The utterly charming Emily Leverton has a dark past and is determined to leave it behind in her respectable new role as a governess. But when she is recruited by a secret network of governesses who spy on the ton, it may just be a way to redeem the dark secrets of her past.
Straddling the worlds of the ton and the working class, as an ex-solider turned railroad magnate, Zach hunts killers for the Metropolitan Police by day and dutifully attends balls at night. In neither world has he met a woman with the brazenness to mock him. So when a saucy governess blows him a kiss he is determined to catch her, never expecting that when he does he will find an intelligent, quirky woman hiding more than her true name. As Zach peels back the layers of Emily’s lies, he falls for the street-wise woman who handles a dagger like a pro and kisses like a mistress. But when his affair with Emily intertwines with his hunt for a killer, he discovers Emily is hiding an explosive secret—one that could destroy them both.
Never Blow A Kiss by Lindsay Lovise is the first book in a series that will keep readers coming back for more. I know that I will certainly be one of those readers. Never Blow A Kiss is a five star read from a new and, very promising, author.
Emily Leverton is struggling to keep her job as a governess. She is not a particularly good governess as any training she had was from the streets of the London slums and not from any finishing school. But being a governess meant having honest work unlike her mother or father had ever engaged in. Her ineptitude eventually got her fired but she was soon approached by a woman who only identified herself as The Dove. The Dove runs an exclusive agency of governesses whose real charge is to gather information about her employers.
Emily’s latest assignment brings her directly in the path of Zachariah Denholm. Like Emily, he is not all he seems to be. He is a self-made man whose wealth has gained him entry into many of the balls and soirees of the Ton. An ex-soldier, he has lent his expertise to the Metropolitan police as a detective constable. Not a bad resume for a butcher’s son who hailed from the same streets as Emily.
Their chance meeting across a ballroom sparks Zach’s interest when Emily blows him a kiss. Color him intrigued at this point. He follows her several times and learns that Emily is not the dreary governess she appears to be. Throughout they discover they each harbor secrets about their lives and in Emily’s case, her very identity. It also turns out they are also both in pursuit of an increasingly dangerous killer.
The mystery they are embroiled in is just one layer of this story. Their verbal sparring and increasing attraction to one another keeps the story and pages flying. As you can imagine, the identity and story behind The Dove and her band of governesses is what will bring this reader back for more of this author. I will be looking forward to the next book and more of this brilliant series and author.
Sounds terrific!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an enjoyable book as well as an introduction to an intriguing series. Thank you for the review and recommendation.
ReplyDelete