Amber

Author: Lauren Royal
Published: July 2001 (Signet)
Category: Historical Romance
Series: Jewel Trilogy #3
Rating: 6/10

This is from Lauren Royal's first trilogy, and set in England's Restoration period. It was refreshing to read a historical romance set in England, although I do love my regencies!

Kendra Chase is the last sibling in her family to be married. Her older brothers have been parading suitors to their home ad nauseum and her eldest brother has declared she must choose a husband by the end of the summer or he would do it for her. While traveling home from London, Kendra and her family's public coach (their own coach suffered a broken wheel) is halted by a highwayman. He cuts a rather romantic figure, and robs only the Puritan on board and lets everyone else goes, but curiously, he says the Chase brothers are his friends.

Soon after that heist, Kendra goes out riding without an escort and finds herself heading towards the spot where the robbery took place. She comes across the highwayman's props (hats and pipes), figuring out how he made it appear like he had 20 men with guns as backup on a nearby hill. And then the highwayman shows up, this time without the black outfit, mask, and periwig. The handsome man is actually Patrick "Trick" Caldwell, and he asks for Kendra's assistance in stowing his props before it rains. Of course, with rain comes the romance required cottage where the two must take refuge lest they be soaked and catch the ague. While the two are talking, Kendra drops her glass of wine and they try to soak the stain in water before it sets. The front door bursts open and Kendra's brothers, Jason and Ford, come in, asking Trick to help them locate their sister, who went out riding earlier unaccompanied.

When they discover the two together in a bedroom, with Kendra's skirt raised by her knees, disregarding the bowl of water, they insist on Trick marrying Kendra by special license, as she has been compromised. They didn't want to hear anything of her protests of innocence, and Trick figured that he had to get married sooner or later to produce the requisite heir, so why not get married to this interesting, beautiful woman?

So they're married and Kendra can't really believe she's married to the romantic highwayman, even though she's miffed that he's actually the Duke of Amberley. She never wanted to marry a duke because she didn't want to be addressed as "Your grace." Trick also has not revealed the true reasons for his side job, as he has a thriving shipping business, built off of his father's smuggling fleet. He also avoids telling his wife about how wealthy they really are, making her think he must continue robbing the horrid Puritans to support his estate, especially the orphanage full of children that Kendra really care about.

There was one really big problem with the story. Kendra is highly alarmed by the results of their wedding night. She didn't know that it hurts the first time, as her mother passed away years ago and her sisters-in-law didn't think to explain the mechanics to her. So she freaks out and says that they don't "fit together" and refuses to engage in further sexual adventures. Trick turns out to be an extremely patient man, saying that they won't do any of those things anymore, but he puts his foot down that they will continue to sleep in the same bed together.

In the end, it comes to trust. Kendra has to overcome her fear of trusting Trick in regards to his highwayman career and his claims that it hurt because it was the first time and they'll fit together. Trick is robbing Puritans to investigate a counterfeiting scheme, and King Charles swore him to secrecy regarding the true reason behind the robberies. He made Trick choose between his loyalty to his king and his love of his wife. Trick chooses to avoid treason and keeps his secret from Kendra.

As always, he regrets not revealing everything to Kendra when he's arrested and sentenced to hang. King Charles helps Trick though, faking the mysterious highwayman's death so there will be no connection between that dead man and the living Duke of Amberley.

There's also a side story that doesn't really have anything to do with the counterfeiting investigation, where Kendra and Trick journey to Scotland for his mother's funeral. They solve a mystery there too, which almost resulted in death for Trick and Kendra when she didn't trust him yet again.

The story would've been better without the Scotland side story. I appreciate that Royal was trying to fill in some of Trick's background, but it felt out of place to me, like it should've been in its own book. And there was far too much of the "You have to trust me" business going on. I know relationships are all about trust, but when it's the only thing being batted around in terms of story development and the cause for all the strife, it gets tiring.