“The words left her lips before she could second-guess them. But as they echoed in the room, Grace felt something shift. Not in Lillias—her sister’s expression was as stony as ever—but in herself. A growing sense of clarity, of purpose.”
While there were several standout quotes (including some delightfully funny ones), this one stuck with me the most. Grace lives for sleuthing, and in this installment of Pepper Basham’s historical romance series, she and her new husband, Frederick, are thrown into a murder investigation—with her sister Lillias as the prime suspect.
Grace shows such remarkable patience with Lillias! I almost wanted her to just fold her arms and watch her sister’s life unravel. But true to character, Grace remains calm and composed—only using her parasol as a weapon on other occasions.
The plot is full of twists and turns, including one midway through the book that’s as shocking as a typical climax—yes, it’s that good. I laughed out loud more than once, especially during the scene where Lillias argues that she can’t just toss her adopted daughter out the window. I’m a sucker for humor woven into action scenes, and this story delivers.
Little Zahara is so parentified, but I loved watching Grace and Frederick embrace her, love her, and model what real parenting looks like. This series continues to amaze, and if you enjoy clean or Christian historical romance with mystery and adventure, you’ll absolutely love this one too.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher. All words are my own.
About the Author:
Pepper Basham is a best-selling author who writes romance “peppered” with grace and humor. Writing both historical and contemporary novels, she loves to incorporate her native Appalachian culture and/or her unabashed adoration of the UK into her stories. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the wife of a fantastic pastor, mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus. Her twentieth book, The Cairo Curse, came out in February. Next up is Positively, Penelope, the sequel to her bestselling novel, Authentically, Izzy. She loves connecting with readers and other authors through social media outlets like Facebook & Instagram.
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