Review: Intense and Passionate, a splendid beginning to a new series
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 15, 2014
A Kiss of Lies raises the bar for romance novels this year.  Bronwen Evans has written a compelling tale about healing and compassion and friendship with two very wounded souls who must overcome the wounds of the past.Christian Trent, Earl of Markham is a war hero who came back a very altered man.  He has terrible burn scars and he is wounded inside too.  He feels ugly and combined with his father’s brutal treatment when he was a young lad leaves him feeling unworthy too.  He is accused of raping the daughter of a Duke and is shanghaied and sent to Canada.Sarah Cooper is desperate for the position of governess to Christian’s ward.  She is desperate to escape her past.  She is a widow who has suffered greatly at the hands of her husband.  She is running for her life and she must keep her real identity a secret.  She remembers the Christian before the war (she had a school girl crush on the war hero but he does not remember her) and she is in awe of his heroics and his noble nature.Christian and Sarah are no ordinary couple, they are distrustful and lack confidence in themselves.  Christian is no longer the suave Rake and Sarah is riddled with guilt and shame.  Yet they both feel a tugging toward each other from their first meeting.  Their interactions are suffused with passion and they create a world which is a safe haven for each other.The tension in this story comes from several areas, Christian longs to be with Sarah but he distrusts the depth of her feelings (how can she want to be with a scarred man when she is so beautiful)? He also worries that he possesses his father’s vicious temper.  Sarah wants both to protect Christian and heal him which put her in a quandary of remaining with him or creating distance to safeguard him.  Christian must also clear his name too and find who is framing him for crimes in England.This is a love story.  The reader never doubts this couple really loves each other and I was rooting for them from the very beginning of this novel.  Their vulnerabilities are exposed and they are honest with their emotions.  Some of the very best scenes are when the leads confess their fears and reveal their past hurts, the intimacy in these moments are poignant and healing.  This is the first book in a series about a brotherhood of friends and I look forward to reading more about these rakes.