(Comrades in Arms, #1)
Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)
Cover Blurb:
The truth behind the hero.
Officer Jack Trestain may have been one of Wellington’s most valued code-breakers but since Waterloo, he’s hung up his uniform. If only he could just as easily put aside the tortured memories he carries deep within…perhaps enchanting French artist Celeste Marmion might be the distraction he so desperately craves.
Except Celeste harbours secrets of her own and questions that she needs Jack’s help to solve! With Celeste’s every touch an exquisite temptation, how close can Jack get without revealing his darkest secret of all?
♥♥♥♥♥
This is the first book in Marguerite Kaye’s new Comrades in Arms mini-series and, from the first page, I was totally immersed in the emotionally charged story and her fascinating, flawed characters.
My Thoughts –
Jack Trestain was one of Wellington’s best code-breakers, lauded in the duke’s dispatches as a hero, but Jack knows that…
Heroes didn’t have stains on their soul.
Ms Kaye imbues her characters with such depth that I experienced everything Jack did…the horror of those recurring nightmares, his overwhelming sense of guilt, his grief, despair and fears.
There were times when he felt as if he were being literally torn in two. Times when he raged at the injustice of what was happening to him, times when he was overwhelmed with guilt. There was no right and wrong anymore, which had been one of clear-cut lines for so long, was now so blurred that he was careering around like a compass struggling to find true north.
At times, Ms Kaye really tugs at the heartstrings, particularly in the deeply emotional scene where Jack finally breaks down and reveals his long-hidden secret to Celeste. I couldn’t help but be moved by the raw, unguarded emotions.
The guilt is slowly eating away at him and he refuses to talk to anyone about it, bottling it up inside. He seems unaware of the effect his erratic temper is having on his brother, sister-in-law and particularly his young nephew.
It isn’t hard to sympathise with Celeste, estranged for so many years from a mother who treated her with heartless indifference, packing her off to boarding school at the age of ten She has grown into an independent, confident and intelligent woman who has carved a life out for herself as a landscape artist. Then to have the letter arrive, casting doubt on everything she believes to be true about her mother, throwing her “perfectly calm and perfectly orderly” life into turmoil She had taught herself over the years not to care but it resurrects all the hurt and anger she’s suppressed. She needs closure.
Maman’s life was an unfinished book. Celeste had to discover the ending, and then she could close the cover for ever.
I like how she refuses to be cowed by Jack’s erratic behaviour and is determined to help him.
Jack and Celeste’s journey is full of emotional, poignant, moving, dramatic and passionate moments and seeing them finally come to terms with their pasts and open their hearts to love was so rewarding. I’m sharing some of those moments.
This was the kind of kiss that would never end. Lips and tongues in a slow dance. Hands smoothing, stroking. Skin clinging, damp, heating.
~~~~
Celeste grabbed his arm. “You see, you are running away from the truth. Why won’t you talk about it?”
“Take your hands off me. Now.”
She had gone too far. She knew it would be insane to push him further, but she knew with certainty that was exactly what she was going to do. Celeste tilted her head and met his stormy eyes. “No.”
~~~~
But the pain, the tearing blackness, the white heat of his uncontrollable fury, the terror that made him run from himself, the sweats and the shakes, and the dull ache in his head, they were all too real.
~~~~
She kissed him to stop the words babbling out. She was in love. “Jack,” she said, because it was all she could trust herself to say. “Jack.” She loved him. She kissed his eyelids. She loved him.
~~~~
I love Ms Kaye’s attention to detail and her skillful weaving of fact with fiction. Her meticulous historical research is evident throughout the story.
VERDICT: Another beautifully crafted and emotionally satisfying love story from Marguerite Kaye.
REVIEW RATING: 5/5 STARS
SENSUALITY RATING: HOT
Read February 2015
Comrades in Arms –
Seduced by the Soldier
(free on-line read available Here)
The Soldier’s Dark Secret
The Soldier’s Rebel Lover (Autumn 2015)
My sincere thanks to Marguerite Kaye who provided me with a complimentary copy of her book in return for an honest review.
Rakes And Rascals 
Loved your review on this one. I haven’t read too many books with this type of setting, so I will definitely have to add it to my TBR. And quite frankly I just love it when authors do research, especially in writing historical romance.
Thank you, Renee. I know Marguerite does extensive research to make her books as historically accurate as possible. I hope you enjoy reading this one. She also has a book called NEVER FORGET ME, set against the background of World War 1, which contains three separate stories involving members of the same family and how the war impacts on them. I had never read a book set during that period but each story was so emotive. You can find my review by putting the title in the “Search” box. 🙂