Reviewer Comments: A young woman accused of murdering her wicked stepfather, a viscount who sees the color of truth and the historical setting of the Napoleonic Wars make an amazing story from Barbara Metzger come to life. Amanda Carville is accused of killing her stepfather when she is found holding the murder weapon. She is quickly thrown into prison and left there until her trial. Amanda is left with no one to help her and quickly retreats within herself to spare herself the trauma and horror of being in Newgate prison.
Viscount Jordan Rexford is cursed or blessed (depends on your point of view) with the ability to see color when people speak. If they tell the truth, he sees blue. If they lie, he sees red and variations of those colors depending on what type of lie they are telling. This trait has been handed down through his paternal family for generations with each male having a different sense as a truth detector. He is asked by his estranged mother to help her goddaughter, Amanda. Reluctantly, Jordan looks into the situation and thus begins a wonderful love story.
Barbara Metzger has taken a traditional love story and given it the added twist of truth seeing. Throughout the novel, knowing who is and who is not telling the truth is imperative. It made me start thinking about honesty, lies and white lies. How do we know when someone is telling the truth and what do we do when we know someone is lying? How useful would the trait of being able to see, smell or hear truth be to law enforcement or would it be more burdensome for the individual who has it? If we can see truth, would our society be more honest or just less trusting?
I truly enjoyed this book. It had the right mix of thought provoking ideas, romance and mystery. The who done it kept me guessing until the end, but made sense. Readers who want the villain to be a logical candidate and not one that appears out of nowhere in the last 5 pages will appreciate how this story ends. That is not to say the ending is without its twists and turns. The clues are laid throughout the novel so that I felt satisfied with the ending.
Readers who look for explicit sexual content in their romance novels will find the actual details of what happen within the bedroom somewhat vague in this novel. The tone of the love scenes match the era in which they are set and the characters themselves who struggle within the confines of society. The Victorian era and the structure of society are also dealt with in a realistic way in this book. Barbara Metzger uses the taint of scandal to prevent marriage as a way in which to add drama for Amanda. Has she been secretly meeting someone? Will she be able to clear her name on not only the murder charge but also the charge of “soiled dove”? Barbara Metzger has written a novel that is interesting and fresh.
