I love stories of fated love. I truly believe that two hearts meant to be together will always find each other, no matter the circumstances keeping them apart. This story definitely puts the boomerang of love to the test.
Not what I expected, literally.
Before I delve into my review of this book, I want to address the elephant in the room: THIS IS NOT A REVOLUTIONARY WAR ERA BOOK! And I had no idea, which kind of bugged me. This book actually deals with the war of 1812.
How could I have made such an error? Well, while I was prepared to take full embarrassment and blame, after taking another look at the book details on Amazon where I initially found it, I’d say the marketing was vague. The book turned up in a search for revolutionary war romances, the description mentions Washington burning, conflict between Americans and Brits, and features “Rebel” in the title, which just about all revolutionary reads do, but does not actually mention what war the story takes place in.
Therefore, I hope I can be forgiven for the mislabeling in my reading list. OK, on to the review:
What I loved about this book
Friends to lovers. I know this is an established trope in the romance world, but I haven’t seen it all that often in historical works, and not laid out as it is in this book. Firstly, while our main characters grew up together, their lives diverged big-time in their teenage years, leaving a massive gap to overcome. Theirs isn’t simply a story of viewing a long-time friend in a new light, each of our characters has grown through difficult circumstances and must accept the ugly aspects of each other’s pasts if their love is going to be viable.
I liked that the author kept their ease with each other but still made the characters realistic. They each know that life didn’t pause while they were apart and realize they have a difficult journey ahead of them. They each have to do some soul searching and come to conclusions about themselves, which they do in a very mature way that reflects the hardships they’ve gone through.
This book is packed with action and tension that keeps the pages turning and paints a vivid picture of tradition, loyalties, and diversity in early America. The author gave just the right mix of modernism and historical accuracy (with one possible exception, see below) for me to really enjoy the complexity of the setting.
I also found the editing and character development (to include minor characters) to be very good, there were no glaring errors that made me pause in my reading, which always amounts to brownie points from me.
Things I didn’t love
There were only two items in this book that rubbed me slightly wrong. One was our heroine’s outspokenness against slavery. While I find it perfectly believable that she would stand against the practice, and had no problem whatsoever with her backstory (Jamaican plantation owner’s wife, freed several slaves and moved with them to America), there was one scene which I felt was a bit dicey. In this scene, a slave owner offers refuge to her and our hero, and she very nearly picks an argument that could get them booted out. The way the author managed to diffuse this pending battle of beliefs felt much too easy for such a loaded topic, and therefore lost some of the realism for me.
The second item was the foreshadowing of danger cropping up from the heroine’s past. The first time she says “I thought I saw…” I knew what was going to happen and just got annoyed whenever that sentiment came up again trying to be mysterious.
Overall, though, these are minor blips in an otherwise riveting book.
Do I recommend it?
I definitely enjoyed this read and will be adding Ms. Putney to my regular reading list. To start off with, several of the other books in this series looked interesting, so don’t be surprised if you see them in future reviews!
Despite the slightly misleading description, I found this story to be very well put together, with several surprise twists that keep the reader interested throughout. I’d recommend it to any regency reader willing to shake things up with a little Americana here and there.
The Official info
As Washington burns, Callista Brooke is trapped in the battle between her native England and her adopted homeland. She is on the verge of losing everything, including her life, when a handsome Englishman cuts through the violent crowd to claim that she is his. Callie falls into her protector’s arms, recognizing that he is no stranger, but the boy she’d once loved, a lifetime ago.
Lord George Gordon Audley had been Callie’s best friend, and it was to Gordon she turned in desperation to avoid a loathsome arranged marriage. But the repercussions of his gallant attempt to rescue her sent Callie packing to Jamaica, and Gordon on a one way trip to the penal colony of Australia.
Against all odds, Gordon survived. Finding Callie is like reclaiming his tarnished soul, and once again he vows to do whatever is necessary to protect her and those she loves. But the innocent friendship they shared as children has become a dangerous passion that may save or destroy them when they challenge the aristocratic society that exiled them both . . .