This is the second book I've read by Anne Mallory, and I'm really enjoying this author. She creates appealing, believable characters that have tangible chemistry with each other. Patience Harrington, heroine of this particular novel, is easy to relate with. She's intelligent, kind, and likable, but not perfectly or unrealistically so. Readers can find pieces of themselves within this character, lending to a more involved reading experience. As for Patience's romance with the mysterious, mercurial Viscount Blackfield, it's an entertaining love story from their first meeting to their happily-ever-after. The progress of them falling into hate, then lust, then friendship, then love is well-written and credible. The sparks between these two practically come off the page.

Another thing I'm enjoying about Mallory's books are the topical themes she builds into the stories. In this book, Patience is an antiquarian hired to catalog an extensive collection of antiques and artifacts. She's also an imaginative bookworm caught up in the mystery at Blackfield Castle. Throughout this book are references to history, mythology, legends, and art -- always maintaining the original premise of the story and a major element of Patience's character. I found this thematic flair also kept me in the story, wrapped up in Patience's fanciful thoughts and the general Gothic mystery of it all. More than anything else, it's this quality that makes Mallory's books stand out to me as something different from every other historical romance I've come across. ( )

Loved Patience's character, being honest and her habit of speaking before thinking. Great love story. ( )