Bow Street Runner Alexander Moore goes undercover as a gambler in hopes of exposing a traitor against his country. He stay's at Joanna Langley's inn, and quickly has her believing him to be the rogue he portrays. But as he gets to know the young innkeeper--a girl who bears a heavy financial burden to keep herself and her mother and brother out of the workhouse--he wishes she might see him as the man he is and not what he appears.It's funny how authors will strike on a similar idea at the same time; this is the second novel I've read recently about a female Regency-era innkeeper (the other being Julie Klassen's The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill), though that's where the similarities end. They are very different in tone. This one is more suspenseful, with significantly more danger (not unexpected, given our hero is a lawman working on ferreting out a traitor).
I have to admit, I saw Johanna and Alex's conflict coming a mile away--it's pretty much inevitable that a woman who hates liars will fall for a man who is undercover and can't share the truth. All the expected problems ensue. Otherwise, the author does a good job filling the story with interesting and often quirky characters, the most notable of which being Mr. Nutbrown.
One thing I really liked was the author's ability to show rather than tell--I'd wondered why the two smugglers would insist on dragging other people into their schemes until I caught on to their illiteracy, which is never explicitly stated. The clues are all there pointing to it, but it's up to the reader to figure out. And THAT, by the way, is a legitimate reason for a bad guy to drag the good guys into their schemes--the necessity of a skill set they lack. I enjoyed the twists and surprises at the end; I had wondered how all the complex plot pieces would fit together, and they came together most pleasingly.
Thank you Barbour and NetGalley for the free e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.
Related novels: Brentwood's Ward
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