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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced
Plot: 4
Characters: 5
Romance: 5
Enjoyment: 4
Writing: 4
Other: 4
Characters: 5
Romance: 5
Enjoyment: 4
Writing: 4
Other: 4
Eve and Calum had so many issues!
I admired Eve that even at a young age found the courage to persue a friendship with a lad such as Calum.
It was heartbreaking reading about the events that led to end of that friendship.
Years later they meet under difficult circumstances. Eve is hiding from her brother and his schemes, and finds work as an accountant at Calum's gaming hell.
But Eve has to earn her spot as she was late for her interview and Calum is desperate to save the institution he founded with his brothers and sister.
I admired Eve's resourcefulness in securing the position, her professionalism and above all, her dedication to the children institution she fiercely protected.
I admired Calum for supporting Eve and having the courage to forgive her small deception and accept the fact, some things and people are important enough to fight for and change directions in life.
Eve and Calum learn to trust one another, to be bold and brave together and in the end, love conquered all.
I admired Eve that even at a young age found the courage to persue a friendship with a lad such as Calum.
It was heartbreaking reading about the events that led to end of that friendship.
Years later they meet under difficult circumstances. Eve is hiding from her brother and his schemes, and finds work as an accountant at Calum's gaming hell.
But Eve has to earn her spot as she was late for her interview and Calum is desperate to save the institution he founded with his brothers and sister.
I admired Eve's resourcefulness in securing the position, her professionalism and above all, her dedication to the children institution she fiercely protected.
I admired Calum for supporting Eve and having the courage to forgive her small deception and accept the fact, some things and people are important enough to fight for and change directions in life.
Eve and Calum learn to trust one another, to be bold and brave together and in the end, love conquered all.
Finally, an epilogue and it was so sweet!
My favorite book of the series. Since the first book Calum had captured my attention with his calmness and stealth. Eve was perfect for him, they were perfect for each other. Just everything about this book was amazing, I felt so much.
My favorite book of the series. Since the first book Calum had captured my attention with his calmness and stealth. Eve was perfect for him, they were perfect for each other. Just everything about this book was amazing, I felt so much.
I read this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review
Eve and Calum have a past. She was the daughter of a duke and he was a pickpocket, an orphan who used to hide in her stables, her childhood friend until one night Calum picked the wrong pocket and got stabbed to death… he took shelter once again in her stable and she, being only nine, looked for help… but instead of helping them, her older brother sent Calum to Newgate and requested that he hanged.
Some seventeen years later the duke died and Gerald got the title. A cruel man who, in the absence of their other brother, knowing that she was to inherit a vast sum when she came of age, he gave one of his ruthless friends permission to ruin her. She had to escape and assume a new identity, so she ends up looking for a job as a bookkeeper at a gambling club, discovering moments later that the owner is the very friend she had betrayed in her childhood, Calum is not dead.
None of them lived their lives in comfort; none of them were left undamaged by that one day. She’s lived her life in grief and regret, tortured by a brother who reminds her almost on a daily basis that her beloved friend hanged for her. Calum had to endure a time at prison and then had to live on the streets again until he and his kin gathered money enough to buy a gambling hell that made them prosper. He’s incapable of trusting anyone outside his kin and is bitter about the girl who betrayed him. He doesn’t recognize Eve when she knocks on his door, but there’s something about his new bookkeeper that makes him suspect her of something… is she a spy? A thief? Nevertheless his suspicions don’t stop him from falling in love with the mysterious woman… who seems to correspond.
Before Calum and Eve find their happy ending they’ll have to overcome their fears and trust each other. They will have to revisit that time and remember why they became friends in the first place, before that day tore them apart. And this was the part of the novel that I loved the most. The revisiting, the memories… how they found comfort in each other back then. And they both will have to deal with the fact that these seventeen years apart weren’t easy, for none of them. The moments when they are together, when they learn who the other has become now that they are adults, were my favorite. Eve is a great woman, strong and brave, even though she thinks she’s a coward. And Calum is a sweet kind man, the years on the streets and at Newgate didn’t make a cruel man of him, on the contrary; he is loving and supportive of his kin and then of Eve, protective but leaving her space to defend herself. He respects her and values her as a woman and that is something she is not used to.
However there was one particular thing that I as a reader didn’t like very much. It is the fact that towards the end when they are desperate, the other brother appears out of thin air. Kit, the brother who was never there suddenly comes back and saves the day. And this is a plot device that almost never works for me, especially because in that moment, Calum already had the solution to their problems at hand, making the ‘Deus Ex Machina’ unnecessary.
Overall, despite that scene, I enjoyed reading this novel very much. I read it in one sitting and because of it I now plan to read more books by Christi Caldwell.
Eve and Calum have a past. She was the daughter of a duke and he was a pickpocket, an orphan who used to hide in her stables, her childhood friend until one night Calum picked the wrong pocket and got stabbed to death… he took shelter once again in her stable and she, being only nine, looked for help… but instead of helping them, her older brother sent Calum to Newgate and requested that he hanged.
Some seventeen years later the duke died and Gerald got the title. A cruel man who, in the absence of their other brother, knowing that she was to inherit a vast sum when she came of age, he gave one of his ruthless friends permission to ruin her. She had to escape and assume a new identity, so she ends up looking for a job as a bookkeeper at a gambling club, discovering moments later that the owner is the very friend she had betrayed in her childhood, Calum is not dead.
None of them lived their lives in comfort; none of them were left undamaged by that one day. She’s lived her life in grief and regret, tortured by a brother who reminds her almost on a daily basis that her beloved friend hanged for her. Calum had to endure a time at prison and then had to live on the streets again until he and his kin gathered money enough to buy a gambling hell that made them prosper. He’s incapable of trusting anyone outside his kin and is bitter about the girl who betrayed him. He doesn’t recognize Eve when she knocks on his door, but there’s something about his new bookkeeper that makes him suspect her of something… is she a spy? A thief? Nevertheless his suspicions don’t stop him from falling in love with the mysterious woman… who seems to correspond.
Before Calum and Eve find their happy ending they’ll have to overcome their fears and trust each other. They will have to revisit that time and remember why they became friends in the first place, before that day tore them apart. And this was the part of the novel that I loved the most. The revisiting, the memories… how they found comfort in each other back then. And they both will have to deal with the fact that these seventeen years apart weren’t easy, for none of them. The moments when they are together, when they learn who the other has become now that they are adults, were my favorite. Eve is a great woman, strong and brave, even though she thinks she’s a coward. And Calum is a sweet kind man, the years on the streets and at Newgate didn’t make a cruel man of him, on the contrary; he is loving and supportive of his kin and then of Eve, protective but leaving her space to defend herself. He respects her and values her as a woman and that is something she is not used to.
However there was one particular thing that I as a reader didn’t like very much. It is the fact that towards the end when they are desperate, the other brother appears out of thin air. Kit, the brother who was never there suddenly comes back and saves the day. And this is a plot device that almost never works for me, especially because in that moment, Calum already had the solution to their problems at hand, making the ‘Deus Ex Machina’ unnecessary.
Overall, despite that scene, I enjoyed reading this novel very much. I read it in one sitting and because of it I now plan to read more books by Christi Caldwell.
adventurous
emotional
sad
This was my least favourite of the series, despite Callum being one of my favourite characters because the heroine just wasn’t quite as inspiring. I also could have done with a bit more at the end - the epilogue wasn’t enough! I wanted a more thorough resolution to their differences and the struggles they faced rather than just a declaration of love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes