Secrets in Scarlet - Erica Monroe

Secrets In Scarlet by Erica Monroe is an entertaining historical romance.  Ms. Monroe has given readers a book that is well-written and populated with fabulous characters.  Thaddeus is a Sergeant with the Metropolitan Police.  Poppy is a weaver at a factory, trying to raise her daughter without a husband.  Thaddeus and Poppy's story is packed with drama, humor, sizzle, action and suspense.  I enjoyed this book and will gladly read more from Erica Monroe in the future.  Secrets In Scarlet is book 2 of The Rookery Rogues Series but can be read as a standalone.  This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

***copy provided by publisher through NetGalley***

Three years ago, she got married to help her younger sister return home after a scandal. Now, her sister is still in the same convent she's been when Jemma had married, and Jemma's husband is killed in front of a notorious brothel.

She knows it wasn't a common mugging, but murder. She also knows who did it, she just needs help in proving it. And the only one she can turn to is the man she left behind after marrying his best friend.


This one had huge potential. Unfortunately, it didn't use it.

The characters were once again rather one-dimensional and flat, there was a jarring imbalance in "power" between the hero and heroine, and I felt absolutely not chemistry between them. Which made the supposed conflict even harder to swallow, since it all stemmed from a single kiss between two friends. For friends is what these two actually were. There was no tension, no chemistry, no passion...Just two people who were supposedly comfortable with each other, and that single drunken kiss three years ago.

Then there was the suspense. It would've definitely worked better if the mystery of the killer was kept longer and the two had to discover his identity along with the proof needed to put him away. The fact we all knew who the killer was from the start, diminished the intensity and interest of the plot itself, also slowing the pace (which was already slow to begin with) even more.

***copy provided by publisher through NetGalley***

This one was even worse than its predecessor.

The heroine was a cold, emotionally-stinted bitch, but without the requisite explanation as to why she was that way. I guess Ms Monroe wanted her to come across as eccentric, but the girl was just a cold, emotionally-stinted bitch. Especially once she turned her eye onto the hero as a replacement for the corpse she's been trying to resurrect for the past six months.

The hero was flat and one-dimensional, the "romance" completely nonexistent...The entire story was an utter disappointment.

Claire has been in love with Teddy, her best friend, for ages, it seems, but he only wants to be friends. Which is good for her, since she's going to go crazy like her aunt and mother did—it's a family curse.
But it turns out, Teddy doesn't only want to be friends with Claire and he also has no intention of letting her go mad. He's willing to break the curse no matter what, even if it means cavorting with a coven of witches.


I only read one book by this author previously, and I loved it, so I expected the same mix of suspense, romance, drama and humor in this one. Sadly, I was disappointed. It tried, it sure did, but it failed to deliver.

I didn't really care about the main protagonists; they came across as rather juvenile for people in their twenties, I hated the hero's nickname of Teddy (what is he, twelve?), I disliked the heroine's woe-is-me attitude, and their romance left me cold. I didn't understand why they loved each other, since both came across as rather flat, boring characters.

Then there were the gothic/suspenseful aspects of the story, which also fell flat. It turned out there weren't really any ghosts, just a crazy woman locked up in a castle, the curse thingy didn't inspire much confidence, sounding really made-up, while the final banishing of the curse with the help of the coven of witches seemed more like it was added as an afterthought.

Thankfully, this was a novella, so the "pain" was fleeting.

Felicity is not your typical heroine. Her scientific mind leads her to push the limits of life and death. I felt for her loneliness and loved her smarts. There were times when I had tears because of all the emotions she went through. Nicholas tugged at my heart in a different way. How he handled his duties as a duke and what was expected showed a certain rigidity. His time with Felicity changed his outlook and was a lot of fun to watch. I recommend this book.

I received a copy of this book as a gift, and this is my unsolicited review.