Review by Booklist Review
The curriculum for Miss Concordia Glade's classroom has expanded from languages and social graces to explosives because that's the only way she can think of to get her charges out of their castle/prison before something terrible happens. Concordia not only destroys the building but also has to kill a thug who attacks her and her girls as they try to escape. Gentleman thief turned private investigator Ambrose Wells, who's at Aldwick Castle to look into other matters, can't believe what he's seeing, and spirits Concordia and the four teens away to the safety of his London townhouse. Concordia, like other heroines created by Quick (a pen name for Jayne Ann Krentz), is a strong feminist who gets herself into a plethora of trouble and is equally adept at saving herself. These traits frustrate alpha male Ambrose, even as he reluctantly admires her courage, ingenuity, and resourcefulness. As the heinous tale unfolds, villains appear at every turn, from the mean streets of Victorian England to the opulent parlors of London's upper crust, but Ambrose and Concordia will do anything to keep the girls safe. As always, Quick's trademark wit and humor run gracefully throughout this suspenseful and satisfying novel, and fans and new readers alike will fall for the newest additions to Quick's impressive collection of characters. --Shelley Mosley Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) gives her fans what they want in her latest historical romance, set in a movieland Victorian England. Concordia Glade, a teacher with past secrets and unconventional ideas about educating women, meets Ambrose Wells, a "private inquiry agent" with secrets of his own and an unusual tattoo, as she and her four orphaned pupils flee Aldwick Castle, which they have set on fire to hide their escape. Ambrose escorts the lovely fugitives to safety, protecting them from the criminal mastermind and his aristocratic partner who'd kept them as part of a dastardly plan to use them for profit and pleasure. Concordia returns the favor by helping Ambrose investigate the mysterious death of a London woman. Courteous, daring, resourceful, Concordia and Ambrose can't wait to ravish each other repeatedly. Who but Quick (The Paid Companion, etc.) finds such joy in chestnuts such as the boy thief mentored by the rich man he tries to rob? Or the dilettante solving cases Scotland Yard can't? Quick plunges into every clich? ("Sensation after sensation coursed through her, leaving no room for uncertainty, let alone any sense of modesty"), but energizes her fluid narration with modern sensibilities, gutsy leads and romantic excesses. There's nothing new here, but that's part of Quick's great appeal. Agent, Steve Axelrod. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Concordia Glade is hired to teach four orphans at Aldwick Castle but soon suspects that there's evil afoot and decides to spirit away her charges. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Ambrose ravishes Concordia. And so goes another historical romance from the remarkably prolific Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz), author of equally numerous contemporary thrillers. In this Victorian-era mystery, freethinking governess Concordia Gale rescues her charges from certain ruin. Hired to teach four orphans at a remote castle, Concordia soon discovers the mysterious benefactor's nefarious plan: to auction off the young ladies to the highest bidder. In a MacGyver-like move, Concordia blows up the castle and she and the girls escape, with the unexpected help of Ambrose Wells, a private inquiry agent brought to the castle for his own investigations. Ambrose brings Concordia and the girls back to his stately London manse for safe keeping--the crime lord behind the auction will stop at nothing--nothing!--to get the girls back. Meanwhile, Ambrose and Concordia act on their passion. Indeed, ever since Ambrose first spied her "charmingly rounded derriere" on horseback, the two have been practicing the fine art of flirtation. And they soon discover they have much in common. Concordia is the illegitimate daughter of two radical free-thinkers, and was raised in their community of like-minded intellectuals. This makes Concordia determined and worldly. A rumored sex-scandal at the commune has ruined Concordia's reputation, and she must hide her past at all costs. Likewise, Ambrose comes from a long line of swindlers and as an orphaned teenager became a master burglar, skills he now uses as an investigator. Reformed by the wealthy Mr. Stoner (whose house he lives in, whose heir he is), Ambrose spent years in Asia studying the ancient ways of the Vanza from monks. This makes Ambrose mysterious and disciplined. After some undercover investigations (Ambrose and Concordia are now working as a team, which may indicate sequels to come), a few murders and explanations all around, Ambrose and Concordia consummate their relationship amid the ferns in the conservatory. For fans of Quick, certainly another pleaser as romance and murder and silk flounces abound. For the uninitiated, beware: the purple prose is only a few footsteps away from high camp. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
