Book Review: The Noble Smuggler

I really enjoyed this book! It had mystery, intrigue, hidden identities, and romance all rolled into a beautiful story set in Kent.

Elizabeth has a difficult life as an innkeeper's daughter who is forced to serve her father's smuggler friends. But when a smuggler is shot and brought to the inn, she tends to him and starts to see him as more than a smuggler. She barely has time to recognize her feelings, however, before her father has betrothed her to an odious magistrate. Elizabeth is desperate to get away, but where can she turn?

Jonas, the Viscount Langton, infiltrates a smuggling gang to find out what truly happened to his father who died trying to stop a ship from falling into the smugglers' hands. When things go wrong, Jonas is shot and meets the lovely innkeeper's daughter. He can't reveal his true identity as the Viscount Langton, but as their connection grows stronger, he might not have any choice.

The author does a phenomenal job in setting the scene and has obviously done her homework on smuggling. The details really gave the story an extra dimension. The characters were well-drawn and believable and the romance was so tender. I loved how Elizabeth had been through so much, but her resilient spirit still kept a tiny flame of hope that she would one day find happiness. Jonas is a swoon-worthy hero, both as a smuggler and a viscount. The mystery of who is running the smuggling operation and what happened with Jonas's father kept me turning pages just as much as the romance unfolding did. The author seamlessly weaves a mystery romance together that historical fans won't want to miss. I was sad to see this one end and I really hope the Earl of Bloxley gets his own story!

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Here's the back copy:

Despite living at her father’s inn her entire life, Elizabeth Doyle has always managed to avoid involvement with the smugglers who frequently gather there. Until now. When a handsome smuggler is brought to her with dire injuries, Elizabeth risks everything to hide him—completely unaware that the wounded man is not who he appears to be.

When an opportunity arises to infiltrate the notorious smuggling gang he believes caused his father’s death, Jonas Ainsworth, the Viscount Langton, pretends to be one of them. But when he is wounded midcharade, Jonas’s life is placed in the hands of an unlikely savior: a smuggler’s daughter. Forced to flee before his wounds have fully healed, he does not think he will ever see her again—until she appears on his doorstep, seeking safe haven. Divided by their social standings yet united in their mutual desire to expose the leader of the smuggling ring, Jonas and Elizabeth are undeniably drawn to each other. Neither realizes, however, that they are dangerously close to uncovering explosive secrets from the past—secrets that will alter the course of their lives forever.