigmatic female FBI agent, pitted against enemies within his own department, Bosch must make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, as he tracks down a killer whose true face will shock him.

My Thoughts: The Black Echo is the first book in Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series and (I think) his first novel. It was first released in 1992. I was a little nervous starting it as I feared it might be dated. Apart from the obvious (e.g.: old-fashioned cell phones), the story still has a freshness and immediacy that engaged my interest and kept me turning the pages. The writing style isn’t as smooth as in Connelly’s later books, but it’s still a good story well told. I bought The Black Echo as part of an ebook bundle of the first three Harry Bosch books. I’m pleased to have more of his stories to look forward to. B

The Iron Duke (2010) by Meljean Brook

Blurb: After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power — and fear — of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

Mina can’t afford his interest, however. Horde blood runs through her veins, and despite the nanotech enhancing her body, she barely scratches out a living in London society. Becoming Rhys’s lover would destroy both her career and her family, yet the investigation prevents her from avoiding him…and the Iron Duke’s ruthless pursuit makes him difficult to resist.

But when Mina uncovers the victim’s identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans — and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

My Thoughts: The Iron Duke is the first full-length book in Meljean Brook’s new Steampunk series. The world-building is complex yet accessible, and the story and characters are refreshingly original. I think this series will appeal to a broader range of readers than her Guardians. The story is set in a post-colonial society with highly developed steam-based technology. For people who are burned out on urban fantasy and paranormal romance, this is sort of like historical romance with a twist. I’ve always thought Meljean’s writing voice lends itself particularly well to stories with a historical setting. While I’ve enjoyed her contemporary-set novels, my favourite of her books and novellas are those set at least partly in the past. I hope lots of readers buy The Iron Duke and enjoy it because I’d love to see many more stories in this new series. A-

Have you read either of these books? If so, what did you think of them?

September was a busy reading month for me. My grades range from A to DNF (Did Not Finish). As you can see from this list, many of the books I read in September have yet to be reviewed. I might need to resort to a few mini review posts to get through my backlog.

1. The Redeemer by Jo Nesbø – A
2. The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason – A-
3. Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason - A-
4. Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin – A-
5. Tainted Blood by Arnaldur Indridason - B+
6. Song of Seduction by Carrie Lofty – B+
7. The Darkest Room by Johan Theorin – B
8. Voices by Arnaldur Indridason - B
9. Trial by Desire by Courtney Milan – B
10. For the Love of Mollie by K.T. Grant – B
11. Scandal of the Season by Laura Lee Guhrke – B
12. Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn – B-
13. Breathless Anne Stuart – B-
14. Hot Island Nights by Sarah Mayberry – C+
15. Wedding of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke – C+
16. Operation Napoleon by Arnaldur Indridason – C+
17. The Best of Friends by Susan Mallery – C-
18. Shadow by Karin Alvtegen – D
19. Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears – DNF
20. All I Ever Needed by Jo Goodman – DNF

Did you read anything interesting in September?

Genre: Nordic Thriller

Setting: Sweden

Swedish Title: Skugga

English Translation: Steven T. Murray (2008)

POV: 3rd Person

Sensuality: Subtle

Violence: Yes, but it all occurs off page

Format: Digital

My Grade: D

Shadow by Karin Alvtegen, is a book of family secrets, murder and betrayal.

When elderly Gerda Persson is found dead in her apartment, she has no family and no known friends. Marianne Folkesson is the social worker is assigned to sort through her things and arrange her funeral. At first, it appears that Gerda led a very ordinary life. But when Marianne opens Gerda’s freezer, she finds stacks of books, all by Axel Rangerfeldt, an award-winning Swedish author, and all containing personal dedications to Gerda.

When Marianne contacts the Rangerfeldt family for information about their connection to Gerda, she has no idea the course of events she has set in motion. They revolve around the mysterious abandonment of a little boy in an amusement park a thirty years previously…

I finished reading Shadow last night. I absolutely hated it. Not because it’s a bad book. It’s well-written (or well-translated if you want to nitpick). The plot is interesting (or had the potential to be). My problem is with the characters. I disliked all of them. I love reading about flawed individuals, but they have to have some redeeming features to make me care about them. The characters in Shadow ranged from pathetic to heinous. By the end of the book, I didn’t care who killed whom.

My other criticism of the book is its total lack of humour. I can read bleak and depressing stories, but there has to be some element of comic relief in there to lighten the mood. Shadow has none. I debated giving it an F but I couldn’t justify it as there is nothing wrong with the writing or the construction of the book. Nevertheless, it’s not one I can recommend.

Karin Alvtegen gets great reviews for her books, and Shadow seems to be particularly popular. If you like relentlessly depressing stories, it might work better for you than it did for me. Meanwhile, I’m off to find a book that will make me laugh.

Genre: Historical Romance

Setting: 1804 Salzburg

POV: 3rd Person

Sensuality: Warm

Violence: N/A

Format: Digital (so far, there is no print edition available)

Source: A digital ARC courtesy of Carina Press via NetGalley

My Grade: B+

Song of Seduction by Carrie Lofty is an unusual and beautifully written historical romance.

Arie De Voss is a celebrated Dutch musician who won international acclaim for his symphony, Love and Freedom. Since then, Arie has composed many pieces of music but struggles to complete his long-awaited second symphony. Arie is moody and irritable and his lies and deceit weigh heavily upon him. For Arie is a fake. His famous symphony was actually composed by his late mentor, and Arie claimed it as his own.

Mathilda Heidel is a widow who resides in Salzburg with her newly married friend and her husband. Due to her shady past, Mathilda craves respectability. Consequently, she hides her talent for playing the violin as it is unseemly for a woman to play an instrument too well. When she meets her idol, Arie De Voss, at a party, her natural reticence deserts her and she finds herself asking him to give her violin lessons.

Arie is astounded at Mathilda’s natural talent and encourages her to perform in public. In return, she becomes his muse, and later his lover. Inspired by Mathilda, Arie starts composing again. However, their happiness is threatened by his secret. Arie fears he will lose everything if it should ever come to light, and Mathilda can’t bear the thought of living a lie.

Song of Seduction is a beautiful book. Arie and Mathilda fall in love through their mutual love of music. Although I know very little about classical music, the author does a good job of describing the music without bogging the story down with unnecessary detail. I also liked the glimpses of real life composers, such as Hadyn.

Arie and Mathilda’s story is compelling. I enjoyed the unusual setting and the original premise of this book, and I hope Carrie Lofty intends to write more historical romances set in Salzburg.

Genre: Nordic Thriller

Setting: Reykjavik, Iceland (Present Day); Leipzig, Germany (1950s)

Icelandic Title: Kleifarvatn

English Translation: Bernard Scudder (2007)

POV: 3rd Person

Sensuality: Subtle

Violence: A few gruesome scenes

Format: Digital

My Grade: A-

I’ve been a Nordic Crime Fiction kick lately. My latest find is the Icelandic author, Arnaldur Indridason. He writes an excellent mystery series set in Reykjavik which features the moody Detective Inspector Erlendur and his team of investigators. Erlendur’s area of expertise is homicide. Due to its large size and small population, Iceland provides a unique setting for a mystery series. While suicides and cases involving missing persons occur relatively frequently, murders are rare.

So far, I’ve read the first four books in the series. In contrast to most crime fiction, the stories focus on what drives an ordinary person to kill. There are no sophisticated serial killers here. The books are sparsely written, character-driven, and emotional.

Erlendur’s homicide investigation team consists of himself and two colleagues. Erlendur is a divorced father of two who has virtually no contact with his children. He spends his free time reading true stories about disasters. Erlendur has no idea why he joined the police force, or why he’s still there. However, he has a unique knack for solving mysteries, and is a talented investigator. Elinborg is the only female member of the team. She’s a mother of four and an accomplished amateur chef who recently published a cookery book. Elinborg joined the police because she was bored at home. Sigurdur Oli is the youngest in the team and the most ambitious. He has a degree in criminology, and is therefore the most educated of the three. He’s excellent at theory but lacks instinct.

I started reading the series out of order. The Draining Lake is the fourth book. I’ve since gone back and started reading the series from the first book onwards. Although I had no problem following the story in The Draining Lake, I’d missed some of the main characters’ backstory from previous books. In other words, the mysteries in each book are self-contained, but it is still better to read the series in the correct order.

Following an earthquake, the water level in Lake Kleifarvatn has dropped dramatically. One day, a scientist who is responsible for monitoring the water level in the lake makes a gruesome discovery: a skeleton is buried in the sandy lake bed, and it doesn’t appear that its owner met a natural demise.The plot thickens when it is revealed that the skeleton was weighted down with an old Russian transmitter dating from the Cold War.

At the time of the Cold War, Iceland was strategically interesting for both the Americans and the Soviets. Although it was never proven that spying took place on Iceland, it was widely assumed to have done so. During the 1950s, the Icelandic Socialist Party sent a group of promising young students to study in Leipzig. Erlendur’s investigation soon revolves around them and their respective fates.

The Draining Lake is an excellent tale of shattered dreams and ideals. It focuses on people whose lives were forever altered by a single incident. The mystery is tightly woven into the fabric of the story. This is very much a character-driven book and relies more on human emotions and reactions than action.

I read The Draining Lake in one sitting and immediately bought the rest of the series. It really is that good.

Correct Reading Order of the Reykjavik Mystery Series:

1. Tainted Blood (2000) – previously published as Jar City
2. Silence of the Grave (2001)
3. Voices (2003)
4. The Draining Lake (2004)
5. Arctic Chill (2005)
6. Hypothermia (2007)

Genre: Historical Romance

Setting: England 1841

POV: 3rd Person

Sensuality: Warm

Violence: Mild

Format: Digital

Source: A digital ARC courtesy of Harlequin via NetGalley

My Grade: B

Trial by Desire is Courtney Milan’s second full-length novel. Although I loved her Christmas novella, I still haven’t read Proof by Seduction. I definitely need to remedy that.

Kate and Ned Carhart have a marriage of convenience – at least they do as far as he is concerned. Despite the circumstances of their wedding, Kate still hopes to make theirs a love match. Consequently, she is shocked when Ned announces his intention to travel to China to oversee the Carhart business interests in the East India Company.

Three years later, Kate is not impressed when her errant husband makes a sudden reappearance at a less than opportune moment. She has assisted her best friend, Laura, in escaping her abusive husband. Kate helps Laura and her baby find a safe place to stay. Unfortunately for Laura, the law is strongly on the side of the husband in cases of spousal abuse, and she feels her only option is to flee with her child.

To Kate’s alarm, Laura’s husband, Alex, shows up at her home on the same day that Ned returns from his travels. Alex wastes no time in threatening Kate. He suspects she helped Laura run away and accuses her of kidnapping his wife and son. Ned is Alex’s childhood friend and he can’t imagine Alex would have hurt Laura. However, he slowly comes to realise that his friend is not the man he thought him to be.

In Trial by Desire, Kate and Ned must learn to love and trust one another against a background of intrigue. It’s a fast-paced tale beautifully told. I loved the legal details as I know next to nothing about how the legal system worked in 19th Century England.

Ned is an unusual hero. A while ago, I blogged about the dearth of romance heroes and heroines who suffer from depression. Ned is one, and I thought his battle with his inner demons was a strong point in the story. Kate is an equally strong character – or at least she has become one over the three years of her husband’s absence.

Courtney Milan has taken a conventional setting and given it an unusual twist. For fans of historical romance which is a little bit different, Trial by Desire is a good read.