Here's a blurb about the book from Ann's website:
Adriane Darcy was practically raised in her father's newspaper offices. She can't imagine life without the clatter of the press and the push to be first to write the news that matters. Their Tribune is the leading paper in Louisville in 1855. Then Blake Garrett, a brash young editor from the North with a controversial new style of reporting, takes over a failing competing paper and the battle for readers gets fierce.
When Adriane and Blake meet at a benefit tea, their surprising mutual attraction is hard to ignore. Still, Blake is the enemy, and Adriane is engaged to the son of a powerful businessman who holds the keys to the Tribune's future. Blake will stop at almost nothing to get the story – and the girl. Can he do both before it's too late? Set against the volatile backdrop of political and civil unrest in 1850s Louisville, this exciting story of love and loyalty will hold readers in its grip until the very last page.
I love stories of women stepping out of societal norms. Ann's story just happened to be of even more interest to me in that Adriane was in the newspaper business, and so was I. I wasn't disappointed with her shenanigans to get the latest scoop (read: dressing like a boy! Gotta love that!).
And above all, this was a romance. The chemistry between Adriane and Blake left me absolutely breathless. Of course there were plenty of hurdles for them to overcome, mainly that Blake is Adriane's father's enemy.
I liked the picture of a father raising a daughter, and the relationship between them. Adriane has significant PTSD-like symptoms of being locked in a dark closet by her stepmother, and her thoughts on darkness and light serve a symbolic purpose in the book that I really appreciated. Blake's backstory contributes to his motivation to see justice brought about for the River Slasher serial killer. (An aside here....but any romance book that also contains a serial killer is a major plus in my book). I was very curious as to what his deal was, so much so that I wanted to skip pages to find out. You won't be disappointed. :)
And last but not least...the way Ann handled the serial killer was well done. She gave him just the right amount of motivation and backstory to make his actions believable. I was inspired to do a post later this week about the Macdonald triad (or triad of sociopathy), so stay tuned.
To enter to win this book:
The giveaways on this blog are meant to be a perk for my readership, so please click to "follow" this blog before leaving a comment below to be entered to win my review copy. Giveaway will last through next Sunday, the 26th. Good luck!
Let's Analyze: This will be a selfish question, purely based on my own interests, but are there any other books out there that you know of who have serial killers within a romance?
Available February 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell,
a division of Baker Publishing Group.
