Blind from a riding accident, her father dead and her mother remarried to the horrid Mr. Pennington, Cassandra Wyndleigh has few future options and many past secrets. When the dashing Matthew Rowell blackmails her into marriage by threatening to expose those secrets Cassandra agrees, only to find she has given up the devils she knew for the devilish Matthew Rowell and his secrets. Matthew … manipulates her in his game. A game in which she does not know the rules or consequences. Is Mr. Andre, Rowell’s sincere French friend to be trusted or Mr. Herschell who repeatedly asks her to not trust her husband? And then there are the cards. Each time she is asked to do a tarot reading some evil comes of it. An evil that is centered on the Queen of Spades, the dark queen. How can she face all the secrets and bear silently the worst secret yet?
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Cassandra has been blind since a riding accident as a girl. Her stepfather is cruel, but Cassandra is a strong heroine who overcomes most of her limitations. When Matthew enters her life, she doesn’t trust him but uses him to escape her situation. It’s a story that keeps you guessing, you only know what is revealed to our heroine. Despite being blind, tarot cards are Cassandra’s skill which she is very adept at, and the title comes from the significance of the Dark Queen in the cards. Many mysteries are revealed over the pages, but the reader is kept guessing until the end. A very satisfying read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
After losing her eyesight in a riding accident, this brave young woman made it her mission to act as normal as possible so people did not treat her like an invalid. When her father died and left her mother and her in dire straits, her mother sold their manor house and much of the furnishings. Things were not good in their new home with her new stepfather but she tried not to let her revulsion for him show. When blackmailed to marry the new owner of her childhood home, she has no choice but to agree. It is one misunderstanding after another until finally, things click into place and they live HEA. Recommended
This is an intriguing story and a type I have to say that took me by surprise. It is well written and story with dynamic characters. Cassandra is a strong woman and you have to give her her props. It is written in POV’s and sometimes I have to dig deep to follow but overall a great story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
“Dark Queen” is the first book I’ve read by Helen Mathey-Horn. I enjoy the occasional Regency Romance, and I’m a big fan of the “Captain Lacey Mysteries,” by Ashley Gardner (also set in Napoleonic England), so the description of “Dark Queen” interested me.
The book is written in alternating POV, however, Matthew never comes across as quite the same style as Cassandra. When reading passages from her, the reader has the impression that Cassandra is speaking directly to them, or perhaps that Cassandra is dictating, as in a memoir style, perhaps? In Matthew’s sections, this is not the case; his POV feels a bit more removed. Matthew doesn’t “speak” to the reader – his actions, thoughts, feelings, etc., are described to us instead. He doesn’t confide in us, as Cassandra does.
Through the course of the novel, we are left just as in the dark as Cassandra as to Matthew’s motives, left to wonder whom she can trust. Thrust into the deep end of a sea she cannot hope to navigate, Cassandra is alone with only her wits and the questionable skills her father taught her, as her guide.
I admit, I can usually sniff out villains and endings, even if I don’t see exactly how an author will get there, but I was scratching my head nearly until the end with “Dark Queen.” I’ll also admit that I found it hard to love Matthew, after everything he put Cassandra through. For all his machinations and schemes, Cassandra is more than his intellectual equal. Perhaps if she’d had her sight, she would have seen through his deceptions? Then again, if she hadn’t been blinded years before, their paths never would have crossed anyway. Without that little twist of fate, Cassandra likely would not have taken up the cards again.
Well, for keeping me guessing!
This was an interesting one. I loved Cassandra, and enjoyed finding out the mysteries of her past. They were not at all what I thought. Matthew was a devious one, and I went back and forth on how I felt about him and where I wanted the story to end up when it came to him. Andre was great, and I enjoyed the scenes he was in. And Robin! We all need a Robin watching out for us. This was a fun read that kept me guessing at everyone’s motives.
***I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.***