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bandherbooks 's review for:
Thief of Shadows
by Elizabeth Hoyt
Re-read for #ButDoTheyBang in March 2022 - still a fav of the series for me. I love seeing an uptight starchy man get unraveled and taken over by love. Lady Isabel is such a babe.
Thief of Shadows is the book which inspired my current Maiden Lane binge. Sold to me simply as "Virgin Batman," I was breathlessly awaiting my copy of which I ordered from Love's Sweet Arrow (I could NOT wait six months for my Overdrive hold).
If you have not read the other three ML books and want to remain unspoiled for the identity of the masked Harlequin, stop reading here.
CW: Violence involving stabbing, guns, blood, wounds. Child endangerment (most implied, some described but in the past, discussion of children being sold for sex), miscarriage (in the past). Discussion of difficulty in pregnancy, use of "barren."
Still with me? Okay. The last pages of Scandalous Desires revealed the identity of the "Ghost of St. Gile" as WINTER MAKEPEACE. I had my suspicions from the start, as the stoic, sober, and buttoned up Winter definitely had some secrets he was holding repressed from his family and friends. Ho ho ho. Does he ever.
I was also very intrigued by he and Lady Isabel's verbal banter in the previous book, and it paid off big time in this story. A classic opposites attract, how could Hoyt ever pull off an HEA for a worldly, aristocratic widow with the vigilante VIRGIN commoner? How?!
How indeed. You'll have to read to find out, but this story was absolutely everything. Isabel is the epitome of exasperated, prickly over it all-ness but with a huge heart of gold, who can pick up a almost dead body off the road and plunk it in her carriage. She has pistols hidden under her cushions, but also loves a luxurious gown. She's hiding behind a mask of genteel womanhood and fun, while also protecting the very real hurts she experienced trying to have children.
And Winter. Oh Winter. I loved watching him unravel for Isabel, fearing she was falling for The Ghost of St. Giles, the Harlequin, but never himself, hidden under many of his own masks.
There are so many great lines and I have a print copy so it was hard to write them down, darn guess I'll need to reread.
What else did I love? Oh, the behind the curtains blow job, the delicious sex scene in the carriage, Winter and Isabel figuring each other out in bed. Winter holding Isabel after she tries to scare away his love. Winter being annoyed he finds Isabel's silly clock adorable. Oh so much. Definitely going on the keeper shelf!
Thief of Shadows is the book which inspired my current Maiden Lane binge. Sold to me simply as "Virgin Batman," I was breathlessly awaiting my copy of which I ordered from Love's Sweet Arrow (I could NOT wait six months for my Overdrive hold).
If you have not read the other three ML books and want to remain unspoiled for the identity of the masked Harlequin, stop reading here.
CW: Violence involving stabbing, guns, blood, wounds. Child endangerment (most implied, some described but in the past, discussion of children being sold for sex), miscarriage (in the past). Discussion of difficulty in pregnancy, use of "barren."
Still with me? Okay. The last pages of Scandalous Desires revealed the identity of the "Ghost of St. Gile" as WINTER MAKEPEACE. I had my suspicions from the start, as the stoic, sober, and buttoned up Winter definitely had some secrets he was holding repressed from his family and friends. Ho ho ho. Does he ever.
I was also very intrigued by he and Lady Isabel's verbal banter in the previous book, and it paid off big time in this story. A classic opposites attract, how could Hoyt ever pull off an HEA for a worldly, aristocratic widow with the vigilante VIRGIN commoner? How?!
How indeed. You'll have to read to find out, but this story was absolutely everything. Isabel is the epitome of exasperated, prickly over it all-ness but with a huge heart of gold, who can pick up a almost dead body off the road and plunk it in her carriage. She has pistols hidden under her cushions, but also loves a luxurious gown. She's hiding behind a mask of genteel womanhood and fun, while also protecting the very real hurts she experienced trying to have children.
And Winter. Oh Winter. I loved watching him unravel for Isabel, fearing she was falling for The Ghost of St. Giles, the Harlequin, but never himself, hidden under many of his own masks.
There are so many great lines and I have a print copy so it was hard to write them down, darn guess I'll need to reread.
What else did I love? Oh, the behind the curtains blow job, the delicious sex scene in the carriage, Winter and Isabel figuring each other out in bed. Winter holding Isabel after she tries to scare away his love. Winter being annoyed he finds Isabel's silly clock adorable. Oh so much. Definitely going on the keeper shelf!