Tag: trafficking

BONUS REVIEW: Duchess If You Dare by Anabelle Bryant

BONUS REVIEW: Duchess If You Dare by Anabelle Bryant

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Kensington in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Scarlett Wynn and the rest of the Maidens of Mayhem seek to right wrongs and protect the less fortunate. When Scarlett’s seamstress goes missing, and the search leads to a brothel, Scarlett becomes worried for the young woman.

Ambrose Cross, the Duke of Aylesford, is beside himself over his brother’s irresponsibility. In fact, right after a big speech and cutting off his brother’s funds, Ambrose is summoned to a brothel to bail his brother out of trouble once again.

Soon, Ambrose and Scarlett are both looking for the missing seamstress. Their stations allow them access to different areas of town for sleuthing. But those differences also cause a lot of complication as the two become closer and start to explore the draw they feel toward one another.

Review

This is a good romance/mystery centered around a dark topic – prostitution and the sex trade. This is the first title in a new series – the Maidens of Mayhem. And while we meet the other women, we don’t get a good feel for them in this book. I assume the other women will star in their own future stories. (This has a similar set up to the Wallflowers of West End, although that series, or at least Capturing the Earl, which is the one book I have read so far, has a much lighter tone than this story. )

I appreciated the mystery in this book. The author put together a great set up where the two main characters are at odds with one another while searching for answers on what will amount to the same case. It’s quite clever. But the subject matter is dark and I found it disturbing. It made it difficult to enjoy the rest of the story. The ending for the couple was a happy one, but the heinous crimes of the book were not really resolved in a satisfying way for me.

Historical fiction fans who enjoy stories like this where women defy conventions in order to be themselves and right wrongs and such should check out this series. (Sex, TW: Assault, sex trade)

Rating: ♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥ = Good/solid/fine

BONUS REVIEW: Mistaken Reality by Traci Hunter Abramson

BONUS REVIEW: Mistaken Reality by Traci Hunter Abramson

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Covenant Communications in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Hadley had been looking forward to dinner out with her boyfriend, Spencer. But the evening didn’t go at all how she planned.

First it was dinner with Spencer’s boss and a couple work associates. Not very romantic. Then Spencer had gotten all weird. One minute he’s going on about how he wants to spend the rest of his life with Hadley. The next he says he never wants kids and if she disagrees, they should just break up right now. Hadley keeps asking herself, “What just happened?!”

As Hadley stands in the ladies room wiping off her dripping mascara, trying to figure out what to do next, the fire alarm goes off in the restaurant. Then a man barges into the bathroom and says they are evacuating the building. Before his statement really even registers for Hadley, he scoops her up and hustles her out of the building.

Just before it explodes.

FBI agent JD Byers has no idea who planted the bomb, why it was there, or how Hadley fits into his case, but he’s determined to keep her safe while they find answers to all of their questions.

Review

I didn’t realize the Mormon Church had their own publishing group until I stumbled across this book. This came up in my regular research, and I was so intrigued by the premise, I had to track it down to read.  I am so glad I did! This was highly suspenseful and engaging.

It took me a little while to catch on to the different characters in the side stories – the ones aside from Hadley, JD, JD’s partner Noah, and Noah’s wife, Kelsey. I was also distracted by the undercover mission in Abolstan. I had a hard time focusing on the early chapters that focused on that mission, but as the connections between the various threads became more clear, I became more and more engaged.

The mystery and suspense in this is excellent. Once the story was really clipping along, I didn’t put it down until the end.

While this is published by the Mormon Church, there aren’t a ton of faith references in the story – several references to prayer, a special blessing is performed in a scene, and there are references to missions work. I had an awareness of the faith pieces, but they were not a major factor to the story. If you are a fan of suspense stories, check out this author. Her books routinely receive strong reviews.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½