Monday, November 7, 2022

J'nell Ciesieskli: The Brilliance of Stars

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Amid the chaos of the Great War, two master assassins risk it all for love.

Washington DC, 1914. Ivy Olwen knows how to survive on the streets without two coins to rub together. But when she finds herself whisked into a secret society that seeks to maintain the balance of good and evil in the world, she can’t believe there’s more to life than just surviving. In the hallowed and historied halls of Talon, she learns European languages and ballroom dancing, as well as demolitions and sharpshooting—in short, everything a spy and assassin will need to survive in the field.

The first day Jack Vale meets Ivy, he knows she is not to be underestimated. The second day, he knows his heart will belong to no one else. Between sparring bouts and constellation gazing, Jack takes Ivy under his wing, and the two form a bond that soon turns to love.

While the rest of the world tumbles into war, the two embark on an official mission to take down a madman who has left a trail of blood and murder across Russia. Little do they know the unfathomable peril waiting in the wings of a chaotic Europe.

When Jack and Ivy are thrust into encounters each more terrifying than the last, Ivy must determine how far she will go to save the man she loves. Equal parts historical fiction and adventure novel, Ciesielski’s epic tale of espionage and romance will leave readers both enchanted and thrilled.

 


My Thoughts:

From the first chapter of The Brilliance of Stars by J’nell Ciesieskli, she introduces the readers to a world of spies and trouble. Right away, the story jumps into the action. There are plenty of backstory to develop Ivy’s character. Jack is just sprinkled in with a little bit of his backstory. Readers are given hints, but readers do not fully understand what his story is and why it is important to the development of his character. Whereas, Ivy has a deeply hurt background that helps motivate her movements in the story. The romance takes away the reader’s breath. Many moments of the heroine and hero jumping through the hoops to try to stop the overarching pending danger. Plenty of action when the climactic moments occur, but there are moments of taking a deep breath and watching the characters relax and plot their next movement. The story does end in a cliff-hanger, so who knows how long it will be until the next book. Definitely something that I have to keep on hand because I will probably have to read again before I read the next book in the series. Overall, The Brilliance of Stars by J’nell Ciesieskli started with a bang, then flipped to some training and background, but then it jumped back into the high tension moments. I think this was a nicely handled World War I spy novel, but I can not wait to read the next novel.

I received a complimentary copy of The Brilliance of Stars by J’nell Ciesieskli from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:   4 out of 5 stars

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