Stay In The Shadows

Published: June 26th, 2012
Thief of Shadows (Maiden Lane # 4)
By: Elizabeth Hoyt
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN-13: 9781455508327

A Masked Man . . .

Winter Makepeace lives a double life. By day he's the stoic headmaster of a home for foundling children. But the night brings out a darker side of Winter. As the moon rises, so does the Ghost of St. Giles—protector, judge, fugitive. When the Ghost, beaten and wounded, is rescued by a beautiful aristocrat, Winter has no idea that his two worlds are about to collide.

A Dangerous Woman . . .

Lady Isabel Beckinhall enjoys nothing more than a challenge. Yet when she's asked to tutor the Home's dour manager in the ways of society— flirtation, double-entendres, and scandalous liaisons—Isabel can't help wondering why his eyes seem so familiar—and his lips so tempting.

A Passion Neither Could Deny

During the day Isabel and Winter engage in a battle of wills. At night their passions are revealed . . . But when little girls start disappearing from St. Giles, Winter must avenge them. For that he might have to sacrifice everything—the Home, Isabel . . . and his life.

Review

   Winter Makepeace runs an orphans home in the middle of St. Giles, a city no better than a slum, by day.  At night he is the masked harlequin avenger who protects the citizens from evil.  After freeing pirate Charming Mickey (newly his brother-in-law) from execution, he is chased by a mob and nearly killed...until Isabel Beckinhall takes him into her carriage.  Driving him to her home, she tends to a rather serious wound on his leg, admiring his naked body.  Of course she never makes the connection that he could be Winter, whom she thinks to be a dour, stern man that she butts heads with over the oprhan home that she is a patroness of.  A few days later, Isabel comes to the home to begin tutoring Winter in the ways of society, because the other patronesses are trying to have him replaced in his sister's absence.  Reluctantly he allows her to school him so he can stay with the orphans.  Meanwhile, Winter is trying to figure out who is snatching little girls off the streets of St. Giles and to what purpose.  Can he hide his true identity from Isabel, especially once the chemistry between them begins to explode.  Will she be able to trust him enough to give up her heart?  I was expecting more from a book that is supposed to be about Winter.  From the other three novels, I got the impression that he was far too much of a stuffed-shirt to get sexually involved with someone like Isabel.  Also he never struck me as the type to be the Ghost of St. Giles.  I honestly sympathized with Isabel's barrenness, but never really liked her much as a character.  I felt like she was smart, but too focused on the superficialities of life whereas Winter was almost the exact opposite.  The side-story with the kidnapped girls was too disconnected from the main plot for me.  They just didn't seem to mesh together all that well.  Seriously, Joseph Tinbox was my favorite part of the entire book.  But I'm unsure that I will like it when Hoyt decides it's his turn to have his character practically butchered.  Not my favorite in the series by any means.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published June 26th, 2012.*