Through the Smoke by Brenda Novak

In the beginning I just knew I was hooked after reading the first few sentences. "He'd kill her. Just as soon as he could get his hands around her delicate neck, he'd stop the black heart that beat beneath all that misleading beauty and put an end to his own misery." Now if that's not one hell of a way to start a book then I don't know what is but then I became a little conflicted. As I read on I just wasn't sure if I was going to be able to really get into it. I was wrong. Let's start with Rachel's character, while I do admire a person trying to honor their deceased loved ones wishes and the place in which you come from, sometimes I felt as if Rachel had WAY TO MUCH pride and although I am aware the author wanted to portray her this way I still felt like it was a bit much and at times it got on my nerves. I wanted to scream at her and say go for it, give in to your desires and to hell with what everyone else thinks! Truman and Rachel seemed to be taking forever to actually let themselves be together so I was extremely proud when Rachel was the one who finally said screw it and made a move. I wanted to jump for joy. Truman (Lord Druridge) is actually a very caring and compassionate person which is exactly the opposite of everything your lead to believe in the beginning and I have to say for me personally I liked his character, he was a very presistant man and I enjoyed seeing that quality as he tried to find the person that was responsible for the fire and while he persued Rachel. Let me say that although this is a romance, there is another dynamic than just the relationship between the earl and the shopkeeper. There is a bit of mystery while Truman tries to save himself from the gallows by finding the true killer of lady Katherine (even though it is pretty obvious from early on who that is.) I was rather surprised when the truth about the accomplace was revealed. That was a pretty good twist in my opinion. So with that let me add that I am not that big of a fan when it comes to romance novels but this one I would recommend to anyone, rather your a romance fan or not. It definitely proved itself worthy of my time!