Imogen Waterstone has always prided herself on being a thoroughly independent young woman, but now she needs a man of implacable will and nerves of iron. That's why she invited Matthias Marshall, infamous Earl of Colchester, to her home in Upper Strickland. Who better than the legendary explorer to help her lay the perfect trap?
Her scheme is simple, really: She plans to let it be known that when she inherited her uncle's collection of antiquities, she also inherited a map to a fabulous ancient treasure. She's sure that her enemy would risk financial ruin in pursuit of the mythical artifact. And to make doubly sure the scoundrel took the bait, she wants Colchester to pretend that he's out to seduce Imogene so that he, too, could get his hands on her map.
Yet in all of her plotting, Imogene never anticipates Colchester's violent reaction to her request or her own electrifying reaction to him. Neither does she expect that a malevolent threat would emerge from the labyrinth of London--sinister enough to endanger her and Colchester's lives.
While a fun installment in her slightly alternative universe with the finding of a mysterious island called Zamar, which has captivated the historical period (which feels more victorian than regency), this somehow just didn't quite do it for me. I think that the pacing was a little off for me and I really didn't feel a sense of menace from the major bad character.
Imogen Waterstone has a plan to get her revenge on Vanneck, a man who married a friend and then broke her heart. Who also was involved in getting Imogen in disgrace. She turns to Matthias Marshall the Earl of Colchester for help and finds herself more involved than maybe she should.
It's fun, light and interesting but the characters never really came to life for me. Still it's a good one to borrow.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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2 December, 2008:
Finished reading
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2 December, 2008:
Reviewed