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
Purchase The Winged Tiara
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