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A love forged through adversity….
Daughter of an illustrious artist, Lady Charlotte Pheland forges her late father’s paintings for the survival of herself, her sister, and her widowed mother. Charlotte slips from a ball to sell a painting to naval Captain Patrick Landsdowne, Lord Hawthorne. Disaster strikes when a duke arrives with a crowd of attendees only to discover their clandestine meeting, compromising them. To salvage their reputations, they announce their fake engagement.
Patrick sails for the West Indies, confident Charlotte will renege. But all goes horribly wrong when Patrick suffers a devastating accident at sea, returning to his family and Charlotte a broken man. Now, if Charlotte severs her engagement, society will vilify her. But if they marry, she will bind herself to a man who could reveal her secret forgeries.
Patrick will never again captain a ship, and he rails against his loss of purpose. Yet while convalescing, his heart warms to Charlotte’s kindness, talent, and perseverance. Meanwhile, she sees Patrick’s quips and sarcasm mask a caring person with a steel backbone and a gentle heart.
A murder complicates matters. Worse, a stranger’s obsession with Charlotte and her father’s art puts their lives in peril. Yet they find a harmony that surprises them both…until Patrick discovers her forgery.
Will Patrick reveal all, thus devastating Charlotte’s world and their budding relationship? Or will their engagement stand?
Even so, murder and obsession may destroy them both.
4 out of 5 (very good)
THE DECEPTION is the second book in The Secret Tales and follows Charlotte and Patrick. Charlotte is Rose's sister and an artist, providing for the family by providing art in her father's style and forging his signature on them. Patrick is a fan of her father's work and a Captain in the Navy. When they are discovered in a compromising situation, Patrick saves Charlotte's reputation by saying they are engaged; the plan being that Charlotte will break the engagement while he is at sea. For one reason and another, this doesn't happen.
This was a great addition to the series, and I loved how Rhys and Rose continued to play their part in the story. There is a lot that happens in this story, with blackmail, kidnapping, and a slavery ring. This definitely impacted the connection between our two characters for me, as the time they spend together didn't seem long enough before they were reacting to one threat or another. One thing I liked, as with Rose, is that Charlotte isn't just a damsel in distress. Yes, she's in a very dodgy situation, but she uses her mind and doesn't just wait to be rescued.
I am thoroughly enjoying these books by Sanna Brand. There is a snippet from Claire's book that had me wanting that immediately! Thoroughly enjoyed and definitely recommended.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Award-winning author Vicki Stiefel now also writes as Sanna Brand, whose Regency Romance, THE BOND (Book 1, The Secret Tales) launches May 15. Vicki’s fantasy romance series, The Made Ones Saga, launched with ALTERED, continued with CHANGED, and climaxed with ASCENDANT.
Vicki continues work on her Afterworld Chronicles and her award-winning mystery/thrillers feature homicide counselor Tally Whyte.
Vicki tapped into her love of knitting to produce Chest of Bone The Knit Collection and co-write 10 Secrets of the LaidBack Knitters.
After running The Writers Studio with her late husband, William G. Tapply, Vicki taught fiction and modern media writing for six years at Clark University.
She grew up in professional theater and planned to become an actress. Instead, she slung hamburgers, managed a scuba shop, and became a college professor. She is a mom to two wonderful humans and a furry pack. Her passions for scuba diving, fly fishing, knitting, and horses pop up in her novels, as do chocolate, bourbon, and lobster. Currently, she's playing with her pups, Penny and Bash, and her kitty, Sammy, while working on THE DECEPTION, the second book in The Secret Tales.