Series: Rogues of Fortune's Den, #1
Traits & Tropes: childhood acquaintance; illegitimate heroine; self-made hero
Publication Date: 09.30.23
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; London, England
Heat Level: 4.5
Rating: 5 stars!
Christian Chance may run a gaming hell with his brothers, but his true passion lies in scholastic endeavors. He’s a mass of contradictions, with angelic features that mask a keen edge of danger and honed muscles that disguise a keen intelligence. Having begun a privileged life as an earl’s grandson, only to be disowned and find himself living on the streets of the rookery. When he’s offered an opportunity to put his scholarly side to use investigating potential fraud at a museum, he agrees. Unfortunately, he’s met with an unexpected partner, the daughter of his family’s sworn enemy, who is tempting enough to incite both disdain and passion in equal measure.
Isabella Lawton has been running her entire life, but since her mother’s death she’s been left with no choice but to return to London and hope her father isn’t as evil as she remembers. But she returns to an empty house without a trace of the man who loathed her. When she happens to secure a position employing her knowledge of Egyptian artifacts, it seems the perfect solution, even if it means working with a man who can scarcely tolerate her presence and is doing everything in his power to keep her at arm’s length.
At this point I’m really not sure Adele can write anything I don’t at least like, but I truly loved this one. Isabella and Christian were perfect together and I loved the fact that their initial distrust was so quick to fade, and this story soon became a matter of them working together against an outside antagonist. I adore it when this happens in romance, though it seems to be rare. There was much more to Christian than met the eye, and I loved how he was so willing to open himself up to Isabella and show her those facets of himself. Dark, broody heroes are like catnip to me, and Christian was the perfect blend of tortured, protective hero, yet a cinnamon roll with Isabella. These two truly saw each other in ways no one else had and I loved the way that discovery played out on the page. Their chemistry fairly leapt off the page right from the beginning, and Adele remains the queen of carriage steam. The mystery here was also solid and multifaceted enough to keep me invested. I’m loving this spinoff with the Chance brothers and excited that we still see Lucius Daventry and his agents. I can't wait for the next story already, and to learn more about their backgrounds, which is really saying something as I’ve been struggling to really get excited about books lately.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5842759549
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1879392732
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