Firelight
Miranda Ellis' life is not what she dreamed of. Instead of going to balls, falling in love, she has to steal so that she could support herself and her father.
She is so tired of it all, but when the opportunity comes to change it, she's not delighted. You see, her way out includes marriage to a man most people are terrified of. After all, no innocent man wanders around town masked.
Marries him she does, but all the while she feels that there's something good about her husband, or so she tries to convince herself.
The moonstone ring he gave her
Fortunately for her, her suspicion is correct, Benjamin Archer, her husband is a good man, a man whom the fate didn't treat kindly. But now the time has come for things to come to a conclusion.
I like Archer a lot. He has suffered more than any man should, but he stayed honorable and good. His only weakness is the desire for the loneliness to end. That and the dream of a courageous young woman who might just be brave enough to love him.
Miranda's life hasn't been the best either. With the lack of money, the stealing, and lets not forget her curse (or a gift, whichever you want to call it), it would finally be the time for things to go her way. She's also tough and stubborn, but Ben loves her anyway.
They are both scared of truly caring for someone, but love can't be denied. I like how they slowly learned to trust. Their secrets were big, but eventually they shared them, even though Miranda had to nudge (okay, push) Archer into giving up his. :-)
I have to say that I didn't guess what Archer was (as a matter of fact, I was way off base) or who the villain was. So the suspense part was great as well.
I wish that more time was dedicated to their HEA. It was a big jump from the showdown to a society ball from the epilogue. And yeah, learning more about Martin (Miranda's ex-fiancee) would've been nice, they never actually talked about that even though Miranda wasn't a virgin. But those are just minor complaints.
After reading some of my friend's reviews and hearing that Nalini Singh recommended it, I had high expectations. I'm glad to say that the book lived up to them.
I'm looking forward to Moonglow, the next book in the series.
Rating:
4.5 stars