"All right, Truitt, my lad. You can play this one of two ways. First option: the long-lost husband still nursing a broken heart . . . Or the second: cool and calm as if he barely remembers . . . "
Fast-forwarding past their whirlwind romance of less than twenty-four hours, Jasper Truitt and Esme Fox accidentally reunite after a four year estrangement . . . which apparently had not made the heart grow fonder? . . . at least she didn't appear to be as affected as he was. Business before pleasure, my dear, because both of them were only after one thing at the extravagant alcohol infused gathering; a diamond studded tiara known as the Valkyrie. How ironic that the two star-crossed lovers were both thieves.
One flamboyant scene after another plays out in this cat and mouse version of "to catch a thief"; nevertheless, repetitive and redundant becomes riveting about two thirds of the way through this book, when the romance seems to take on a persona all its own. Will it all come down to who has the tiara . . . . or will it?
*I purchased a copy. Note: a clean read not inspirational, also alcohol use involved. 3.5 stars
BackCover Blurb:
Diamonds
and danger dazzle in Ciesielski's latest enchanting romp through
post-war Europe as estranged spouses and jewel thieves hunt an elusive
Valkyrie tiara.
November 12, 1918. It was a match made in
champagne-soaked heaven, but all too soon the bubbles dried up, and Esme
Fox awakens the morning after celebrating the end of the Great War to
find herself shockingly and accidentally married. She gathers her
belongings and slips out before her new husband can stop her. After all,
she knows it's best to leave before he does.
Four years later,
Jasper Truitt, after having made a name for himself in the underground
world of jewel thieves, is on the hunt for a valuable heirloom: a
one-of-a-kind winged tiara—the last Valkyrie tiara ever created. So it's
with great surprise that he discovers it at a charity event atop the
head of a woman he's never forgotten. His long-lost wife . . . who
happens to be pursuing the tiara for a vengeful opera diva desperate to
obtain the jewel for herself.
The reunion is cut short when Esme
vanishes—again—but their separation is temporary. With a hitman on their
heels and a deadline looming, the pair find themselves in an epic game
of cat and mouse across Europe following leads from the French Riviera
to a shop of wonders in Venice, a fairy-tale castle in Bavaria, and a
veritable circus thrown by a champagne heiress, all before a dramatic
horseback flight through the French countryside.
In the end only one can win, and with both of their hearts on the line, the winner may well turn out to be the loser.
In
her latest glamorous historical romance, J'nell Ciesielski spins a
sparkling story filled with her signature snappy dialogue and vivid
atmosphere that will keep you listening late into the night to see what
happens next.
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