"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!
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