That was fun! Bring on the popcorn, cue the Indiana Jones theme music, and let the adventure begin! Scoundrel brings to mind those action/adventure movies I loved as a child. It’s a cross between the Indiana Jones movies and those old Sinbad movies – remember those? They had really bad special effects but were oh, so fun.Scoundrel is a combination of a treasure hunt and a race to protect these special artifacts called Sources. The Source objects are protected by a secret dedicated group of men and women in an organization called the Blades of the Rose. An equally secret and powerful group called the Heirs of Albion wishes to collect these objects and exploit them for the glory of England. Set in the very sunny and romantic Greek Isles in the 1870’s, our story begins in Athens where Bennett Day, a serial womanizer and a Blade is running away from an angry husband. The chase takes him through the city of Athens where he runs into the lovely and recently widowed London Harcourt. A chance meeting and Bennett is attracted to her, especially her archeological knowledge. And so the attraction begins – slowly.I loved this book. I enjoyed every moment. The main characters were interesting. How many women were educated in ancient languages in the 1870’s? I’m guessing not many. Not only is our heroine London well versed in these ancient languages, she is also brave and independent. I found the chemistry between London and Bennett wonderful. There was such a slow burn to this relationship. At times, I thought that the two of them would burst into flames, they were that hot. I loved that our main characters traveled from island to island in a small sailing ship. Sailing ship, Greek Islands, how romantic is that? They are accompanied by Athena, a witch and Kallas the captain. Athena and Kallas have a love/hate relationship that is very entertaining. London’s father was an absolutely horrible man. His anachronistic ideas about women were his downfall. I enjoyed the magic in this book. The description of Athena battling the Chernock the Heir sorcerer was amazing. The addition of mythological creatures made the story come alive. Cattullus Graves’ inventions were extremely clever. I especially liked the folding glider wings. Very handy. I’m looking forward to reading Rebel next.
