Title: A Raven’s Heart
Author: K. C. Bateman
Series: Secrets and Spies #2
Overall a smart, entertaining read
I’d like to thank Ms. Bateman, Loveswept, Penguin Random House for allowing me to review this title in exchange for an honest review.
Friendly enemies since Lord Ravenwood became close friends with Heloise Hampden’s brothers, the two have fought their love for each other for years. Then Heloise cracks the code of an important missive from France, and Raven, a spy for the crown, immediately rushes to the aide of a friend held captive, taking Heloise along for further code-breaking and to keep her safe from those who would kill her because of her skills. No longer able to avoid each other, they’re forced to confront their feelings for each other during the journey.
I really enjoyed this novel! I noted some positives and negatives, but overall it was a smart, entertaining read. There’s a fine line between silly, juvenile teasing and mature, intelligent banter, and Raven and Heloise fall on the mature and intelligent side. They loved getting each other riled, but I never rolled my eyes and thought, Grow up, guys. They truly enjoyed challenging each other’s wit, and it was hilarious.
Also, Bateman drew several fine analogies, but my favorite was when Raven watched Heloise walk away from him for what he believed was the last time and likened the “longing, anger, and regret” he felt to the moment when, as an abducted victim, he watched his jailer’s lantern light fade and disappear. It was a very poignant moment.
As to the characters, I cared about them. I don’t think I related to them much, definitely not to Raven (we don’t really share any life experiences lol), but by about a quarter into the book I wanted to see them get a happy ending. Other than Raven in chapter thirty, their personalities seemed consistent. They were conflicted and interesting, with pasts that steered their futures.
The negatives are just a few things that bothered me while I was reading. In chapter thirty, Raven went through an abrupt change in attitude. He’d been steadily growing more angry, frustrated, and filled with despair, then in that chapter his mood seemed lighter and more cheerful, bantering with Heloise amid thick sexual tension as they had been at the beginning of the story. After that, he returns to his downward spiral. It was just a jarring mood swing to me—but other than that, Raven goes through a heart-wrenching character arc that’s subtle and well written.
Second, there are paradoxical descriptions of the moon. Inconsequential, but it bothered me. At one point in Raven’s despair, he thinks of Heloise as the radiant sun, and he the dismal moon, describing it as a cold lump of rock with no light of its own without the sun. A bit further along, he’s seducing her and comparing her scarred face to the moon—scarred, but only a fool wouldn’t admit it’s beautiful. Maybe it will make sense to some readers, but I personally thought the analogies were at a cross-purpose.
Lastly, Raven casually thought that he’d rather swim through an alligator-infested swamp rather than hurt Heloise, or something like that, and the line took me out of the story because, at least in my mind, I wouldn’t imagine an Englishman in 1816 to readily think of alligators, because I believe they’re only native to the US and China. But maybe Raven had traveled and seen them somewhere, how should I know? I can give him the benefit of the doubt.
The only other thing I want to mention is the pacing. It wasn’t slow, and it wasn’t fast. It was steady, unfolding one plot point after another, introducing, explaining, then tying up loose ends. It wasn’t bad, but to me the story lacked some energy. I was never so riveted that I forgot the world around me. I was able to put it down and walk away for several hours at a time and wasn’t really all that eager to get back to it. About halfway through I started subtracting page numbers in my head to figure out how much more I had to go. And it’s a strange thing to say, because the story didn’t lack action scenes or sex scenes or cute scenes or necessary exposition. It was all there, orderly and smooth, but it just failed to reach out and grab me and demand, Read me!!
This was my first book by K. C. Bateman, but there was a predecessor to A Raven’s Heart called To Steal a Heart, and it tells the story of Heloise’s brother Nic and his match, Marianne. However, this book can be read as a stand-alone without much issue. I felt, not that I’d missed something, but that there was simply more to explore about those characters. It wasn’t distracting at all.
Highly recommended!
