Moonstone Conspiracy (Moonstone Romances, #2)

by Elizabeth Ellen Carter

[stacey_is_sassy]

You must look past the cover.

Moonstone Conspiracy was started with my usual lack of preparation. Bloody hell…why do I do this to myself??? I’m a hearts and flowers kind of chick, so when I started this story to find out that the immoral, conniving and manipulative Abigail from Moonstone Obsession was the heroine, I was less than pleased. So judgemental and narrow-minded Sassy (moi) starts this story with her nose in the air and huffed and gruffed at the author thinking there is no way Ms Carter can change MY mind.

The first half of the story I was still very much in the A leopard can’t change her spots mindframe because Abigail was still up to her old tricks. Then I started to look a little closer and my toffee-nosed, judgemental self noticed a little bit of vulnerability in Abigail. When we see that she’s not as tough as she seems, you can’t help but start to feel a little sympathy for her (not too much mind you, she still does dodgy stuff) and admire her for keeping her head high under assault.

Abigail has been recruited (blackmailed) by the government to try and uncover plots against England. The story is set in the time of the French Revolution. We see how the English spy’s slip in and out of society to uncover the dastardly plots before they have a chance to strike. One of Abigail’s contacts is Daniel Ridgeway and from the very beginning they are attracted to each other. Abigail has plans that don’t include love and Daniel is solely focused on his career and finding out the fate of his best friend and colleague Jonathon, who is over in France. The two must work together and the more time they spend in each others company, the more their attraction grows. There were plenty of steamy scenes and I enjoyed seeing their connection grow. Daniel is struggling with himself over his feelings for an old love, and the deep feelings that develop for Abigail. Is he over his old love? Will what he has to offer be enough for Abigail?

I really enjoyed the intrigue in Moonstone Conspiracy. I wanted to know what their next assignment would be and who would be involved. When the couple go to France and we see what the people suffered through, and how corrupt the government had become, you can't help but sympathise with them. The atrocities the characters witnessed, made my skin crawl. I can’t imagine seeing someone face the guillotine and hearing the excitement when the job is done.

Overall, the story is fast paced, but a bit long with two parts to the story. I never lost interest, but found it harder to slog through when life insisted on getting in the way. I ended up loving both of the characters and thought Ms Carter did a great job of changing my mind about Abigail. If I could find fault with Moonstone Conspiracy, I would have to say it was the book cover. I do not think it represented the story or the characters well. To be honest, it turned me off the story and didn’t show it in a flattering light. I would hate to think that readers overlooked it because of the cover. The story is well written and it was obvious that the author had studied her subject thoroughly.

I received a complimentary copy of this story from the author for an honest review.

To buy Moonstone Conspiracy from Amazon - http://amzn.to/1PXhPvi