"A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis" Review

"A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis"
by Jillian Stone

Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: Aug 28, 2012
Source: sent by publisher

My Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

From the author of the well-reviewed An Affair with Mr. Kennedy comes a thrilling new romance in the Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series, featuring Rafe Lewis and his jilted former fiancée, Fanny, as they embark on a high-speed race against the clock to evade a madman hell-bent on murdering industrialists and inventors.

Special Inspector Rafael Lewis hasn’t seen the woman he jilted on the night of their engagement ball in five years. Fanny Greyville-Nugent has spent five years working side-by-side with her recently deceased father, a captain of industry in the steam revolution. When Detective Lewis and the Scotland Yard suspect that the late Mr. Greyville-Nugent was targeted for murder by an anarchist group determined to stop the proliferation of machines in the workforce, Lewis must guard his former fiancée with his life—much to her chagrin.

As Rafe and Fanny set out across the countryside from Edinburgh to London, danger lurks around every corner, but the biggest danger might turn out to be the embers of their previously smothered attraction smoldering to life.

My Review:

I should have known that a book with 'detective' in the title would have a very heavy dose of mystery, and this book is definitely more mystery than romance. I think the book will appeal to readers who like a lot of mystery with a side of romance. The romance was nice, but there just wasn't enough about feelings, and all that mushy stuff for me. There was more action and clues to unravel.

I liked that the leads had a history together, and that made for some really snappy banter between them. Their dialogue was quite funny and cute. This made the story fun to read, it was just that all of the mystery elements slowed down the story for me, personally.

From the cover illustration, I assumed that this book would have more of a steampunk element, but that aspect is actually very understated. I would have liked the story to be even more of a fantasy-steampunk world which would have been more of an escape. But my thinking it would be steampunk was just an assumption based on the cover rather than anything in the blurb.


Main Characters: 4/5
Supporting Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Romance: 3/5
Uniqueness: 3/5
Cover: 5/5
Writing: 4/5

Bottom Line:  There wasn't enough romance for me, but this book will appeal to fans of romance with a heavy mystery element.