Saturday, January 18, 2014

Review: Winter's Heat by Zoë Archer

Winter’s Heat by Zoë Archer
Series: Nemesis, Unlimited, Book 1.5
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Genre: Historical Romance Winters Heat Cover
ISBN: 9781466847149
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N
Zoë Archer Reading Order

The agents of Nemesis, Unlimited are the people others turn to when villains escape justice. Ada reached out to them for help when a fellow maid was mistreated and was grateful for their help. Now it’s Nemesis who needs Ada. They want her to put her experience as a maid to good use, sending her undercover to gather evidence against an aristocratic couple who managed to slither out of the law’s grasp. Ada’s more than happy to help Nemesis, but she’s not so sure about the agent they’ve assigned to work with her. Six months ago Michael broke her heart when he left her without a word. Now they’re working side-by-side to balance the scales of justice and her resolve to keep Michael at arm’s length is crumbling. Can Ada keep her focus on the job at hand? Or will her attraction to Michael raise the stakes of the dangerous game they play?

Robin Hood meets Downton Abbey in the sultry Winter’s Heat. Zoë Archer eschews the posh world of the upper-class in favor of the “downstairs” folk in this delightful holiday novella. Michael and Ada are both likeable, hardworking characters with a strong sense of justice. Each also comes from the world of service but wants to do more with their life than simply clean chambers and polish the silver. They want to fight for the underdogs, for the people who haven’t the means to seek justice for themselves. It’s Michael and Ada’s passion for doing what’s right that initially brought them together. It’s also what tore them apart. Michael, a Nemesis agent, was forced to abandon Ada after he helped her friend so that he could go undercover on another mission. Though Ada is understandably wary of him when he pops back up in her life months later, Michael is determined to win her heart. Romance against the backdrop of an undercover assignment? Yes, please. Ms. Archer knows how to blend action into a love story and that ability shows in Winter’s Heat.

As a fan of both Ms. Archer’s work and Downton Abbey, I was simply charmed by Winter’s Heat. For readers who haven’t read Ms. Archer’s Nemesis, Unlimted books, Winter’s Heat is a good introduction to the world. All in all, I found Winter’s Heat to be a great story to curl up with on a chilly afternoon.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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