An Unlikely Alliance by Patricia Bray

An Unlikely Alliance by Patricia BrayFrom the description, I expected something more mystical and suspenseful than An Unlikely Alliance turned out to be, but I would not say that’s a bad thing. This is a lovely, sweet romance that touches on a bunch of my favorite elements. Despite a backdrop of deadly conflicts with money, titles, and lives on the line, the focus is firmly on the characters, both main and a couple of key secondary characters. It’s not a very complex novel, and yet offers a building relationship from suspicion to understanding to love on Alexander Maxwell’s part with annoyance to love on Magda’s.

The timeline is Regency with the Napoleonic Wars and India positions as an influence as well as a look at the differences in class and situation. Though the story itself is not particularly deep, the glimpse into their world is wonderfully so.

Magda has a tangled history including the unsolved murder of her mother, a society darling capable of predicting the future. She’d been scratching out a living as a seamstress with the intention of following some family friends to Canada, but a severe illness cost her both her emigration and the position, leaving her in the care of an aging actress who has proved a strong friend. Needless to say, Magda is not a member of high society, but catches Alexander’s attention when substituting for a hired fortuneteller.

Alexander, the Earl of Kerrigan, has done a stint in the Near East to make his fortune in less than elegant surroundings. He has a strong sense of honor and the willingness to get his hands dirty he acquired in India. This leads him to take a hand in tracking down Madga first because he believes she’s part of a conspiracy to harm his brother’s horse, and then because he observes the type of person she is and realizes his interest has put her at risk.

Along with the two main characters, Alexander’s best friend and faithful servant from the time in India, and who continues to assist him now back in London, is a delight as are many others. Even the secondaries are well drawn and compelling so when there are risks, I feel for them.

There are a good number of mysteries laced throughout this novel, and though none are exceedingly complicated, they are well seeded. This makes each one plausible despite the improbability of so many surrounding these people at the same time. While the question of whether Madga has inherited her mother’s gift is never quite resolved, the resolution to her story in particular is well done and fixes what might otherwise be implausible.

Ultimately, it’s a fun tale with a dash of adventure and danger set in a well-grounded historical period and with characters worth caring about.

P.S. I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This entry was posted in Book Reviews, Reviews and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

Share Your Thoughts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.