Sandy M’s review of Through the Smoke by Brenda Novak
Historical Romance published by Montlake Romance 15 Oct 13
For my very first book by Brenda Novak, I definitely picked up the right one. I love the Gothic feel of the storyline, which reminds me of all of the Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney books I read as a teenager. The main characters are from two different worlds, and amid a mystery with dangerous tendrils, they come together with the universe working against them.
When we meet the earl of Druridge, he’s on a rampage. Arriving home with ill intent on his mind, he’s ready to confront his wife about her perfidy and adulterous ways. What he finds stops him short and eventually places him under suspicion even months later. He’s determined to clear his name before his former in-laws have him behind bars forever. That opening few pages are perfectly done to set the tone for the book, especially when all the twists and turns show up.
Rachel is the daughter of a coal miner, and she’s walking in her father’s footsteps, trying to unionize the local mines, which are owned by the Earl, while she also runs the family bookshop. Having thought she’d given all the information she has to answer the Earl’s questions about the mines and her father, it seems fate keeps throwing her in the Earl’s path. Then when she has no other choice, Rachel approaches him to help with her sick mother, and from there things are an up-and-down ride for these two as they navigate the swirling waters of attraction.
Even with that bit of attraction between them, their relationship is slow to build. It’s out of the blue when Rachel goes from not knowing if Druridge is guilty to believing without a doubt he definitely is not. Druridge at first keeps his station in mind when wanting Rachel. He can want her all he wants, he just can’t keep her. Even when she comes to his household to work, he tries his best to keep his distance. But when he discovers how she’s being treated, the first of his feelings come to the fore. But he’s an abrupt and abrasive man, and it takes a bit before you see the real Earl. I love him to death, though, when he throws caution to the wind to defy all the constrictions that control their lives.
The mystery surrounding Druridge’s wife’s death is always present, and the reader is given a few culprits to keep them guessing. The last scene that has Rachel in danger and Druridge doing everything in his power to save her is one huge heart-pounding time. This is the type of historical romance I want to read now and again, when the hero says, “Screw it, I love her, I’m having her” and he does just that, no matter what Society will say about it all. He doesn’t give a damn because now he’ll be happier than he’s ever been in his life.
Grade: B
Summary:
A shocking betrayal…
Riches. Power. An ancient heritage of pride. The Earl of Druridge wanted only for an heir. So when he learned that his wife was carrying another man’s child, he was filled with a thirst for vengeance.
But he wasn’t the one who caused Katherine’s death. Or was he? To his horror, he remembers nothing of that dreadful night, when their last confrontation ended in scorching flame and cold blood.
A forbidden love…
Rachel McTavish, the beautiful daughter of a coal miner, knows something about the fire that took Lady Katherine’s life. In secret, the strong-willed girl strikes a bargain with the desperate earl: he must send his physician to help her dying mother or he may go to the devil—and the scaffold. He agrees, but she is still unsure that her revelation will be enough to save him when so many wish him dead.
Passionately drawn to the nobleman, despite all the doubt and mystery that shrouds him, Rachel wonders if he can really be a murderer. Or if he is the only man who will ever own her heart…
Read an excerpt.
