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Dominic Hawke is a proud member of a well-respected family of London goldsmiths who’ve honed their craft for four generations. Like many goldsmiths, they also carry on a lucrative and trusted banking business.
Spain plots to invade England, assassinate her queen and install the Catholic Mary of Scotland on the throne. Determined to protect his country from Spanish interference, Dominic is also an informant for Elizabeth Tudor’s Spymaster.
When the Pope’s Venetian emissary deposits the funds to finance a Spanish invasion with the Hawkes, events are set in motion that will likely result in the Venetian’s execution.
Things go awry when Dominic meets and falls in love with the emissary’s daughter. A man smugly proud of his prodigious sexual appetite and imbued with an innate desire to dominate in the bedroom, he doubts the haughty and spoiled Luisa Bertolli would ever bend to his will. Even if she isn’t involved in her father’s plot, the innocent often do not escape torture and execution.
Unaware of her father’s involvement in treasonous activities, Luisa cannot understand her craving for a London goldsmith who lives in a cramped apartment above his shop. Venetian noblewomen are destined to marry wealthy Venetian men. She begins to suspect Dominic is somehow involved in her father’s affairs and doesn’t doubt that he craves sexual dominance—something she could never agree to. It becomes clear the goldsmith is using her to entrap her father.
Both their lives are at risk in the deadly game of intrigue orchestrated by the Queen’s notorious Spymaster, Francis Walsingham.
Spain plots to invade England, assassinate her queen and install the Catholic Mary of Scotland on the throne. Determined to protect his country from Spanish interference, Dominic is also an informant for Elizabeth Tudor’s Spymaster.
When the Pope’s Venetian emissary deposits the funds to finance a Spanish invasion with the Hawkes, events are set in motion that will likely result in the Venetian’s execution.
Things go awry when Dominic meets and falls in love with the emissary’s daughter. A man smugly proud of his prodigious sexual appetite and imbued with an innate desire to dominate in the bedroom, he doubts the haughty and spoiled Luisa Bertolli would ever bend to his will. Even if she isn’t involved in her father’s plot, the innocent often do not escape torture and execution.
Unaware of her father’s involvement in treasonous activities, Luisa cannot understand her craving for a London goldsmith who lives in a cramped apartment above his shop. Venetian noblewomen are destined to marry wealthy Venetian men. She begins to suspect Dominic is somehow involved in her father’s affairs and doesn’t doubt that he craves sexual dominance—something she could never agree to. It becomes clear the goldsmith is using her to entrap her father.
Both their lives are at risk in the deadly game of intrigue orchestrated by the Queen’s notorious Spymaster, Francis Walsingham.
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Luisa Bertolli travelled to England with her father from Venice. What she didn't know was the real reason her father was making the journey.
The Pope and most Catholics don't want Protestant Elizabeth on the throne. They are working to replace her with Catholic Mary of Scotland.
This historical romance gives us a real feel for the events of this time and it's effects on the lives of the ordinary people. I loved the insight into the Guilds and how they worked. Fabulous characters and lots of danger and intrigue. Our naughty and sexy hero sometimes has trouble keeping his mind on the job at hand. Our heroine is braver and more intelligent than the men around her give her credit for. There are plenty of surprises and some sexy scenes.
This is the first book in the series and it will definitely tempt you to want to read the next one.
I loved it.
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I’m a Canadian author with a keen interest in genealogy. I write medieval romance about family honour, ancestry, and roots. My novels are intimate love stories full of passion and adventure.Passion conquers whatever obstacles a hostile medieval world can throw in its path. My page-turning adventures have earned me a place on Amazon’s All-Star list.
Besides writing, I have two addictions-crosswords and genealogy, probably the reason I love research. I am a fool for cats. My husband is an entrepreneur who is fond of boasting he’s never had a job.
I live on Canada’s scenic west coast now, but I was born and raised in the UK and I love breathing life into the history of my homeland.
