Kiss of a Traitor
Willa Bellingham may live in Revolutionary War-era South Carolina, but her loyalties lie with the British, and she wants nothing more than to capture the Patriot spy Francis Marion. Her father and stepmother want Willa to settle down, so they arrange a marriage to Lord Montford, an English peer who appears to be a fop of the worst sort. But Montford isn’t who he appears to be—he’s actually Brendan Ford, brother to the real Lord Montford and an ardent patriot. Ford assumes Montford’s identity in order to spy on Willa and her Loyalist family. He doesn’t intend to court Willa seriously, but he soon finds her irresistible. Can two strongly passionate people set aside their political differences for love?
While portions of Kiss of a Traitor are entertaining, I found the novel problematic. Willa seems too good to be true. She’s an expert rider who is adept with a variety of weapons—and these aren’t typical traits of a young lady of this era. The relationship between Willa and Brendan vacillates between love and hatred a little too quickly, and the villains are one-dimensional, including a wicked stepmother whose standout characteristic is her voracious sexual appetite. Lindler does keep the timeline of the war accurate, but some careful editing would have made the story easier to believe.
