Straight Reading from the Library: The King of Threadneedle Street by Moriah Densley

A special thanks to Goddess Fish Promotions for allowing me to review this book as part of Ms. Densley's virtual book tour. Ms. Densley will be awarding a genuine Victorian-style pearl jewelry set inspired by the book, including necklace, bracelet, and earrings to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Please see the Rafflecopter at the end of the post to enter.

READ THE BLURB

He owns three shipping companies, a diamond mine, and his own castle.
He knows Portuguese, Hindu, Mandarin and Morse code.
His assets net thirteen million.
Lord Preston wants the one thing money can’t buy…

Andrew Tilmore, Lord Preston, the financial prodigy dubbed “The King of Threadneedle Street” wants the one prize out of reach: his childhood sweetheart. The papers can waste a sea of ink scandalizing over his lavender-eyed Alysia; so what if she is the daughter of his father’s mistress?

Alysia Villier learned the craft of the courtesan from her infamous mother―by osmosis apparently. A gifted artist who almost won the Prix de Rome, Alysia is not interested in following in her mother’s footsteps, since Andrew ruined her for any other man. But with her legal guardian—Andrew’s father―in control of her inheritance, she has little choice in the matter.

Keeping Alysia out of trouble and away from eager suitors becomes a cross-continental quest for Andrew. Not his old-fashioned family, the disapproval of the ton, nor even Alysia’s dedication to duty and propriety will stop him. Playing newspapers and investors like pawns, tumbling world markets, inciting riots… has he gone too far?

READ THE REVIEW

Let me start off by saying I really really like this story!! It was a quick, engaging read--the characters were engaging, well-drawn. The conflict was real and believable. The "villains'" motivations were easy to understand. And, even though it was a romance and so the reader KNEW it was going to end with a HEA, there were enough twists along the way to keep entertainment up.

It's not a standard historical romance--the stage is the late 1800s and the times, they are a-changing and Andrew's parents are having a hard time changing with them. Even though Andrew is heir, he's also a businessman...and so recognizes early signs of a coming new world. This gives him the strength and determination to follow his heart, not just tradition.

Alysia is a mixture--and I'm hoping that possibly the earlier book will allude to how on earth she came to be living at Andrew's house while she was growing up--that should be a story all in itself.

Moriah Densley is a new-to-me author, but when I realized there were characters in this book from an earlier story-- well, let's just say I'm very sad that it's not available right now. However, it is due for a re-release, so hopefully I can read their story as well.

Thanks, Ms. Densley, for a wonderful reading and a new way of looking at British romance. MEET THE AUTHOR

Moriah Densley sees nothing odd at all about keeping both a violin case and a range bag stuffed with pistols in the back seat of her car. They hold up the stack of books in the middle, of course. She enjoys writing about Victorians, assassins, and geeks. Her muses are summoned by the smell of chocolate, usually at odd hours of the night. By day her alter ego is your friendly neighborhood music teacher. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and four children. Published in historical and paranormal romance, Moriah has a Master’s degree in music, is a 2012 RWA Golden Heart finalist, 2012 National Reader’s Choice Award “Best First Book” finalist, and 2012 National Reader’s Choice Award finalist in historical romance. She loves hearing from readers!

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Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17826397-the-king-of-threadneedle-street