Once a Rebel

4.5 stars

If you like friends to lovers stories – you will love this book.

Catherine Callista Brooke (aka Callie) and Lord George Gordon Richard Augustus Audley (aka Richard aka Gordon) have been the best of friends since they were children. So when Callie’s father tells her that he has arranged her marriage to a much older widowed plantation owner and that she will be married immediately and go with him to Jamaica, she is frantic and turns to Richard for help running away. Richard is the rebellious third son of the Marquess of Kingston, when Callie comes to him for help, he doesn’t hesitate, he suggests that they go to Scotland to marry. When they are caught by their fathers, Callie agrees to marry the man her father has chosen if he will spare Richard’s life. Her father agrees, but trumps up charges and has Richard transported to New South Wales.

Fifteen years later, Richard is back in London (if you read the Lost Lords series, you might remember him as Gordon – a classmate and minor character in those books) and Lord Kirkwood has an assignment for him. He needs him to go to America and find the widow Audley and either return her to her family in England or ensure her wellbeing in America. This task will be dangerous as England is at war with America – but helping people is what Richard does best and he accepts the mission.

Callie is now widowed and has moved her “family” to Washington and assumed the identity of the widow Audley to escape her vile step-son Henry. When her husband died, he made no final provisions for his two illegitimate children with his mistress. His children are quadroons and Henry considers them slaves and wanted to sell them, Callie has grown to love the children and fled to America rather than let Henry sell them. She has worked hard and established herself as seamstress, all is going well until the British invade Washington. Fearing for her family, she sends them to Baltimore and stays behind to protect the house. She is inadvertently caught up in skirmish, her house is burned to the ground and she is in grave danger when Richard arrives and claims that she is his wife.

Callie and Richard are shocked to see one another again, Callie had been told that Richard died en route to New South Wales. Richard is overjoyed to find Callie and again offers to marry her. Callie politely declines but agrees to act the part of his wife to get to Baltimore. Richard decides that Callie is the woman for him and plans to use the time to woo her. They risk life and limb to get to Baltimore and arrive to find that Callie’s extended family is safe and sound – however Baltimore is preparing for the British to attack – so there will be no easy escape for them. As they spend more time together, the more they begin to fallback into their easy friendship and Callie begins to realize that everything is changing, she is no longer quintessential to her “family” and she begins to think that marrying Richard and returning to England might be exactly what she needs. Just when it seems that her life might finally be looking up, she is faced with yet another challenge – her stepson Henry has found them. After a horrifying encounter with Henry and surviving the Battle of Baltimore – Callie agrees to marry Richard and return to England.

Once they return to England, there are more shocks in store for our lovers, such as the identity of the sister that betrayed them 15 years and the discovery that both their fathers have passed and through the fickle hand of fate – Richard is now the Marquess of Kingston. Determined to make the best of their newly rewritten future, Callie and Richard venture to the Kingston family estate to confront Richard’s younger brothers. All seems to be falling into place, when another tragedy strikes them and secrets are revealed and Richard is forced to do the unthinkable to save the woman he loves more than life itself.

This book was really well done, it has an almost epic feel to it and flows perfectly. It has a lot of history, surprising cameos, steamy love scenes, life and death moments, lighthearted moments and a truly lovely soulmate type of love. My only complaint is this book really needed an epilogue – I was left wondering what happened to her family in America and what became of her unresolved feelings with her sister. Other than that, which admittedly is very minor – I enjoyed this book and would happily recommend it. It is the second book in the series, but they are very loosely connected and there would be no reason this book could not be read as a stand alone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review of an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*

This was a good friends to lovers story in a setting not often seen in Regency romance. Callie and Gordon were best friends growing up. When her father planned to marry her off to a Jamaican planter three times her age, Callie fled to Gordon for help. His idea for them to escape to Gretna Green did not go as planned, and they were quickly caught. In a heartbreaking scene, Gordon was nearly beaten to death, and Callie submits to save Gordon’s life. She is sent off to Jamaica and Gordon ends up sent to the penal colony in Australia.

Fast forward fifteen years. Callie is a widow who fled from Jamaica to Washington DC to escape her brutal stepson, taking her late husband’s illegitimate quadroon children and their grandparents with her. She created a successful life there as a dressmaker, but as the story opens, she is caught in the British invasion of Washington. Unfortunate timing places her in the midst of danger when an unexpected savior arrives just in time to save her life. Callie is stunned to see Gordon, who she believed was dead.

After many years and adventures, of which we get only hints, Gordon made it back to England. He now spends his time helping people out of tricky situations. He was asked to go to America and track down a widow for her family. They would like her to return to England, or if not, to be sure that she is safe and happy. The last thing he expected was for Callie to be that widow.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Callie and Gordon. Once they recovered from their surprise, they slipped easily back into their old friendship. But they are no longer children, and there is a new tension simmering under the surface. I loved seeing them get to know each other as adults. Callie has become a beautiful woman who is intelligent, independent, and determined. She doesn’t trust easily and has no plans to marry again. Gordon is a man with many facets which comes in handy during this book. His happiness at finding Callie again made him realize that he wants to keep her in his life. There are two main obstacles. One is her determination not to marry, and the other is her reluctance to return to England. Because of their dysfunctional families, neither Gordon nor Callie has any real experience with love.

Gordon is the first to realize that what he feels for Callie is more than friendship and decides to use his time to woo Callie to his way of thinking. He also isn’t above using little tastes of passion to show her the benefits of marrying him. Though adamantly opposed at first, changing circumstances and growing passion cause Callie to reconsider. I loved Gordon’s patience as he slowly brought Callie to realize that they belonged together. I liked their support of each other on their return to England, where several surprises awaited them. But it took a near-tragedy for them to realize the depth of their feelings for each other. I liked the ending and seeing them accept the full measure of their love.

One of my favorite things about this book is the setting. Placing this book in Baltimore during the War of 1812 gave an added layer of drama to the story. It was fun to see Callie and Gordon jump back and forth between being British or American as the need arose. Gordon was especially good at exhibiting just the right attitude for the situation. I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of life in Baltimore as they prepared for the possible arrival of British soldiers. The vividness of the bombardment of Fort McHenry made me feel as though I was there. The identity of Callie’s lawyer was unexpected and a nice touch.

There were two bits of mystery and danger that added to the tension of the book. The first was the reason that Callie fled Jamaica. Her husband’s legitimate son was a greedy bully and his actions made it clear she and her adopted family were not safe. With the steps she took, she never expected Henry to pursue them, but was proved wrong. The confrontation with him was intense and had me on the edge of my seat until it was over. The second was the surprise inheritance that Gordon received on his arrival back in England. His trip back to his childhood home was emotional and full of both good and bad memories. Unexpected danger had me glued to the pages as once again Gordon was called on to save them from danger. I ached for him as he confronted the culprit to save himself and Callie.

I would have liked an epilogue to see their lives a few years down the road. I’m curious to see how things go for Callie’s Baltimore family. Since this is part of a series, hopefully there will be updates in future books.

A good book!

In this second book, we met again Gordon from the LOST LORD SERIES, Lady Westerfield’s “one failure”. Captain Gordon is reunited with his childhood love, Callie. They were torn apart cruelly by their fathers. Callie was forced to marry a man and moved from England. Now a widow and in Baltimore with her 2 stepchildren she is rescused by Gordon, sent to return her to England. This book is filled with historical information (the time is the War of 1812) blended perfectly with a romantic background. Through their many adventures, things are revealed of how they each overcame difficulties and moved on instead of wallowing in misery. A surprise and wonderful ending – as with all of Ms. Putney’s stories. She is my favorite author as she just doesn’t bring romance to life, but the period in time with factual accuracy. It brings the story to life and you feel part of it!