McAlistair’s Fortune

McAlistair’s Fortune (2009) Alissa Johnson

Set in England in 1814.

Evie Cole may have a reputation as a wall-flower, but she is strong-willed and independent, using what power she has to help others. She also believes that the scars of her past make her unacceptable on the marriage mart.

The trouble with having a limp was that it was nearly impossible to execute a proper stomping. That wasn’t the only trouble, of course, but it was the inconvenience that most vexed Evie at present.

She’d been terribly self-conscious of the flaw as a child, perhaps because the injury had taken so long to heal. Even months after the wound had closed, the skin around it had remained red and swollen. And between her marred countenance and noticeable limp, she’d been certain she appeared a veritable monster.

McAlistar was an assassin for the War department for years, until suddenly he could no longer accept who he was, and retired to the woods to live as a hermit.

But that escape came at a price, and when Whit Cole asks him for help protecting the women in his family, Cole is forced to rejoin the world to a small degree.

But when he is told that Evie–the woman he has loved from afar for years–is in danger, he’ll do anything to keep her safe. And keeping her safe means making sure her infatuation with him comes to nothing.

A sensible decision, he was forced to admit. In fact, everything she’d told him so far struck him as being fairly sensible. And that struck him as infuriating. He didn’t want her to be sensible. He wanted her to have been careless in some way. How else could he be angry with her for putting herself in danger? Never mind the fact that he admired her work; a small, selfish part of him wanted a reason to demand she stop.

That’s the best thing about this story. Despite the initial misunderstanding, Evie is sensible and reasonable. She takes risks, but they are calculated risks.

Evie listened as a long list of rules was set out before her. Drapes were to be kept closed, doors were to be kept locked, she was not to go outside. Though they stung, Evie had no trouble agreeing to every dictate. She adored her freedom and she adored being outdoors, but neither quite so much as she adored being alive.

I like strong, brave women in my books. But I like smart ones better.

But really, I do love the humor of these stories.

Evie had only a moment to marvel at his remarkable strength and balance before she found herself settled on the horse, half on the saddle and half on his legs. Then she simply marveled at how remarkably uncomfortable that position was.

That’s marvelous.

As is this.Leaning over her, he watched as she turned the page of her ledger, looked at a long column of numbers, and put the total at the bottom without so much as a crease in her brow for the effort.

“That’s bloody amazing.”

Mind you, it’s not that she is written as a prodigy of any sort, this is just thrown in–that of course she can do math sums in her head.

It reminds you how much potential was wasted throughout so much of history.

Publisher: Stonesong Digital
Rating: 7/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• Destined To Last » »
• « « Tempting Fate