Nice addition to the series. Again the hero is an ordinary man. This author does a good job of making her characters different from each other so you don't feel like you are reading the same book over and over. Again, I hope the maid Dot gets her own book. ( )

Another great book from one of my favorite historical authors in this series that differs from the usual just enough. American Hugh Cassidy is staying at the ladies' boarding house while he pursues the missing daughter of his employer. Also staying there is the family of Lady Lillis Vaughn who was driven out of their townhouse by an escaped snake. If you'd read the first two books in the series, you know the recurring characters who also live in the boarding house and their backgrounds.
It's a fun story with a hero and heroine fighting the attraction between them while thinking they're in love with someone else. This leads to lust more than love at first but finally settles into mutual respect and admiration (and love). Lillis is an independent lady and Hugh suits her perfectly. It was nice to read a reversal of the usual American heiress traps British nobility trope. ( )

3.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

But when Lady Lillias Vaughn had emerged into view from the dusty twilight of an unfinished part of the Annex at The Grand Palace on the Thames, he’d been struck dumb.

Picking right up where readers of the The Palace of the Rogues series left off in Angel in a Devil's Arms, this third installment gives us the continuation of all that tension between two guests at The Grand Palace on the Thames inn. Lady Lillias is the daughter of an Earl staying at the inn with her family while her home is being searched for a snake her older brother brought home after winning in a poker game and a hole in the wall from her father who shot at said snake is being repaired. She's been the toast of the season but oddly seems cold and aloof and dreading a ball coming up in two weeks. Hugh Cassidy is an American who can't even trace his lineage beyond his grandfather and seems to being holding his true reason for being in England close to his vest. He finds Lillias smoking and tattles to her father, which has her punishment being grounded to the inn. There the more time Lillias and Hugh spend with each other the brighter the tension burns between them and speaking glances start to say a lot.

Never had a silent conversation been louder than the one he was conducting with Lady Lillias Vaughn.

This is the third book in the series and after the first two, I was hoping we could move outside of the inn's walls, that doesn't happen here. The first half is solidly at the inn and the first 30% is fairly slow moving and we spend ample time with, albeit, old favorites like the heroines from the first two books and a handful of scenes with their counterparts, the ever contributing to the swear jar Mr. Delacourte, and sweet Dot. All characters that bring charm to the story but I found myself straining to break the leash to the inn and venture into new territory. Around 40% is when there is significant movement on the beginning's slow bringing together of Lillias and Hugh. I much appreciated how Long kept the historical feel in their tension; shielded conversations that are pointed and looks that burn in crowded parlors. This added to the tension and gave that sense of building snapping restraint to the two, which is the feeling I'm looking for when reading a historical.

He met her eyes. It was warning, an apology . . . and, after a fashion . . . a promise.

Fifty percent is where I thought the story picked up more and we get our forced into engagement because of caught in flagrante delicto. At this point, the reader does feel the attraction between the two and while I wouldn't say the depth is incredible, these two don't know each other enough yet, it definitely feels hot to the touch; their chemistry isn't in question but it falls more on the lust side. Long has an incredible ability to deliver lines between characters that make you feel and this couple stood out from the world because they did snap and pop. But, I fear that at times they stood out so much was because the world wasn't as much there this time, the over-trodden ground of The Grand Palace on the Thames with it's many conversations in the beginning really had me chomping at the bit to be free. I found myself daydreaming about how cool it would have been to have the story moved to Hugh's home in America, the Hudson Valley.

It was difficult to align the complicated things he felt with the proper words. So he said the truest thing he could, slowly and softly. “I should hate for any harm to ever come to you.”

Even though our couple is engaged at 50%, they still think they might be in love with other people into the second half of the story. Hugh is in England to find the daughter of his mentor and who he thinks he is going to marry and Lillias is devastated that her childhood friend might not love her the way she loves him. A plan gets developed by Hugh to help Lillias' friend realize his love for her and there is some nice emotional cracking by Hugh but Lillias spends too much time in her head with this. I wanted Lillias to stand-up and choose Hugh to take that control but their final coming together ended up feeling more flat because Lillias didn't make the move I wanted from her.

Together they turned that kiss into something furious and desperate, a clash fueled by futility and the forbidden.

As always, Long gave me lines and emotions that hit hard, and a surprising one that hit me almost the hardest was Lillias' father saying this after Hugh is forced to offer for Lillias: “You could do much worse than young Mr. Cassidy. I rather wish he was my own son.”. It hit hard because Hugh doesn't have much family, lost his mother younger and his father and brother died in the war, and this English Earl saw the good man he was, made my eyes water a bit for Hugh. Other secondary characters like Lillias' sister and brother added some filler to the story and the standbys at the inn probably took up too much time in the beginning. Like I said, I think a different setting, especially if the Hudson Valley had been utilized could have really brought a sense of freshness and adventure to this story. The epilogue was longer and had a wrap-up feel enough that I do wonder if we are finally going to leave the main setting of the Grand Palace on the Thames, we also get a glance at Lillias and Hugh's happily ever after in America. As it was, the beginning was pretty slow but Lillias and Hugh's burning tension saved the second half for me. Their story was one of the difference between living a fine life and full life and I hope someday we can visit their children in the Hudson. ( )