Rating: 4/5
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.
I received a free copy of The Winged Tiara through Austenprose PR for a book tour. Thank you so much for this opportunity!
This was such a fun adventure featuring a lovers to enemies to lovers again romance. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but this was such an exhilarating read. And so many twists and turns, lies, deceits, and oh so much drama.
We follow two jewel thieves who after the end of the war against all odds fell in love and drunkenly got married the same day in celebration. But the following morning, Esme realizes her mistake and runs off before her newly found husband, Jasper wakes up. Four years later, they run into each other searching for the same jewel, the precious Valkyrie Tiara. And we get to watch them play games with each other trying to slow the other down in their attempt to be the first one to steal the tiara.
From the very beginning, I was captivated. As we bounce between the perspectives of Jasper and Esme, we learn about their pasts and the whirlwind romance that sparked them to get married. And despite their internal protests, its clear the spark is still there as they try to cheat their way to getting the tiara first. I adored how Jasper cared for Esme’s well-being throughout the chase despite the numerous times she left him behind.
I truly didn’t know what to expect as I made my way through this, but I absolutely loved it from start to finish. I especially enjoyed all the lavish parties that our main characters snuck into. The descriptions painted such vivid pictures. I could easily picture myself there with them.
If you enjoy historical fiction set in the 1920s and enjoy a good chase, you should definitely consider picking this up!
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