Review by Ronny
Series Name: Wimpole Street Widows Society, # 1
To Heist and To Hold is a decent beginning to what I hope is another amazing series by Christina Britton.
Favourite Quote:
Though as she slipped her hand in his, and his strong fingers engulfed her own, she felt quite literally as if she were sealing a bargain with the devil himself.
Book Synopsis:
Heloise Marlowe has always forged her own path. As a former blacksmith and fencing instructor, she wasn’t just going to sit around knitting after her husband died. The Wimpole Street Widows Society, a secret group dedicated to balancing the scales of justice, was a much better fit for her skills. Her newest mission: seduce the owner of the club Dionysus and gain access to the den’s inner workings. She didn’t mind putting her body on the line, but she wasn’t prepared to gamble her heart.
Ethan Sinclaire has worked hard to clean up his club after the betrayal of his brother. But now, rumors are swirling that his club is just as crooked as before. He won’t let anyone destroy what he’s built, so when Heloise starts poking around, he decides to go all in, in hopes that she’ll show her hand. Enjoying her company is the easy part. Keeping himself from falling—that’s a whole different card game.
Review:
I love starting a new historical romance series and was pumped to start this one. But unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about this book. My problem with this book is that it suffers from the dreaded first-book-in-a-series syndrome. What I mean is that the main characters’ story gets lost in this sea of character introductions and setting the stage for future books, and the main story of the book gets muddled. Heloise and Ethan are both amazing characters, and I loved the premise of this story. It’s fun, unique, and promises to be super entertaining, and in a way, the author delivered that, just not to the extent I wanted. I found that the first almost 50% of the book had few interactions between Heloise and Ethan. Yes, there are lustful, spicy moments between them, but I wanted that banter and that chemistry that only comes from two characters interacting with one another. Because I wasn’t getting that, I found my focus wandering, and I just couldn’t connect with what was unfolding on the pages.
Now I am not saying this is a bad book, because it’s not. I enjoyed the story. There is a great mystery element to it. The story is also a fabulous blend of tried-and-true historical romance elements that I love, with an injection of new story ideas that piqued my interest. I adored the Wimpole Street Widows Society and ALL the women in the group. The secondary characters are fabulous, to the point where I found myself drawn more to them and their backstories than to Heloise and Ethan’s, which might have been part of my problem when reading this book. Heloise is a strong, smart, and capable heroine. I enjoyed her story and giggled as she tried to seduce Ethan, because it rarely worked out the way she planned. Ethan is that typical broody, guarded, trust no one hero. Ethan’s trust issues are dialled to the max (like the man doesn’t even trust his own brother), and his journey in this book is learning to open up and trust those around him again.
The romance was good. I could see the potential between these two, right from the start. I just wish that I had more of them. I wanted more actual dialogue between these two. They spend a lot of time in their own heads, going on and on about their internal dialogue/struggle, but not much actual conversation. Besides that flaw, I devoured those moments when the banter between these two was on fire. I also loved those “zing” moments when they notice each other in a crowded room, and it feels like the wind has been kicked out of them. I also really enjoy it when both characters have ulterior motives, because I know at some point those motives are going to come out, and that’s when things get really interesting, which is what happened in this book.
Overall, To Heist and To Hold has a lot of potential and is a good fit for any bookworm looking for a book filled with capable, clever women who get shit done.
