BRAZEN is the second in a two book miniseries by Margo Maguire. Both books center around one dying duke and his search for his lost granddaughters. I really enjoyed the first of the series and was more than enough intrigued by one of the characters to come back for more. I was glad I did. I love it when we get introduced to one character in one book and do not have to wonder what happened. I am one of those readers that has to know the rest of the story. Maguire did not disappoint.
Lady Christina Fairhaven is being blackmailed! Someone has discovered that not only isn't her adoptive brother dead, but they have information that can destroy the family that saved her from the life of an orphan. Recently widowed, lonely, and afraid Christina turns to learning how to shoot so that she can protect herself. If only her aim were better...but she unfortunately shot a man bringing her a different kind of message.
Captain Gavin Briggs is tired of fighting, tired of traveling, and just plain tired. Oh yeah and he is broke. When a broke man is offered money to find a missing heiress there is no way he would ever say no. But when Gavin meets the Lady Christina he is not so sure he got the better end of the bargain. Gavin agrees to help her find her brother to gain her cooperation to come meet her grandfather and her real sister. Christina is everything a lady should be and everything Gavin has always despised about them too. This woman is no docile girl. Christina argues with him at every turn, questions his very manhood and he knows that there isn't enough money in the world that would ever be enough for putting up with this family. So why does he want her more than he has ever wanted another woman in his life?
I will begin by stating that Christina, our heroine, is a true real to life high-society woman from the time period. I know that a lot of readers will not like this aspect of her, but Maguire makes her true to the time. She knows that Gavin is not socially acceptable for her, she argues with herself, her feelings, and with him trying (in vain) anything to push him away and not give in to the temptation that he makes.
Most romance books where the hero is not socially equal to the heroine do not make this an issue, yet in reality during this time there is no way a lady would ever consider a man who was not her equal. Most ladies shot higher than themselves for a husband. Christina has been brought up knowing her place and her duty. The decision to give in to her feelings is one that she does not reach lightly and I have to say I loved that fact.
If he could, Captain Gavin Briggs would forget his years as
an assassin in Englandβs war against France. Heβs seen
enough death and suffering to last a lifetime, and now all
he wants is some peace. But that peace comes with a heavy
price tag, and as the second son of a penniless viscount,
Gavin may just have to take on one last mission: locate an
estranged granddaughter for a dying duke, a peer with the
deepest of pocketsβ¦even if it means risking whatβs left of
his soul.
Christina, Lady Fairhaven, always knew her loving parents
had adopted her when she was very young, but she has never
imagined any other family. So when a letter arrives accusing
her troublesome brother of the worst of deeds, she will not
rest until she sees her brother safe and the blackmailer in
chains.
But when Gavin arrives telling her of her true heritage,
Christina engages in a bit of blackmail of her own: sheβll
return with him to her grandfather if heβll first help take
on the blackguard threatening her family. With peace nearly
in his grasp, Gavin agrees, but as they get ever closer to
their quarry, a spark of attraction grows into something so
much more⦠and Christina and Gavin realize that happiness
may come at a greater cost then theyβd ever imagined.
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