This follow-up to Saving Shadow starts shortly after Saving Shadow ends. Eliza and Benedict are recently married, Lady Hannah is missing and Lord Jonathon Beckett (Eliza's brother and also an agent for the Crown) is looking for her.
Lady Hannah's been missing for 6 weeks. She escaped from the men who tried to kidnap her, and was taken in by the Dawson family, who own a sheep farm, after she was injured when thrown from her horse. She's safe from the men looking for her, until the family goes into town to sell the wool from their sheep. It seems even dirt can't hide her beautiful porcelain complexion. Lucky for her, Jonathon Beckett has come upon the village in his search for Lady Hannah. He finds her and works with the Dawson family to whisk Hannah away to safety.
That's just the beginning of the adventures that lie ahead for Hannah and Jonathon. Keeping Hannah safe, reuniting her with her father, Lord Pembrooke, and finding evidence against the traitorous Lord Camden are just some of the things our spies need to accomplish.
I loved Lady Hannah who isn't above living on a sheep farm, wearing someone's tattered dress, helping with the chores and learning how to milk a cow. When she's brought to Eliza and Benedict's estate she wants to learn how to fence, throw a dagger, and shoot a gun so she can protect herself if it becomes necessary.
Lord Jonathon is taken in by Lady Hannah's beauty but sees that she's also beautiful on the inside. He does everything he can to protect her, but butts heads with her when she wants to learn to protect herself. He's a smart spy but doesn't seems to know much about women, so he grudgingly asking for help from his brother-in-law, Benedict, which led to a scene which made me laugh out loud. "Idiot," Benedict mumbled under his breath. "I beg your pardon?" Jonathon asked, confused. "Did you just refer to me as an idiot?" Eliza gave him a condescending smile. "I must agree with my charming husband. You are an idiot."
I liked that the rest of "the gang" from Saving Shadow are in this book too--Eliza, Benedict, and Mr. Larson. We get to meet Jonathon and Eliza's sister, Kate. Jonathon and Eliza's parents the Duke and Duchess of Remington also make an appearance, which gave me one of my favorite lines, when Eliza says to her "mother, Diana": "True, I did have an active imagination in my youth. It was far easier to pretend my mother was loving and kind than to admit she had a cold, blackened heart." Wow!!
This book has everything--spies, dagger throwing, longbows and arrows, sword fighting, traitors, kidnapping, witty banter between men and the fiery women who love them, and of course romance. Everything but the usual balls and dancing that the Regency era is known for. Did I miss the balls and dancing? No way! There was too much going on trying to prove Lord Camden was a traitorous French spy! I can't wait to read the next book in the Beckett Files.