Tag: The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard

Review: A Private Duel with Agent Gunn by Jillian Stone

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Private Duel with Agent Gunn by Jillian StoneFormat read: ebook provided by Edelweiss
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback
Genre: Historical romance
Series: The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard #3
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Date Released: November 27, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Cunning, reclusive Yard man Phineas Gunn is as skilled at capturing surly criminals as he is at charming beautiful women. But the dashing agent’s latest assignment is really testing his mettle. Officially, he’s investigating beguiling prima ballerina Catriona de Dovia Willoughby, a suspected anarchist. Unofficially, his attraction to his devilish former flame is hotter than ever.

Unsure whether to trust the enigmatic lover who betrayed her once, Cate nevertheless enlists Finn’s help to recover some priceless family jewels. Their pursuit erupts into a cross-continental adventure that begins with a double cross and crackles with secrets, lies, and sexual tension. The crime is clear—breaking and entering each other’s hearts—but as the clock ticks down, who will be the first to surrender?

My Review:

There are two private duels with Agent Gunn in this story. Come to think of it, there are two Agent Gunns in this story, but that’s part of what makes it so delicious.

A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis by Jillian StoneThe senior Agent Gunn, and the older brother Agent Gunn, is Phineas Gunn. Readers have already become intrigued by his story in the previous books in this series, particularly in A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis (reviewed here). Phineas relates the entire sad story of how he lost his first love in a mess of operational lies (he also managed to get her brother killed) while on duty with Special Branch in France.

Since this is a second-chance-at-love story, that tragic first love returns to the scene. She might not have forgiven him for getting her brother killed, but the same operation that threw them into each other’s paths before has brought them together again.

Catherine Willoughby’s late brother Eduoardo was a Spanish anarchist, and his former associates are causing trouble in England and on the continent. The question that Special Branch needs Phineas Gunn to answer is whether Catherine Willoughby, or her more famous identity as the prima ballerina Catriona de Dovia, is somehow involved with the anarchists.

Cate needs Finn to help her rescue her brother from prison in France, without letting him know that he’s rescuing her brother from prison. Cate’s not certain that the information she’s been given about her brother’s whereabouts among the living are true, and she’s certainly not sure she can trust Finn.

After all, he lied to her about pretty much everything when they met. And he broke her heart. Not that she’ll ever let him know about that. She’s never forgotten him, and she’s never moved on.

He hasn’t either. While meeting her may have been an assignment, everything that happened between them was all too real. And once they are forced together again for the sake of this mission, it all happens again.

Is it real this time, or is someone being played?

Escape Rating B+: There are two duels. Cate and Finn are dueling with each other through the course of the story, trying to figure out what parts of what they tell each other are real, and which parts are pure invention. Neither of them is ever quite sure which is which until the very end. The emotions are real, but because their entire relationship is built on one fabrication after another, they find it difficult to trust each other, and with damn good reason.

The tension, not just sexual tension, but the pull of the adventure and the constant need to figure out which way to jump, never lets up.

Finn Gunn’s younger brother Hardy also wants to become an agent, and he’s gotten himself into a bit of a mess. Hardy does get into an actual duel, which Finn stops by means of some very fancy sharp-shooting. So there is a real duel in the middle of the story. (Hardy will get his own story later.)

King Solomon's Mines by H Rider HaggardThere are a lot of very fanciful characters in this one, in addition to the Agents. It reads like a wild Victorian adventure tale, King Solomon’s Mines, or something larger than life. This series gets more fun as it goes, and I can’t wait for the next one.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: A Lesson in Chemistry with Inspector Bruce by Jillian Stone

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
A Lesson in Chemistry with Inspector Bruce by Jillian StoneFormat read: ebook provided by Edelweiss
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Historical romance, Romantic suspense
Series: The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard, #2.5
Length: 123 pages
Publisher: Pocket Star
Date Released: November 6, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

Inspector Archie Bruce, who runs the newly formed Scotland Yard crime laboratory, is suddenly shifted from his duties behind the scenes to directly in the line of fire. When mysterious happenings in the laboratory seem threatening, a local pharmacist’s beautiful daughter might be just the one to help him solve the mystery. Can Archie solve the crime in time to protect the Yard and get the girl?

My Review:

Part of the fun of the Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series are the glimpses of the development of forensics along with the spying, the adventure and the romance involved in the series.

Two of the key players in the forensic side of the equation are Inspector Archibald Bruce, the head of the criminology lab, and the Yard Dog, Arnold, named for Arnold Nobel of Nobel Prize fame.

Arnold the dog sniffs out bombs and bomb components. Not only is he incredibly important to investigations, Arnold also seems to be a sweetie of a dog. He’s one of my favorite characters. Of course, he’s also the progenitor for bomb-sniffing dogs everywhere.

In this novella, Inspector Bruce and Arnold are nearly killed by a bomb in the lab. The bomb wasn’t planted, it was there to be inspected, but he’s not sure who set it off or how. He’s worried that one of the criminals that Special Branch is currently investigating might have an inside man on the job. Someone who wants to obliterate evidence or investigators before they can be caught.

Meanwhile, Inspector Bruce is also teaching a University course for those planning to take their major exam in chemistry. One of his students just happens to be a young woman he’s encountered before: Miss Fiona A. Rose. At a costume ball at Edinburgh University three years ago, they shared one unforgettable kiss, but she didn’t remove her mask or give her real name.

More importantly, Fiona, and her entire family, own a pharmacy and chemist’s shop. Her father is willing to assist Special Branch on a solution to the problem of transporting fingerprints for analysis, if Archie Bruce will tutor Fiona for her chemistry final.

While Mr. Rose assists Special Branch with fingerprinting, Fiona finds herself assisting on the bomb investigation. And Archie and Fiona discover themselves in a mutual tutorial of more personal subjects.

Unfortunately the bomber takes advantage of their distraction!

Escape Rating B: This one was a great teaser, but because it is a novella it doesn’t have the depth of the full-length entries in the series.

It is still a fun read, and I enjoyed seeing the criminology lab brought to the forefront for a short story.

Unfortunately, it was a bit too obvious who the villain would be. However, that did not distract from the sweetness of the love story between Archie and Fiona.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: A Dangerous Liaison With Detective Lewis by Jillian Stone

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis by Jillian StoneFormat read: ebook purchased from Amazon
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback
Genre: Historical romance
Series: The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard, #2
Length: 432 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Date Released: August 28, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

The fates had been perversely mischievous of late—case in point, Raphael Lewis…

When Fanny Greyville-Nugent’s father suffers a gruesome death in the clutches of his own machine, mourning his loss is not the beautiful heiress’s only heartbreak. Scotland Yard is convinced he was targeted in a plot to halt the rise of industry, and Fanny’s former fiancé, dashing and dubious detective Raphael “Rafe” Lewis, has been assigned to the case.

For the estranged ex-lovers, bringing the notorious assassins to justice proves as tumultuous as quelling pent-up desires. Fighting peril and passion at every turn of a dangerous journey from Edinburgh to London, they are pursued by an anarchist group hell-bent on destroying her father’s mysterious entry into the London Industrial Exposition.

When an astonishing discovery about the couple’s failed engagement surfaces, the sleuthing duo realize they can trust no one. Rafe confesses new details about his infidelity and Fanny risks all to avenge her father’s murder. But will Rafe and Fanny triumph over the pain of their past?

My Review:

An Affair with Mr. Kennedy by Jillian StoneThis second entry in Jillian Stone’s Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series (after An Affair with Mr. Kennedy, reviewed by me at Book Lovers Inc.) is a marvelous take on the second chance at love story, with a thrilling adventure added to give the tale a delicious amount of spice.

Ms. Stone definitely loves to add all kinds of spice to her stories!

In the case of this tale, there are two kinds, one is the “run for your life” kind of adventure, and the other is the constant sexual tension between Rafe Lewis and Fanny Greyville-Nugent while they are doing that running.

They used to be engaged. The bad news is that they had to break it off. The good news is that neither of them ever got over it. Back to the bad news again, Fanny has never known why the engagement was broken. Their romantic situation is, not just messy, but contains way too many secrets that need to come out.

But all that bad history makes Fanny disinclined to put up with an ounce of Rafe ordering her around, even when it comes to all too real threats to her safety. Someone is murdering industrialists in spectacularly gory ways, including Fanny’s father. Now that Fanny has inherited his company, Fanny is next on the bloody list.

Except that the murderer seems to have more dastardly plans for Fanny than mere murder. And somewhere amongst the trains, horse-thieving, and coach-riding involved in running for Fanny’s life, Rafe and Fanny discover that the love they had for each other years ago still burns under her disillusionment and his attempts to forget. And under all those buried secrets.

If they survive, can they have the future they might have had? Or did they kill it with their lies?

Escape Rating B: This Dangerous Liaison was every bit as much fun as the Affair with Mr. Kennedy. One of the highlights of the series contnues to be that the women are equally involved in their careers, no matter how untraditional that might have been for the time. It makes the characters much more entertaining, and makes them the equal of the heroes in the adventure.

Although I must admit that Fanny’s frequent attempts at leaving protective custody always ended badly and seemed particularly ill-thought out. She generally seemed too sensible to keep getting in trouble that way, but it was necessary for the plot.

While I understood why Fanny eventually took Rafe back, and she certainly did make him pay, what I never fully got was why he got into the fix he did in the first place that started the whole sorry chain of events, because he got misled by some so-called friends. There was something not-quite right about what happened and it was cleared up all too easily at the end.

Private Duel with Agent Gunn by Jillian StoneThe very charismatic villain of the piece was explained a bit too anachronistically, with 21st century sympathy for his tragic circumstances.

But I still had a great time reading the book, and Ms. Stone was very sneaky about revealing that we are already invested in the hero of one of the later books. Hugo Curzon, who nearly charmed Cassie St. Cloud in book 1, turns out to be Agent Phineas Gunn of A Private Duel with Agent Gunn. Sneaky author.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.