by Elizabeth Hoyt
Blurb:
Freya
de Moray is many things: a member of the secret order of Wise Women, the
daughter of disgraced nobility, and a chaperone living under an assumed name.
What she is not is forgiving. So when the Duke of Harlowe, the man who
destroyed her brother and led to the downfall of her family, appears at the
country house party she's attending, she does what any Wise Woman would do: she
starts planning her revenge.
Christopher
Renshaw, the Duke of Harlowe, is being blackmailed. Intent on keeping his
secrets safe, he agrees to attend a house party where he will put an end to
this coercion once and for all. Until he recognizes Freya, masquerading amongst
the party revelers, and realizes his troubles have just begun. Freya knows all
about his sins—sins he'd much rather forget. But she's also fiery, bold, and
sensuous—a temptation he can't resist. When it becomes clear Freya is in grave
danger, he'll risk everything to keep her safe. But first, Harlowe will have to
earn Freya's trust-by whatever means necessary.
Themes:
Rating: 4.25 stars
Heat Rating:
Review:
And so a new adventure begins.
I
began my foray into the writing of Ms. Hoyt when I stumbled across the Maiden Lane
series and was immediately hooked. Her
ability to pull readers into this world of Georgian Era England, and now Scotland,
while showing a hidden part of the past that most of us never imagined is
nothing short of magical. This new
series seems to be centering on a secret society called the Wise Women, which is a
bit of a play on words for the classic belief of the medieval and historical
wise woman that developed into the witches or female physicians or even pagan
goddess worshipers depending on your views of history. I am enamored of this
little twist in history, seeing that I would definitely have been one of these
women and found a kinship with Freya immediately. I loved learning about Hoty's new world and her
world building was interesting and educational. That being said the story
certainly focused a lot on world building to get the series off the ground, but
does not in any way neglect the core of the story—the relationship between
Freya and Christopher aka Harlowe. I
loved getting to see Freya and Harlowe each come to terms with their past, both
together and apart, and finding a peace and solace in one another even as they
felt pulled apart by their choices and present situations. Freya was the quintessential stubborn and
independent warrior woman of her time; she was fighting for women to have a
voice and felt that by giving up her independence to love and marriage she
would be betraying those vows. But thankfully the women around her were able to
help her see that the most important thing she was fighting for was the CHOICE
for women to do whatever they wanted, including falling in love and marrying. There were a
few moments when I wanted to slap a bit of sense into her myself, but her
stubbornness is what makes Freya the typical Scottish warrior female and I could
certainly have seen her hundreds of years earlier in full battle gear leading
an army of Britain’s greatest female fighters into battle against the Romans.
Her interactions with Harlow were always spirited whether she is fighting with him,
asserting her stance on life, or fighting for his sanity and love, and I loved
watching that fire displayed at a time when women were expected to be calm and
docile. Harlowe has had a lot of tragedy
in his life and it has turned him into a dark and brooding man, but he is still
a good man and never loses sight of the things that make him human, even if he
is determined to spend most of his life paying for sins that aren’t even
his. I loved his character and even as he
fell in love with Freya I could see that he would be the type of man that would
never force her into anything, despite how much he loves her and needs her to
complete his life. He understands that
love and need, devotion and admiration, all go hand in hand, and that once you
fall in love, truly fall, there is no going back and changing who you fell in
love with just because you might not like their choices. He was definitely a man before his time and
the perfect match for Freya. I loved the
fire between Freya and Harlowe and am looking forward to seeing them in future
stories, maybe on a few adventures together even. Whatever comes next in this series is bound
to be interesting and I cannot wait to see where Elizabeth takes us on this new
journey through the world of Wise Women and the men that steal into their
hearts.
*ebook provided by publisher (via
netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.
No comments:
Post a Comment