At Winter’s Demand (Thieves of Winter #2)

VICTORIAN:  Judith’s sister has been carried off right in front of her, and the man who stayed behind isn’t saying much - only doing a search of every nook and cranny in her house. After knocking him senseless and tying him up, she finally gets answers about why he is there and what happened to her sister. Simon only wants to recover the jewels his friend says were taken, and then go home to London. He doesn’t want to answer questions or deal with a woman but Judith has pluck, something he finds he can’t help liking.

Judith has a solid backbone, especially for a Victorian woman. It’s plain why Simon is intrigued and falls for her. The writing and description gives a reader just enough details, yet still allows for an individual mental image. It says Book Two of three, but that is a misnomer. This appears to be the middle part of a full book, broken into pieces as a serial. There is no real beginning and no real ending, this is purely the middle of a story. It reads as if beginning with the very next chapter to the previous tale—no background, no explanations, no details to fill in the blanks. Readers who have not read Book One are going to be completely lost. While it is a fascinating and interesting plot, and Judith and Simon are wonderful characters, anyone reading this first will most likely be very annoyed at it being called a book—even cliffhangers have a beginning, middle, and end. What there is of the tale is amazing.

Julie York