This is the first of Kleypas’ Bow Street Runners trilogy. Though a date for the stories is not given, since the Bow Street Runners operated from 1749 to 1839, I’m guessing these are late Regency era since the hero in book 1 had been a Runner for many years, but no monarch is mentioned.
The story begins as Grant Morgan, a famous London Bow Street Runner, is called to the Thames where a half dead woman is fetched out of the water. Grant recognizes the redhead as the infamous courtesan, Vivien Rose Duvall. Grant takes her home where his staff cares for her. When she wakes, he discovers Vivien has amnesia.
Vivien accepts Grant’s claim she is a prostitute and that they were lovers, despite her misgivings. He tells her a lie about them being together as revenge for her snubbing him once at a ball. He believes she is the courtesan and tells her she sells her body for money. While Vivian is appalled by the thought, she knows her near drowning in the Thames was no accident. Someone wants her dead.
Meanwhile, Grant hunts for the criminal all the while very attracted to Vivian who he believes is playing the innocent.
I have to say that I did not want to put this one down. Kleypas does a great job with the sexual tension between the hero and there is just enough of a mystery as to who the heroine is and who wants to kill her to keep you reading. Though I figured out her identity before I was half way through, I still wanted to know how it ended.
The Bow Street Runners trilogy:
Someone to Watch Over Me
Lady Sophia’s Lover
Worth Any Price
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