The Merchant and the Rogue by Sarah M. Eden (The Dread Penny Society #3)

London, 1865. Brogan Donnelly has been summoned by the leader of The Dread Penny Society, a group of writers who support their good deeds by writing penny dreadfuls. The Dread Master has a secretive job for Brogan. He must pretend to leave The Dread Penny Society so that he can go undercover to figure out what's going on between a local printer, who is a Russian immigrant, and the Russian Ambassador. To serve this purpose, he gets a job helping out in the print shop of the Russian immigrant, which is mostly run by daughter Vera Sorokina while her father solicits printing orders and fulfills them. 

Unexpectedly finding himself drawn to Vera, Brogan (now going by the name "Ganor O'Donnell") is dismayed to find that Vera and her father are not fans of people who write, in spite of stocking penny dreadfuls in their shop. And, he's even more horrified to realize that he is falling for her under false pretenses. 

When the problem with the ambassador becomes more complicated and he realizes it may be tied to another issue (spoiler, sorry), Brogan must come up with a plan to save the neighborhood, find the culprits, and redeem himself in the eyes of the woman he loves. 

This is the second book I've read from The Dread Penny Society series; I missed the first. As in the previous title, The Gentleman and the Thief, there are chapters from two separate penny dreadfuls interspersed within the pages of the main storyline. One is about a natural history museum from which display animals are being stolen. The other is about a candy shop proprietor who finds herself in an unexpected battle with a very dangerous man who hints of another world with the yucky smell and strange sounds that appear when he's near. 

Recommended - When I read The Gentleman and the Thief, I mentioned that it stood alone just fine and I enjoyed the penny dreadful stories interspersed throughout the book. The same is true of The Merchant and the Rogue; I like the concept a lot. I had to work at transitioning from one story to another a little harder than normal because I'm going through a particularly bad bout of insomnia but shifting gears between main storyline and penny dreadful chapters was definitely worth the effort. If the "story within a story" trope bugs you, this series is not for you. But, if you're fine with it and even enjoy the concept, as I do, Sarah Eden's writing is marvelous and captivating, romantic and complex enough to satisfy those who prefer a slightly meatier story. 

I did have one minor issue with this particular installment. I never did understand why it was necessary for Brogan to pretend to leave The Dread Penny Society and keep his work secret from them. But, it was not something that ruined the experience for me. 

My thanks to Shadow Mountain for the review copy!

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis (Wildstone #4)

It's been years since I've read a Jill Shalvis book. Anyone out there remember Harlequin Duets? They were paperback books that contained two romantic comedies and I loved them. I'm almost certain that's where I discovered Jill Shalvis's writing.

In Almost Just Friends, Piper raised her siblings, works in EMS, and is fixing up the Victorian lake house and nearby cabins they own in preparation for selling. Her plan is to split the proceeds, go back to school to become a physician's assistant, and help her sister pay for college and her brother get a nice place of his own.

Then, all of a sudden, things change. During a massive storm, Piper goes to check on her diabetic neighbor and meets his handsome son, Camden. Piper is a little stunned to find herself attracted to Cam. Then, both her brother and sister, Gavin and Winnie, return home to stay. But, everyone has a secret and nobody wants to let Piper know what's going on. So, while her younger siblings are trying to work out what's next for them and the handsome neighbor is keeping at least one of their secrets, Piper begins to realize that maybe she has some work to do on communicating with her family, especially when it turns out they don't want to sell out the property at all.

I had some issues with Almost Just Friends, the main one being Camden's job. I couldn't make heads or tails of his combination of jobs. He's in the Coast Guard but he also gets called away on active duty for something-or-other. Or, maybe he gets called out on Coast Guard missions that are dangerous? It just confused me. I would have been happier if Camden had just had a normal job in the Coast Guard instead of the two conflicting things. I kept puzzling over how on earth the things he did worked together and whether they even made sense. At some point, I decided to try not to think too hard about what Camden even did for a living.

What I liked best about the story was the relationship between Piper and Camden, which quickly became one of comfort friends with benefits. They genuinely felt comfortable together and I felt like their relationship worked. I also liked the way the siblings fought. Sometimes, it was a little uncomfortably familiar, but I thought their arguments felt pretty realistic, if ridiculous.

Recommended but not a favorite - I really enjoyed Almost Just Friends, don't get me wrong, but there were little niggling things about it that bothered me – Camden's job, the timing of Winnie's issues, the pointless secrets being kept. And, at some point, it felt like the author tried to turn Piper's trauma into something similar for Camden. In other words, I felt like the story was uneven. But, I liked the romance and wanted the couple to get together. So, while Almost Just Friends is not my favorite book by Jill Shalvis, I still enjoyed it enough that I'd read more by her.

I received my copy of Almost Just Friends from HarperCollins for review. Thank you! Almost Just Friends is the 4th book in the Wildstone series but I have not read any of the other books and it stood alone just fine. So, if you're interested in the storyline, don't worry about the fact that it's a series book.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.