J'nel Ciesielski: The Winged Tiara

By Kelly Bridgewater

Diamonds and danger dazzle in Ciesielski's latest enchanting romp through post-war Europe as estranged spouses and jewel thieves hunt an elusive Valkyrie tiara.

November 12, 1918. It was a match made in champagne-soaked heaven, but all too soon the bubbles dried up, and Esme Fox awakens the morning after celebrating the end of the Great War to find herself shockingly and accidentally married. She gathers her belongings and slips out before her new husband can stop her. After all, she knows it's best to leave before he does.

Four years later, Jasper Truitt, after having made a name for himself in the underground world of jewel thieves, is on the hunt for a valuable heirloom: a one-of-a-kind winged tiara--the last Valkyrie tiara ever created. So it's with great surprise that he discovers it at a charity event atop the head of a woman he's never forgotten. His long-lost wife . . . who happens to be pursuing the tiara for a vengeful opera diva desperate to obtain the jewel for herself.

The reunion is cut short when Esme vanishes--again--but their separation is temporary. With a hitman on their heels and a deadline looming, the pair find themselves in an epic game of cat and mouse across Europe following leads from the French Riviera to a shop of wonders in Venice, a fairy-tale castle in Bavaria, and a veritable circus thrown by a champagne heiress, all before a dramatic horseback flight through the French countryside.

In the end only one can win, and with both of their hearts on the line, the winner may well turn out to be the loser.

In her latest glamorous historical romance, J'nell Ciesielski spins a sparkling story filled with her signature snappy dialogue and vivid atmosphere that will keep you reading late into the night to see what happens next.

My Thoughts:

The Winged Tiara by J’nell Ciesielski reads a lot like her previous two books, The Brilliance of Stars and To Free the Stars. Two main characters have a past that ties them together, but their ultimate goal in the story overtakes them pursuing a relationship with each other. Ciesieskli keeps the characters hoping all across Europe as they hung for the Valkyrie tiara. They intertwine at different places, not on purpose, argue, and appear to be working together, but then one gives the other the slip, and this happens over and over again. As the story moves along, the main thread is the hunt for the tiara, but the tension and strife between Jasper and Esme takes over the storyline. I do enjoy the hunt for the tiara. I like how creative Ciesielski made the hunt. It was not so simple to seek the tiara. However, there were moments that I wish were a little shorter, then onto another clue to find it. If readers were looking for a spiritual thread, there is not one. Just a good enjoyable story. Overall, The Winged Tiara by J’nell Ciesielski does encapsulate a treasure hunt between the two unlikely partners who really do not want to be partners, but enemies. I enjoyed the overall storyline.

I received a complimentary copy of  The Winged Tiara 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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