Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Thief of Hearts
AUTHOR: Ruby Moone
PUBLISHER: JMS Books
LENGTH: 248 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 14, 2018
BLURB:
The year is 1806. Bastard-born jewel thief David Lambert has few rules in his personal life. Never bed the staff, never more than once with the same man, and never, ever, kiss. Attending an aristocratic party and relieving some of the wealthy of their possessions should be easy, but in the space of a weekend, one by one all his rules are shattered by a footman with a secret.
Jeremy Naylor thought he had found the man of his dreams, the one man who might understand him. Someone passionate, handsome, and respectable. But in one shocking moment his world is destroyed, and he is forced to run for his life.
Flung together to escape the hangman’s noose, the passion between David and Jeremy burns fiercely. But Jeremy yearns for respectability, and David refuses to admit what lies in his heart. Will they find a way together, or will their differences lead them to the very brink of disaster and the shadow of the gallows?
REVIEW:
This is an exciting historical romance with drama, eroticism, and scandal to spare. The plot never wavers, the characters are well-rounded, and you get lost in the upstairs/downstairs world right from the first page.
This Regency romance begins with David, a quiet aristocrat trudging through another boring social event, catching a glimpse of a handsome footman in an itchy powdered wig. But this isn’t a simple flirtation between men of two different classes. We soon learn David is an accomplished thief who supports himself by stealing from his wealthy acquaintances, and the footman, Jeremy has his own little secret that sends sparks flying between him and David—but also has the potential to destroy his reputation. When they find themselves on the run together, they meet up with David’s diverse group of close friends and try to figure out how to keep them both from the hangman’s noose.
Though this book sits at a fairly conventional length for a romance, it reads much more quickly. The plot moves steadily, the dialogue is brisk, and the small character interactions paint vivid pictures of their dynamics with one another. The story flirts with gender norms and ideals, introducing both cross-dressing and transgender characters, and even some of the politics of the time are touched on minutely but thoughtfully. There’s so much packed into this book, and it never feels overstuffed or dull. You can tell it’s both well-written and well-edited (though there are some missing quotation marks here and there).
David and Jeremy have a somewhat classic romance dynamic—the sweet young man who thaws the heart of the ice king—but they are both layered characters in their own right. David uses his horrifying past and criminal mind to help others who deserve it, and Jeremy just wants to feel love and acceptance when he’s only ever been judged. And when David finally sees Jeremy for who he really is, things can get pretty steamy. If you like seeing traditional Regency class dynamics flipped in your books, there’s a lot of that going on, with each man taking care of and looking out for one another at different times.
I do think the author could’ve delved even deeper. I overlooked the part in the blurb where it said this book takes place in 1806, and about halfway through the book, I realized I couldn’t quite pinpoint the time period, even within a few decades. The historical details remained vague until the back half. I wish the time period was more keenly established in the beginning of the book, giving us a richer feeling of England during the Napoleonic Wars and spreading British colonialism.
The title, though a little corny, certainly encapsulates the feelings of this story—it steals your attention to the end. David is a stoic, secretive character, not given to whimsy or fantasies, but seeing Jeremy slowly chip away at his resolve amidst scandal and misadventure makes for a fine, fast-paced read with a romance to root for. I haven’t read Ruby Moone’s works before, and I haven’t read any historical works from JMS Books, but I’m now excited to delve into the back catalog of both.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: