ARC Review: The Viscount Made Me Do It (Clandestine Affairs #2) by Diana Quincy
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Series: Clandestine Affairs #2
Author: Diana Quincy
Published July 27th 2021 by Avon
Goodreads Synopsis
Diana Quincy returns with the second novel in her Clandestine Affairs series featuring a steamy romance between a working class London bonesetter who is dangerously attracted to her mysterious noble client.
A seduction that could ruin everything...
Hanna Zaydan has fought to become London’s finest bonesetter, but her darkly appealing new patient threatens to destroy everything she’s worked so hard for. The daughter of Arab merchants is slowly seduced by the former soldier — even though she’s smart enough to know Griff is after more than he’ll reveal. Whatever it is, the bonesetter’s growing desire for the man just might tempt her to give it to him.
An attraction that cannot be denied...
Rumors that he killed his own parents have followed Thomas Ellis, Viscount Griffin, practically since he was a boy. More than a decade after the tragedy, Griff receives a tip about his parents’ killer… one that takes him straight to a captivating bonesetter. Griff is convinced Hanna is a fraud, but the dark-eyed beauty stirs deep feelings in him that he thought had perished along with his family.
Hanna has a gift for fixing fractured people, but can she also mend a broken heart? More importantly, will Griff let her?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via Edelweiss. This in no way impacted on my view.
Hanna Zaydan may be a bonesetter, but she knows that she is one of the best, and she will not let anyone say otherwise. The traditional doctors in London want her to be banned for practising, but when the injured Thomas Ellis, Viscount Griffin, is healed by her work - after 2 years worth of pain - he's fully on her side. Griff has been accused of murdering his parents when he was just a teenager, and faced the stigma ever since. His only real supporter the whole time was his guardian, Dr Norman Pratt, who as one of the leading London doctors, denounces bonesetters as quacks, and tells Griff his pain will heal eventually by itself. Well, Griff now knows that Hanna's work is legitimate, and encourages her in her efforts, though he has his own reasons too. You see, Hanna was spotted wearing a necklace his mother always wore, and one that was stolen from her body after the murder, and he thinks that by gaining Hanna's trust, and working with her to discover how the necklace came into her family's ownership, they may just uncover the truth about the murders, and fall in love in the meantime.
I was approved for this book through Edelweiss before I realised it was book 2 in a series. So, I ordered book 1, and though I didn't love it, I was definitely intrigued, and hoped that Griff, who was a side character in Her Night with the Duke, would be the hero of The Viscount Made Me Do It, because I wanted to know more about the murders that were mentioned. Well, I was in luck, and both Griff, and Hanna - who we also met in book 1 - were the perfect couple to lead this book. There was such a chemistry between them, from their first meeting, to the final pages, that just gripped my attention, and meant that I couldn't put the book down. I devoured it in one sitting - luckily it was half term, so I was off work - and was fully invested in the plot. Both of them are somewhat outsiders, with those around them not really understanding them, or in Griff's case, seemingly shunning them. Hanna, as a single woman, in an Arab family, is regularly told by her grandmother in particular, that she should marry, and stop working, but her work as a Bonesetter, helping people, is all she wants. She doesn't want to marry just because she should, but when she gets to know Griff, it's the first time she can imagine herself as a wife, but neither her family, nor his world, would accept it. Or would they? Griff has been alone for so long - we see purposefully by someone who wanted to keep him to themselves - and Hanna is one of the first people in a really long time that he can trust. The mystery surrounding the murders was definitely thrilling, and though I had my suspicions, I hadn't guessed at the full extent of it all until the big reveal. I really enjoy this, and am pleased I was approved for my review copy. I'll be on the lookout for Diana's next release!
Dates Read:
June 1, 2021
Rating
4 Stars
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