The Silver Coin (Coins: Book Two): Andrea Kane

"All her life, Breanna Colby has lived on the precipice of fear, her only joy the recent reunion with her beloved cousin, Anastasia.  With her violent father now locked away in jail, the repressed young woman can emerge from her cocoon and pursue all the joys she's been denied.  But she finds--to her terror--that not all the shadows have lifted, and an evil from the past stalks both her and Anastasia.  When authorities are unable to help with this assassin lurking in the darkness, the Colbys turn to the brilliant, unconventional Royce Chadwick, England's foremost expert on finding people who don't want to be found.

"Hard, detached Royce has always been a loner who operates by his own set of rules.  He has little patience for weakness.  Delicate Breanna Colby is an eye-opener to him, for beneath her fragile exterior lies a core of steel.  As the two face overwhelming danger side by side, Royce discovered a woman he never dreamed existed--one who, despite his cynicism, he is losing his heart to.  But their future together can never be--not unless Royce kills the assassin before the assassin kills them."

Having sped through the first in this two book series, The Gold Coin, I was eager to pick up the second and see what happens in Brianna's story.  Lucky for me, I happened to have this one sitting on my shelf as well!  After such an explosive ending to the Stacie's story, I couldn't wait to see what the aftermath looked like.  What sort of fallout came of Stacie and Breanna thwarting the assassin?  What would life be like for Breanna now that she was finally free of her violent, vindictive father?

The story takes place shortly after Breanna's twenty-first birthday -- just a few months after the conclusion of Stacie's book.  Breanna has been working on organizing the construction of Stacie and Damen's new home on the grounds of Medford Manor.  She excitedly anticipates their return from their honeymoon trip to America where they were able to oversee their new banking venture.  However, the joy is not to last.

A mysterious package arrives at Medford Manor.  It it addressed only to Stacie.  And it contains mutilated dolls which bear an uncanny resemblance to Stacie and Breanna, as well as an explicit threat.  Though Breanna takes the dolls to Bow Street, there is little they can do for her.  They are spread far too thin as it is with a slew of odd murders and disappearances amongst the ton.  Stacie realizes Bow Street will be of no help and she must figure out how to handle the threat on her own.  It seems as if the assassin whose finger she shot off when she thwarted his attempted murder of Stacie has come back to England.  Not only does he seek revenge for his mutilated hand, he wants Breanna to suffer.  A brilliant villain, he knows the best way to do this is to go for her weak underbelly.  He intends to make her watch Stacie die before he then kills Breanna.  The stakes become all the more desperate when Stacie and Damen return from their trip and announce that Stacie is expecting.  Not only does Breanna have to worry about keeping her beloved cousin safe from the assassin's gun, she now has an unborn child to consider.

Ever the devoted husband and soon-to-be-father, Damen is determined to do everything in his power to keep his family safe.  He calls upon an old friend, Royce Chadwick, to help track down the mysterious assassin before he can pull the trigger.  The depth and breadth of the assassin's depravity is astounding.  He is brilliant and fearless...but Royce must be even more cunning if he is to save the life of the woman he has come to love.

What follows is an intense game of cat and mouse which kept me on the edge of my seat.  I swear I was drowning in anxiety the entire time I read this book!  Kane does such a brilliant job with creating palpable tension and moving the plot along.  There was nothing stagnant about this book.  I was as desperate as the characters to see what the assassin would do next, when and where he would strike.  The plot was brilliant and the assassin was terrifying.  It was an impossible situation, especially when Kane did such a great job of closing any loopholes and avenues Stacie and Breanna may have had to escape the fate intended for them.

I enjoyed seeing Breanna come into her own in this story, but she did still seem to remain true to the character we saw in the first book.  She is soft-spoken and seems fragile, but it hides a quick intelligence and strong soul.  This is what causes Royce to fall for her.  He was adamant from the very beginning that he detests weakness and shows of tears.  It is no wonder he is impressed when he meets Breanna and finds no wilting flower.  However.  I will say that this was just about all I could come up with as to why Royce fell for her.  There wasn't much from his perspective in regards to this transition (though we did see inside his mind a great deal more than we did Damen's in the first book), so it wound up feeling like a bit more of a leap than it should have.  In fact, it actually suspended escape into the story quite a bit.  The same went for Breanna's attraction to Royce.  We saw that she was physically attracted to him, but what else was there?  I suppose I wanted a bit more about about why and how they fell in love to make this a tad bit more believable.  It could have been as simple as showing some interactions between them which weren't all about tracking down the assassin.  Their coming together and declarations of love felt far more abrupt than they probably should have been.

I enjoyed seeing more of Damen and Stacie, though I will say that they felt a little bit "hollow."  Damen was reduced to a stereotypical overly-protective husband.  I wanted to see his quick mind and wit.  Stacie was more reserved as well.  I might attribute this to her wanting to protect her unborn child and experiencing the woes of the first trimester, but I can't blame it fully on that.  I realize they were not the center of attention in this book, but I wanted to see the glimmer of their characters here as well.

The chapters from the assassin's perspective were brilliant.  I loved how dark and sinister they felt and I truly enjoyed seeing the way his mind worked.  He really was an evil genius adept in terrorizing his victims to their cores.  Kane shielded him perfectly and I had no idea who he was until the characters did.

The overall plot was extremely complex and far grander than I could have imagined.  This book clearly took an extraordinary amount of work and planning to execute.  For this, I commend Kane.  She wrote brilliantly and kept me interested from the very first page.  I waited for the final confrontation with a tremendous amount of anticipation.  I suppose I wanted a bit more than I was given when it came to revealing the assassin, but I suppose it all worked out for the best.

As a minor note (which I hope doesn't give too much away), I did find the very last chapter to be a tad bit too "Brady Bunch" for my personal tastes.  I'm sure not everyone will feel this way, but I did feel the need to mention it.

Overall, I did like this series quite a bit.  I enjoyed the blend of romance, mystery, and suspense.  I was never bored and, for the most part, I found the characters to be interesting and the style to be captivating.  I made a few notes about the romance between the male and female leads in each of these books, but these are by no means deal breakers.  I recommend this series to any lover of romance who is looking to liven up their reading material!

The Gold Coin (Coins: Book One): Andrea Kane

"As children, identical cousins Anastasia and Breanna Colby swore always to protect each other.  Now that Anastasia's beloved parents have died, she has come to live with Breanna...and Breanna's father, whose raging temper has locked his daughter into a life of fear.  What is more, Anastasia soon realizes that her uncle is involved in a sinister scheme that places both young women in deadly danger.  Fearing most of all for her cousin, Anastasia turns to the only help she can think of, the man who holds the reins to her considerable fortune--the fascinating, enigmatic Damen Lockewood, Marquess of Sheldrake.

"From the moment Anastasia and Damen meet, blazing passion flares between them.  But in the face of overwhelming peril--and threats on Anastasia's life--thoughts of love cannot be indulged.  Not unless the mystery that entraps them is solved will they at last be able to pursue the future their feelings command them to share.  But is the danger stalking them really gone?"

Andrea Kane is a new author on my list.  I've had a few of her books sitting amongst my collection for quite a few years, but this is the first that I've picked up.  I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.  I don't know if I initially realized that there was more to this story than a romance novel, but it quickly became apparent that there was far more to this book than I'd believed.

We are first introduced to young Stacie (Anastasia) and Breanna as they make their first decision to trade places in an effort to save Breanna from getting into trouble with her father.  Being that their fathers are twins and their mothers, sisters, the cousins' auburn hair and jade-green eyes are so similar that there is no one who can tell them apart -- not even their own parents.  This sparks a pact between them which will much later become an integral part of their survival.  That evening, they are pulled aside by their grandfather and given some very special, very secret gifts:  For Stacie, a gold coin; silver for Breanna.  He tells them that they must keep them safe and never under any circumstances present them to anyone.  Though they are young, the girls take his words to heart.  Little do they know what an impact those coins will make upon their lives.

Years pass and Stacie returns to England after having moved to Pennsylvania with her parents soon after that night when she and Breanna had first switched identities.  Both of her parents have died and she returns to the beloved home shortly after her grandfather's own death.  Her uncle, Breanna's father, is now Viscount Medford.  It is clear that he has taken to running his family's company and lording power over his daughter.  With their grandfather gone, Breanna's world had shrunk to the size of Medford Manor.  Both girls are overjoyed at being reunited, but there is a sinister undercurrent at Medford Manor which unnerves Stacie and causes her concern for her beloved cousin.

Her fears grow when she witnesses just how sheltered and locked away Breanna has been all these years.  Part of the reason appears to be that Medford has his eye on Damen Lockwood, Marquess of Sheldrake, as a future son-in-law.  Not only is Damen incredibly brilliant and wealthy, his family is renowned for its credibility and standing in the financial world.  No doubt this has played into Uncle George's desire to bring Damen into his family.  His greed and lust for power was never a secret; in fact, it was one of the things which drove a wedge between the Colby men for many decades.  Though between them lies an even darker secret which Stacie's father carried to his grave, Breanna knows not of, and George has allowed to fester in the dark hole in which his heart should have existed.

It is clear that the new Viscount Medford is furious at being kept away from Stacie and Breanna's inheritances, and that Stacie is now owner of her father's share of the family shipping company.  He hadn't anticipated having a woman as a business associate, let alone one as outspoken and meddlesome as his niece.  He can only hope that Damen, the man wisely named as custodian of Stacie's inheritance, will keep her from making any foolish financial decisions and squandering away the money before Medford can find a way to get his hands on it.

Little do Medford and Damen know that Stacie is far more than she first appears.  Having inherited her sense of business and learned financial savviness from her father, Stacie is thrilled to finally be able to have a part in the family business.  What she hadn't counted on, however, was having to answer to a man such as Damen when it came to spending those funds -- at least until her twenty-first birthday.  At first, she finds Damen to be cold and far too observant.  He thwarts her attempts to invest in what she believes to be a brilliant financial opportunity and she does everything she can in order to realize her dreams.  Her determination is what eventually draws Damen to her.

Damen is far too busy to play custodian to this Americanized young woman, Lady Anastasia Colby.  He has many more pressing matters to attend to, a bank to run, and investments to manage...still, he finds himself spending more and more time with her under the guise of discussing her inheritance.  He doesn't expect her to brazenly approach other potential investors at her coming out party after he turns her down.  He's drawn to her fiery personality, her rapier wit, and her enthralling beauty.  It would seem that she is the only woman in the world who could entice him to mix business with pleasure.

As Damen and Stacie become closer, Medford starts to see the threads of his careful plot begin to unravel. No one realizes the depth of his debt and the strength of his determination to not lose everything.  He will stop at nothing to win everything back.  Even if it means sacrificing what little family he has left.  Greed has blinded him and driven him to the edge of sanity.  It becomes apparent that Medford is involved in something very dangerous, very dark, and very illegal.  His desperation could very well put Stacie and Breanna's lives in jeopardy if he isn't stopped in time...

I found the undercurrent of romance between Damen and Stacie to be quite enjoyable.  It wasn't as overt as a "true" romance novel, but there was just enough to put this solidly in the romance genre.  I liked the progression of it, which flowed rather well with the complex plot.  However, I will say that I felt like I needed more from Damen's point of view.  A vast majority of this book was from Stacie's perspective (or Medford's, but I'll get into that later) and I wanted to know more about how Damen fell so hard and so fast for Stacie.  He was such a logical, methodical character that there had to be something rather extraordinary going on in his mind to make this happen.  We got very few chapters from Damen's point of view, and I would have very much liked to have seen at least several more.  I'm much more used to a more equitable division of perspective.  What was different from the more traditional romance genre was that the characters declared love rather quickly and rather easily.  Once it hit them, they didn't resist or hide it; they accepted it and moved on with plans to make a future as best as they could.  This felt a little bit off to me, but it could have been simply because I'm so used to characters having to work through more issues in their relationship.  Of course, Damen and Stacie had many other obstacles they needed to overcome...

I mentioned that a portion of this book is told from Medford's perspective.  I found this to be an excellent tactic.  It was a great way to create tension and also expose the readers to his descent into desperation and madness.  It was dark and disturbing at times, but it definitely created a great villain for the mystery/suspense portion of this story.  Medford was a selfish, greedy, hateful man -- and we never would have known the depths of his depravity were we readers not privy to his inner thoughts.

I read this book rather quickly despite its length, which I find to be a good testament to its readability.  I liked the strong characters and captivating plot.  Stacie was intelligent and outspoken while Breanna was an excellent foil to her more brazen cousin.  I did enjoy seeing Breanna come into her own as the story moved along and I looked forward to seeing more of her in her own book.  I found Damen to be witty and charming, impressively intelligent and wise beyond his years.  He was an excellent male lead; I just wanted a bit more insight into the workings of his very interesting mind.

I definitely recommend this book to those seeking to branch out a bit from straight "romance."  This can add a bit of variety into your reading without too much culture shock.  The sense of danger fairly dripped from every page and kept me wanting to read more...so much so that I've actually already finished the second book in this pair!

Rendezvous: Amanda Quick

"From the elegantly appointed drawing rooms of London's most exclusive club to an imposing country estate in the heart of Dorset comes a provocative tale of a free-thinking beauty, a dignified lord, and a man, impetuous love that defied all logic...

"Augutsta Ballinger was quite sure that it was all a dreadful mistake.  The chillingly pompous and dangerously disturbing Earl of Graystone could not possibly wish to marry her.  Why, it was rumored that his chosen bride must be a veritable model of virtue.  And everyone knew that Augusta, as the last of the wild, reckless Northumberland Ballingers, was a woman who could not be bothered by society's rules.

"That was why the spirited beauty had planned a midnight encounter to warn the earl off, to convince him that she would make him a very poor wife indeed.  But when she crawled in through his darkened study window, Augusta only succeeded in strengthening Harry's resolve:  to kiss the laughter from those honeyed lips and teach this maddening miss to behave!  How could he possibly know that it was he who was in for a lesson...as his brazen fiancee set out to win his heart--and an old and clever enemy stepped in to threaten their love, their honor, and their very lives?"

This is another little gem by Amanda Quick!  Despite my busy schedule, I read this one in only a matter of days.  The pacing was excellent and the plot was exceedingly entertaining.  I found the characters to be as charming as the plot, which helped to keep me wanting more.

Augusta is a spirited female lead who is beyond proud of her roots.  She knows everyone is aware that she comes from the reckless side of the Ballinger family, and she takes this as license to do much as she pleases.  Though she is very intelligent and as educated as she is forward-thinking, this does not stop her from enjoying the finer things womanhood has to offer.  Her love of entertaining and pretty clothing is a nice touch when so many authors choose to forego this aspect of a female lead's personality in favor of a much more "scholarly" appeal.  Why can't a woman want reform and recognition for women's accomplishments and also enjoy beautiful things?!  Augusta's quick temper and wit get her into a number of scrapes, but they also attract a very surprising suitor.

Suffering from the hidden scars of his first marriage as well as the weariness following the Napoleonic Wars, Harry, Earl of Graystone, is a man of many mysteries; perhaps the biggest of which is just why he chooses Augusta Ballinger as his bride!  By all accounts, she is the last thing he should desire.  She can be immodest and wild, a bit to outspoken and prone to harebrained schemes, but she possesses that which Harry prizes most in the world:  unfailing honesty and loyalty.  Despite her assurances that she will make him a terrible wife, Harry is determined to wed Augusta and have her as his Countess.  Little do either of them know that the other is exactly what they need in their respective lives.

Both Harry and Augusta have secrets of their own, but everything must come to light when an enemy comes around seeking to cause their newlywed bliss to come crashing down and destroy all they hold dear...

Their spark is enjoyable and enlivened by both of their tempers and differing attitudes.  I enjoyed the romance and it felt fairly natural between the two of them.  I will concede that the first "encounter" felt a bit early and a bit too "acceptable" for Augusta -- a woman who, up until that point, had managed to remain pure and virtuous despite her reputation.  She seemed to fall into Harry's arms a bit too easily, despite her silent admission that she'd always been attracted to him.  I also do believe I'd mentioned this in another of my reviews, but Harry's physical appearance was very much glossed over.  I'm pretty sure we got literally one or two sentences about him in the beginning of the book.  It was fairly forgettable and I had to draw my own mental picture as I read on.  I wanted to "see" him a bit more than I did.  I do feel like Augusta had more to her description, but it was still a bit lacking compared to what I am used to.

Overall, I found this book to be very enjoyable and I look forward to reading more of Quick's works.