🎄 Blog Tour ~ The Smuggler's Wife by Evie Grace

🎄 Thrilled to be the first blog to open today's blog tour stop🎄

Arrow
31 December 2020
#3 Smuggler's Daughters Trilogy

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book
and the invitation to take part in the blog tour

Kent, 1815

Her heart led her to him, but will loyalty be enough to make her stay . . .

When the beautiful but naïve Grace Lennicker falls for Isaiah Feasey, son of a rival smuggling family and owner of a local tavern, her sisters try to intervene. But as tensions grow, there is another suitor also hoping to win her hand in marriage, the dashing and more favourable Albert Enderby, a young lieutenant in the Revenue.

Grace is unwittingly drawn back into the world of smuggling that her sisters fought hard to leave behind, and as violence erupts, she finds herself unable to stand by, knowing the rival gangs will kill anyone who stands in their way.

When her husband becomes involved, Grace is forced to make a difficult decision - turn him in and risk her life, or stay loyal and risk the lives of those she loves...

My thoughts...

Set in Kent, in the early nineteenth century, this series follows the fortunes of the Lennicker sisters who we have met previously in The Lace Maiden and The Golden Maid and whilst it is perfectly possible to read each story as a stand-alone historical adventure/saga, like all series it is better to read the stories in order as that way you get to know each of the sisters in turn.

The Smuggler’s Wife follows the story of Grace Lennicker, the youngest of the girls, and for whom life is always going to be complicated, especially when she has two very different suitors vying for her attention. Choosing to go with her heart’s desire, Grace soon realises that life with, tavern keeper and general bad boy, Isaiah Feasey, isn’t going to be straightforward, nor do her older sisters approve of her associating with a man who seems to attract nothing but trouble.

What then follows is an exciting, and thoroughly enjoyable, historical adventure which has all the hallmarks of this author’s fine writing. The area around Deal in Kent comes alive and the old phrase of ‘keep your friends close but your enemies closer’ springs to mind especially with the vivid description of what it was like to be constantly in danger, either from creditors demanding money with menaces, or in trying to keep one step ahead of the Revenue.

Grace proves to be a feisty young heroine, I enjoyed getting to know more about her and wanted everything to work out well. It was especially interesting to have snippets of information about what was happening in the lives of the older Lennicker sisters and both Winnie and Louisa have much to say on the subject of Grace’s volatile relationship with Isiah Feasey. Of course, as the title suggests this book has references to the smuggling past of this part of the country and the author describes this free trade, particularly after the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars when times were hard, with a fine eye for historical detail.

Beautifully written with an air of authenticity, The Smugglers Wife is a fine continuation of this series and an interesting historical saga on its own merits.

About the author

Evie Grace was born in Kent, and one of her earliest memories is of picking cherries with her grandfather who managed a fruit farm near Selling. Holidays spent in the Kent countryside and the stories passed down through her family inspired her to write her Maids of Kent trilogy. Evie now lives in Devon with her partner and dog. She has a grown-up daughter and son. She loves researching the history of the nineteenth century and is very grateful for the invention of the washing machine, having discovered how the Victorians struggled to do their laundry.

Twitter @eviegrace2017

@ArrowPublishing #TheSmugglersWife