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The author of the New York Times bestseller Garden of Lies returns to Victorian London in an all-new novel of deadly obsession. Calista Langley operates an exclusive “introduction” agency in Victorian London, catering to respectable ladies and gentlemen who find themselves alone in the world. But now, a dangerously obsessed individual has begun sending her trinkets and gifts suitable only for those in deepest mourning—a black mirror, a funeral wreath, a ring set with black jet stone. Each is engraved with her initials. Desperate for help and fearing that the police will be of no assistance, Calista turns to Trent Hastings, a reclusive author of popular crime novels. Believing that Calista may be taking advantage of his lonely sister, who has become one of her clients, Trent doesn’t trust her. Scarred by his past, he’s learned to keep his emotions at bay, even as an instant attraction threatens his resolve. But as Trent and Calista comb through files of rejected clients in hopes of identifying her tormentor, it becomes clear that the danger may be coming from Calista’s own secret past—and that only her death will satisfy the stalker...
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0In 'Til Death Do Us Part, Amanda Quick returns to historical romance with the story of Calista Langley, who operates an "introductions" salon in the grand mansion that she inherited from her rather cranky grandmother. Since all of the money they inherited had to be spent on renovating the house, Calista and her younger brother are dependent on the income from their business. When a mysterious man starts stalking Calista and leaving rather nasty gifts (memento mori to be precise), she's determined to find out who it is before they make good on the implied threat. When a reclusive author named Trent Hastings offers to help, Calista teams up with him to track down her unwanted admirer.
I probably just need to stop reading Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz' stuff. It's not that it's bad. After having been a fan for years and devouring everything I could find that she'd written though, I found myself getting bored very quickly with this one. I'm honestly not even sure what it was exactly. Mostly just seems like all of her characters feel the same after awhile. All of the men are martially skilled detective sorts and all of the women are sensible and independent. None of this is bad inherently, but when it's always the same, it's difficult to care about what happens to them. She also made the choice to reveal pretty early on who the villain is which was an interesting tactic but not entirely it paid off. It made me suspect that there was another person in play so the ending was less of a surprise than I'm thinking was intended. I ended up skimming through the last bit just to see if I was right about how it ended.
It's not terrible, but if you've read an Amanda Quick book before, you may get a bit bored with this one.
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