Mistress Firebrand
Jennifer Leighton is a playwright and a loyalist. In 1775 Manhattan, both her gender and her politics are against her. Theaters, especially those staging pro-British satires, are at the mercy of the Rebel mobs, and, to be taken seriously as a female writer, Jenny’s best hope is to obtain passage to London. When British general – and playwright – John Burgoyne’s ship unexpectedly docks in New York’s harbor, Jenny sees a chance to advance her fortunes – but she reckons without the British intelligence officer, tasked with Burgoyne’s protection, half-Mohawk Severin Devere.
Thorland returns to her Turncoat form in this lively novel, which combines a sweet-yet-sexy romance with a tale of intrigue, uncertain loyalties and poignant loss. The issue of Devere’s Mohawk blood is worked nicely into the plot, which brings in many real characters and incidents of the nascent American Revolution alongside some intriguing fictional ones, in particular Jenny’s aunt Frances.
Thorland’s three Renegades of the American Revolution novels are loosely linked, with some characters making appearances in more than one novel, but each can be read as a standalone. There is an interesting balance in the novels between romance tropes and historical detail; they could attract readers of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series who are fascinated by the Revolutionary story lines and want more of this setting.
