TBR Day. Entwined / Emma Jensen. 1997

First, my apologies for neglecting my blog lately. Lots of other stuff seems to be keeping me busy these days...

So, when I started reading romance again, about 7-8 years ago, I joined the Regency readers Yahoo group where I gathered up a ton of reading recommendations. One particular trilogy that people would refer to time and again was a series by Emma Jensen (I couldn't find a website for her) consisting of the books Entwined, Fallen, and Moonlit. I managed to find used copies of all three and then they proceeded to sit unread in my TBR pile. Entwined is the first book in the series and the one I read for this month's challenge. I think I'll save the other two for July and August. I definitely enjoyed this one and I'll be looking forward to the next two.

Entwined is the story of Nathan Oriel, a wounded war veteran, and Isobel MacLeod, the daughter of Nathan's steward. Nathan is mostly blind--he can only see large shapes and colors. He manages to fool most people into thinking he can see, but Isobel figures out his secret. When Isobel's father is caught stealing some money from Nathan, Nathan decides to coerce Isobel into marriage to save Isobel's father and the rest of her family from ruin.

Meanwhile, Nathan has some unfinished business he needs to take care of for the government. Nathan had been a part of a group of 10 men who were spies during the war. Someone is killing "The Ten" one by one and Nathan needs to figure out who and take care of them before he, or Isobel, are harmed. The mystery does not overwhelm the rest of the story. Isobel and Nathan spend a lot of time together and Jensen does an excellent job of letting us see their relationship grow and develop. I liked the emotional impact of the book and I could see why this is a favorite among long-time Regency readers. Nathan and Isobel are interesting characters with a lot of inner strength. They complement one another.

This really isn't much of a review. Just a few comments to say how much I liked this one. It's late and I'm falling asleep over my keyboard. And I need my sleep!!! NQA show starts tomorrow and I am all over that!

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