Review--The Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie

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The Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie (Highland Pleasures, #6)The Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this late-Victorian era romance, a period of great change in society, science, and opportunities.

Daniel Mackenzie's appeared as a young man in earlier Ashley novels, and it's a pleasure to see him grow into the promise he showed earlier. What I liked best about Daniel was that he's a nice guy. That's it. He's not over-the-top angsty, despite his traumatic childhood, he's a cheerful, optimistic man full of life and for once is someone who says exactly what he means.

The heroine, Violet, is a fraud and a trickster, a woman who survives by her wits helping her mother conduct "seances" for the gullible. Daniel immediately sees through her tricks, but more importantly, he sees Violet--the fragile girl, the sharp mind, the inner beauty shining through her difficult life.

It was entertaining and enjoyable from start to finish.


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