Helpful Score: 1
Though he was her late husband's twin brother, John Brodie was far from the perfect gentleman Nick had been. His manners were abominable, his language would make a sailor blush, and his heated glances made sheltered Anna Jourdaine burn with shame. No lady would allow the outrageous liberties Brodie took, but forced to pretend she was married to him to clear Nick's good name, Anna found herself weakening to her brother-in-law's seductive appeal. In Brodie's wildly titillating embrace, Anna forgot her proper Victorian upbrining, forgot that she was only acting the part of the blissfully wedded wife. Caught up in deceits and desires beyound her control, she knew only that her future happiness depended on learning which brother was an immoral criminal and which merely a Thief Of Hearts.
Thief of Hearts is a story of a recently married woman whose father owns a ship building business. Her husband is murdered on her wedding day and this is how the story begins. The authorities have been investigating him and believe he was selling English ships to the Confederacy. In order to help authorities find the murderer, she must go along with a plot that will convince everyone involved that her husband did not die. To accomplish this, they enlist the aid of the dead husband's brother, who is locked in jail and awaiting death for a crime he claims he did not commit. I loved the plot, admired the heroine since she is intelligent, courageous and motivated. I also liked the fact that the romance is developed not because she is an extremely beautiful woman as in most cases, but because the romance is based on the hero's actions of kindness and caring for the heroine and vice versa.
