A young lady who has inherited property may suddenly find herself with a surfeit of suitors…
Lucy Holbrook has just inherited the Tooth And Nail, her father’s inn, along with her father’s blind friend Adam, a gentle but simple man who depends on her to survive. Captain Harry Clare’s arrival and offer of assistance is most timely, especially as all her neighbours seem to have lost their wits and begun proposing to her on the flimsiest of pretexts.
There is a fascinating mystery about Lucy’s identity at the core of this romance, which I really enjoyed puzzling out at the protagonists uncovered it. Lucy was a great heroine, with her feet firmly on the floor and well aware of the consequences of her actions. She never did anything which would drop her into the trap of being either a Doormat or Too Stupid To Live heroine, and she had a wonderful hero in Captain Harry Clare, a soldier turned spy who has seen and done too much, leaving him weary and jaded. Lucy is a breath of fresh air to him and despite being assigned to a curious case involving the blind man Adam, he finds himself protective of her.
There’s a nice secondary romance in the book involving Nate, a young ‘wannabe’ spy, and his love interest Miranda, a shop girl. The only issue I had with it is that this is obviously one in an ongoing series and prior events and characters are referenced and have significant influence on the story, limiting the potential of the book as a standalone. I haven’t read the previous books in the series and there were definitely moments when I was confused as to what was going on.
As such, I have to give it four stars, but if you’ve read the other books in the series, you’ll undoubtedly thoroughly enjoy this.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through NetGalley.