{"id":13383,"date":"2020-08-29T19:02:40","date_gmt":"2020-08-29T23:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=13383"},"modified":"2022-10-30T19:56:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-30T23:56:00","slug":"a-gift-for-guile-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13383","title":{"rendered":"A Gift for Guile"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Gift for Guile<\/a><\/em> (2016) Alissa Johnson<\/a> (The Thief Takers)<\/p>\n

\"A-Gift-for-Guile\"<\/a>Set in England in 1872<\/p>\n

This series is just SO delightful.<\/p>\n

As soon as the door shut on the last giggle, she darted out from behind the screen and pulled the lid off one of the platters. <\/p>\n

Oh, asparagus. She adored asparagus. <\/p>\n

Samuel gestured for her to take a seat. \u201cYou\u2019re fond of asparagus, I believe.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYes. How did you know?\u201d <\/p>\n

He pulled out his own chair and began removing the other lids. \u201cYou mentioned it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDid I? When?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cLast year. On the twenty-eighth of June.\u201d S<\/p>\n

he stopped midreach for her napkin. \u201cThat is very specific.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve a keen memory.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not infallible. And it was nearly dark. I make mistakes.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYes, you do,\u201d she agreed, her voice laced with amusement. \u201cTelling me of your extraordinary memory, for example.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cEsther\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d wager you\u2019re regretting that just now.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBitterly,\u201d he grumbled.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Samuel is a strong silent hero, and she does and excellent job of keeping him as such in this book. He has a lot of internal dialog, and all of it sits his behavior in the previous book as well as is in this one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see why this should be a point of contention,\u201d she said, reaching for her wine. \u201cYou walk about London openly every day. There must be dozens of men who would like your head on a platter. Why is it you are allowed to thumb your nose at danger, but I am not?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different.\u201d <\/p>\n

She took a long sip of her drink and set the goblet down slowly. \u201cIs that a euphemism for \u2018because you are a woman\u2019?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d Possibly. He might give it some thought later.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And he does consider these things and admits when he has made mistakes, and apologizes for them.<\/p>\n

Of course, sometimes he doesn’t realize he has made a mistake until it is took late, but the two talk things over, instead of letting things blow up and fester.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave I been clumsy again?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n

She was beginning to wonder. \u201cMaybe.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAh.\u201d He scratched his jaw and eyed her cautiously. <\/p>\n

\u201cAre you perhaps taking offense where none was intended?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cPossibly.\u201d That was always a possibility. <\/p>\n

\u201cRight. And do you suppose you could tell me what I might have done wrong so we can decide together if I need to fix it?\u201d <\/p>\n

Not without humiliating herself. But she couldn\u2019t see any way around it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Ester is just lovely. She was broken in the past, but she has been working to make herself better, and knows where her flaws life.<\/p>\n

“I just needed them to like me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I don\u2019t know what I am,\u201d she repeated. \u201cBut if people like me, then it follows that what I am can\u2019t be all bad.\u201d She laughed a little at his dubious expression. \u201cIt is not sound reasoning, I know.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I really do love this series.<\/p>\n

Publisher : Sourcebooks Casablanca
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Gift for Guile (2016) Alissa Johnson (The Thief Takers) Set in England in 1872 This series is just SO delightful. As soon as the door shut on the last giggle, she darted out from behind the screen and pulled the lid off one of the platters. Oh, asparagus. She adored asparagus. Samuel gestured for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,30,33,8,41,26,56],"tags":[156,50,557],"class_list":["post-13383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","category-reread","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-alissa-johnson","tag-boinking","tag-victorian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3tR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20115,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20115","url_meta":{"origin":13383,"position":0},"title":"A Gift for Guile","author":"Michelle","date":"July 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A Gift for Guile (2016) Alissa Johnson (The Thief Takers) Set in England in 1872. Esther has finally admitted that she was involved in her father's schemes--as his teenage henchman. And no one blames Esther for that--except Esther herself. Though he suspected she\u2019d be surprised to hear it, Samuel didn\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A-Gift-for-Guile","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/A-Gift-for-Guile.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5965,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5965","url_meta":{"origin":13383,"position":1},"title":"A Gift for Guile","author":"Michelle","date":"July 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A Gift for Guile (2016) Alissa Johnson Set in London in 1872 This is the second book in the Thief-Takers series, and follows the second sister, Esther, and the private investigator, Samuel Brass. Esther has sneaked into London, and is caught at underground by the Samuel Brass, who ruins the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A-Gift-for-Guile","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/A-Gift-for-Guile.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11618,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11618","url_meta":{"origin":13383,"position":2},"title":"A Gift for Guile","author":"Michelle","date":"February 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A Gift for Guile (2016) Alissa Johnson Set in England in 1872 Esther Walker is the daughter of a famous thief and con artist. Although none of her family knows, she also helped her father, acting as his tiny thug, threatening people with the knives she was taught to throw.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/A-Gift-for-Guile.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9213,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9213","url_meta":{"origin":13383,"position":3},"title":"A Gift for Guile","author":"Michelle","date":"August 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A Gift for Guile (2016) Alissa Johnson Set in England in 1872 The second book in the Gentleman Thief-takers series tells Esther's story--that of a girl who was used by her scoundrel father as dainty and surprising henchman, and who kept her secrets from everyone--including her sister. Now she is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/A-Gift-for-Guile.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11003,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11003","url_meta":{"origin":13383,"position":4},"title":"Practically Wicked","author":"Michelle","date":"August 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Practically Wicked (2016) Alissa Johnson Set in England in the 1800s. Anna Rees is the illegitimate daughter of an infamous woman of the demi-monde. Everyone knows of her, but no one has spent more than a few minutes in her company. And Anna mostly likes that, since she does NOT\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/practically-wicked.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10996,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10996","url_meta":{"origin":13383,"position":5},"title":"Nearly a Lady","author":"Michelle","date":"August 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson Set in Scotland Trying to figure out what I wanted to read next, I remembered I had a new Alissa Johnson, but couldn't remember which book in the series came first, so I picked one, started reading, and realized this is the one I'd\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/nearly-a-lady-e1511016913295.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}