One of Alexandra Vasti’s frequent archetypes is the very smart woman who doesn’t fit into society. As a woman who frequently looks back in confusion at social interactions gone wrong, I love it. After Miss Ruby Ballimore commits the sin of telling a man he’s wrong in front of other people, she and two friends decide to leave London and hide out at Princess Serafina Di Sangro’s estate in Cornwall. Pomeroy House is already a haven and smuggling headquarters for Captain Malcolm Archer and his crew.
Archer is a rogue with a heart of gold, doing his best to keep his people safe. When Ruby, Alice, and Tamsyn arrive, they are a threat to the crew’s safety. Ruby has already proved a threat to their economic security when she exposed fraudulent antique statuary. Unbeknownst to her, Malcolm was the fraudster and witnessed her takedown of his scheme. Malcolm already respects her intelligence and, honestly, his attempts to convince her to leave are half hearted at best. He yearns for her, poetically. They are blisteringly horny for each other.
The shenanigans don’t stop when they each admit they are something of a fraud. There is still a princess to fool, dogs to raise, smuggling to be done, and an assassination to thwart. I love that Vasti brings two found families together in a queer friendly world. I will be shocked if one of the books in this series isn’t sapphic.
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read from Vasti (I have the third Halifax Hellions as a break glass in case of emergency read), and I think this might be my favorite.
I received this as an advance reader copy from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
