Reviewer: Tracy The Secrets of Mia Danvers (Dangerous Liaisons, #1) by Robyn DeHart
Series: Dangerous Liaisons #1
Publisher: Intermix
Publication Date: June 18th 2013
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 301
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A lone witness finds her protector…
Since losing her sight in a childhood accident, Mia Danvers has resided in a small cottage on the vast Carrington estate. Thought to be dead, Mia lives a life of virtual seclusion—until one night, while walking home, she happens upon a horrendous crime.
Alex Foster, Eighth Duke of Carrington, lives according to society’s expectations for him. He’s never met the woman who lives in the cottage at the edge of his property. But when she arrives at his door in the pouring rain terrified and claiming she has witnessed a murder, she seizes his attention.
Mia is determined to help the authorities track down the culprit, even though the only person willing to accept her aid is the handsome, arrogant duke. Working closely together proves difficult as Mia’s beauty and independence tempts Alex to ignore convention and follow his desire. But what neither of them know is that this murderer has struck before in Whitechapel, taunting the British press only to vanish—a ruthless killer who knows that Mia is the only living witness to his crime…
Mia Danvers was just 16 years old when her mother dropped her off at a cottage on the Duke of Carrington’s property and never went back. Mia was blinded in a riding accident and because of this her family told everyone she was dead and moved on with their lives. Luckily Mia had her friend and former governess, Rachel, who stood by her side. Now it’s 9 years later and Mia is on her way home from the park when she hears a murder committed. She’s understandably upset and heads to the Duke’s house (which she’s never been in) to inform him of the crime.
Alex Foster is not ready to be a Duke. He was never supposed to be a duke but after his father passed and his older brother got himself killed in a ridiculous scandal there was Alex. He’s peeved when he gets a visitor late one night and when he finds out it’s the girl who lives on his property he’s even more put out. His mother had told him that she was a mad woman so when she comes in, soaking wet from the rain claiming to have witnessed a murder – and obviously blind so how can that be? – he’s totally skeptical. Alex placates Mia and sends her home but is soon calling the police when he finds that Mia was telling the truth.
Alex and Mia end up being friends and try to find the killer together but the police actually have a suspect in mind, and that’s Alex’s brother, Drew. They do get distracted from their investigation when the killer shows up at Mia’s cottage and Mia and Rachel end up moving into the duke’s residence. This puts Alex and Mia closer together and as much as Alex likes that he knows he shouldn’t as he’s practically engaged to someone else.
Mia wants Alex in her bed. She’s not shy or quiet about her attraction to the man and eventually gets her way and gets him into her bed. She loves it but knows it can’t continue as Alex is now engaged to someone else. Alex doesn’t know what he wants. He wants to be with Mia and he loves being with her both in bed and out of it but he has a duty to his family and he doesn’t want to shirk that. With his brother under suspicion, his mother spouting her evilness all over the place, the revelation of Mia actually being alive and a killer on the loose Alex is damned confused and more than a bit frustrated.
I wasn’t sure what to expect here as the premise sounded good when I read the blurb of the book but I hadn’t ever read anything by DeHart. I have to say I wasn’t disappointed. This was a lovely story and made me definitely want to read more by this author.
Mia had every right to be a sullen, bitter, angry woman because of her past but she was the exact opposite. She was kind, giving and happy. She saw the best in people, even sometimes when she shouldn’t (read: her sisters) and had a backbone I so admired. I loved that she was so honest with Alex about her wants and desires. She did hold her feelings back but that was understandable under the circumstance. She wasn’t Superwoman but she certainly didn’t let her blindness hold her back in any way.
Alex was a good guy. Yeah, he was in denial about his feelings for Mia and made some stupid, stupid, stupid decisions but for the most part he was just trying to please everyone. Once he decided that his own feelings shouldn’t be put to the wayside so that everyone else could be happy (read: his mother) he was a much happier man. He didn’t always do or say the right thing but I still liked him an awful lot.
The murder part of the story was decent. It centered around Jack the Ripper but in this story Jack was in Mayfair as well as Whitechapel. It was an interesting take on the Ripper and I thought the author did a good job of portraying the guy as whack but he so obviously was.
I look forward to the next book in this series as I’m looking forward to reading more about Alex’s brother, Drew as he was so obviously hiding something from his brother.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place
This book is available from InterMix. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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