Thief of My Heart

A book I thoroughly enjoyed.
The main character is just sassy enough to stand out from the crowd, and endearing enough to love. Her love interest is a loving man, not the usual glowering Duke, from whom the love must be extracted like a confession from a prisoner. He isn't afraid to put his feelings out there and from the start he knows what he wants.
I read this book to destress from the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks of the year and it found a special place in my heart. A book I know I'll read more than once.
Well written, with a historical setting this book captures your attention with the ball gowns, priceless jewels and customes we'll never experience again.
Some may find the sex scens boring, although in comparison to other books in the same genre I would wholeheartedly disagree. I must also point out that I am driven by the romance in a book, not the sex scenes so I am probably not the best judge for this.
A heartwarming story, which I'll recommend for anyone looking for that perfect happy ending, an attractive duke and a sassy heroine.

Thank you Thw Wild Rose Press, Inc and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

I just finished reading this book. It is a nice, romantic book with characters I enjoyed reading about. I recommend reading this book if you like Romantic Regancy books with some steamy scenes in it.

In the eyes of society, Emma Whittington is a well born young lady, The daughter of a viscount, no less, if perhaps fallen upon hard times. They don't know that Emma has a secret talent, By night she is a daring jewel thief, sneaking across roof tops and climbing through windows to steal the baubles of London's careless rich and keep her family afloat.
When her fathers drinking and gambling left her destitute, her Uncle encouraged her to follow him into a life of crime. She steals to pay off debts and put food on the table, but she also has to admit that she enjoys it. Firmly on the shelf at 25, her life otherwise lacks excitement, that is until she meets the Duke of Gilchrist.
The Duke devotes his life to looking after his estates and his two sons. Since his wife died he has shut himself away from society. When he catches a jewel thief creeping into his room one night, he does not expect it to be a woman, and now he cannot stop thinking about her.
I really enjoyed this book. Emma is delightfully sassy and hard headed to the point of self destruction. The Duke is one of those heroes who thinks that if he murmurs 'I want you', or similar, in a husky voice, then the heroine will just fall into his arms and do his bidding. Of course she won't, we know that - but he has a good heart, and they are well matched in wit, it is fun to watch then try. This is essentially a good-natured story about two people who enjoy each others company on every level, it is fun and sassy with a few good twists. This book does have its flaws. The writing style is a little stiff and the dialogue stilted, there are plenty tired clichés. The plot is rather predictable, but perhaps comfortingly so. The physical relationship between the two main characters starts very early in the book, really before we get to know them, there is no attempt to build tension. Having said all that. I still really enjoyed reading tis book. It is perfect for a rainy day, sat cosy in from of the fire. A great escape from my mundane troubles. I have already checked out this authors other books and plan to read them soon.

Thanks to netgalley and the author for a free e-copy of this book

Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My first impression of this book is that it needs more "show, don't tell". The author explains everything. What could be said with an action or one well thought phrase, it's explained extensively.

To give you an example. I don't want to read a whole paragraph about the hero telling his brother to protect his lover during a dangerous scene. I want the hero to look at his brother in the eyes, make a little gesture to his lover, and the brother nodding in understanding. Show, don't tell.

I need more depth in the characters. Andrew was perfect. I liked his problems with alcohol, his struggles with his kids, his love toward his family. Maybe add some struggle about his feelings toward his night visitor and Emma, the lady he is falling for.

Emma. Oh, Emma was so tiring. She kept overthinking things and going over the same patterns. She was so clever, so fast, agile and skilled at thieving that no one seemed to realize that what she did was not only dangerous but criminal. I did not see this character grow and was rather 2D for me.

On the other hand, the side characters were very good. Lucy was totally a young woman, almost a teen, who does her best. The kids were fun, the dogs a nice touch and Jack and Vivian were as nosy as real siblings.

I really enjoyed the story, but it was a little too sexy for me. While Emma and Andrew are excellent characters, as the story moved on, they had sex about three times in the story and it was much more descriptive than I prefer to read about. I did like the overall story though. Emma is a jewel thief who breaks in to the wrong suite and disrupts Andrew's sleep. He doesn't know who she is, just that it is a she. She doesn't like being a thief, she does it mainly for her uncle and to pay bills while she supports her five younger siblings.. Great story even with the too descriptive parts of the story

This is the 1st book I've read written by Karla Kratovil; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I can’t wait to read more of her books.

The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.

I loved the characters.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

This was a book that l enjoyed reading. The story kept me interested. The main characters were interesting, funny. Some of the antics were hilarious and kept me wanting to know if the main characters would get together. I do recommend that you read this book if you like romantic , funny stories with a happy ending.

I recieved this book as an arc from netgalley in return a review. These are my honest thoughts.

5 stars and contains some spoilers

I loved loved loved this book! It was different, unique, and quite interesting. I've never read a book with a plot like this, which made the book funner, refreshing, and most importantly more exciting!

Emma was a daughter to a wastrel viscount drunkard. Her personality is bubbly, and she always laughs and smiles at what life throws at her. She is smart, strong willed, a young woman who was orphaned and since then she's been the main sole caregiver to her 5 siblings. By day she is primly proper, but by night she is a smooth criminal, a jewel thief. She does what she has to do to support her family and keep things afloat. In her mind she'd rather be a criminal than use her body for gains. She will never be anyones mistress, So she leads the life of living a double identity.

Andrew is a Duke. He is kind, sweet, fair and a man of honor. His wife died, and he's been widowed for a year. It was not a happy marriage, and he's trying to be the best father to his two sons. Trying to live life to the fullest showing his sons that there is life after tragedy. But he is bitter, hardly ever laughs, or smiles. He was tricked into marriage by lies and deceit. He didn't realize it until he had done the honorable thing in his mind. By doing so it had put a strain on his relationship with his only brother for years.

I love how Emma meets Andrew as the criminal! Y'all It was so exciting! She sneaks into the night, into his home. Thinking the house is vacant, she goes in search for a ruby necklace. She gets caught! He catches her, confronts her, but he thinks she's a young boy. They fight, stumble and fall. He tries to get ahold of the theif and by doing so he realizes the criminal had soft curves, and he is not a he but actually a young woman. He felt a tinge of excitement, and looses his train of thought. What does she do? She giggles! looks at him straight in the eyes, and escapes through the night leaving him at loss for words, and beyond curious. He'd even forgotten he was naked until he felt the cool breeze on his body.

Emma felt the instant attraction too. She thought of him all night. Thought of his naked form, and how strong he was...The next morning luck was not on her side. While spending time with her 6 year old brothers in the park, she realizes he's there too with his sons. The kids play together, and she tries to keep a straight face. They talk, and spend a little time together and yes theres instant attraction. After that they start to spend more time together, because the boys become fast friends, and in doing so he gets to witness the sounds of her giggles and laughters that he loves.

She can't get him out of his mind. She sneaks to him at night as a the criminal a few times, stealing a few kisses, and then one night they make hot heated passionate love. He definitely can't get her out of his mind now, and is determined to find out who his mystery woman is. But her laughs and giggles sounds so familiar to him, and he'd recognized that laugh from anywhere.

The story goes on...he tries to gain her trust without confronting her, and gives her the chance to come out clean on her own and so on...but with the experience of the men who'd been in her life like her father, late fiance, and her uncle... she's very hesitant. They bicker back and forth. She refuses his help, continues thieving, until she realizes he genuinely loves her. But They ride through a heep of emotional rollercoasters to get their HEA. I definitely recommend this book! I finished this book in one setting because I could not put it down.

It was a fun book. First time reading this author but it won't be the last. Recommend it!!! Easy reading.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A entertaining romance novel. If you like period historical romance you might like this one.