Product Description

Under the pert pen name "Lady Smart," opinionated Lindsey Graham crusades for social change among London's elite, writing for the ladies' gazette Heart to Heart. But Lindsey's greatest campaign begins when her brother Rudy, a notorious rake, is accused of murdering a string of prostitutes.

Her confidence in his innocence is bolstered when an anonymous letter arrives naming Viscount Merrick as the killer. Lindsey launches her own investigation into the gentleman's questionable pursuits, a risky venture that earns her an unwelcome bodyguard—Thor Draugr.

At first, Lindsey refuses the protection of her employer's brother-in-law. They are like oil and water, yet she can barely conceal her attraction to the rugged Norseman. But an attempt on her life reveals not only the lengths that someone will go to in order to prevent her interference in the viscount's sordid affairs, but that she can no longer deny that she desires the warrior by her side.…

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #156233 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780778326090
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
Lindsey Graham is unusual among women in London in 1944. She is an heiress and the editor of the women’s section of the newspaper and a gossip columnist. She has no intention of marrying right away and, instead, enjoys the small freedoms she can take while her parents travel the continent. Thor Draugr works at the paper his brother’s wife owns, trying to make his fortune in a land so strange compared to his isolated, Nordic island home. Thor and Lindsey are acutely aware of each other and deal with it in an antagonistic manner until Lindsey’s brother is questioned about the serial murders of prostitutes. Lindsey is determined to find the real killer, and Thor can’t turn down his sister-in-law’s request to watch out for her. They come to admire each other, but so many obstacles are in their way. Martin’s romantic and intriguing romance-mystery is a fitting end to the engaging Heart trilogy (Heartless, 2001; Heart of Fire, 2008). --Maria Hatton

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
London, England September, 1844

COVENT GARDEN KILLER STRIKES AGAIN.

Londoners grow nervous.

Thor scanned the front page article in the London Times— details of the second brutal murder in the Covent Garden district in the last six months.

Unlike his older brother, Leif, Thor wasn't much of a reader. He figured the best use for a newspaper was to wrap up dead fish. He admitted it was probably important to keep up with what was happening around him, so he struggled through the English words, a language he had only started learning a little over two years ago. Before that, he had lived on an island far to the north, an isolated world only a handful of people knew existed.

With the help of his teacher, Professor Paxton Hart, he had learned to read and write, how to dress and move about in English society. Leif and his wife helped as well, and life here grew easier all the time. Still, Thor liked being out of doors, not inside reading a book.

"So you're the one who stole my paper!" An indignant female voice snagged his attention. "I've been looking all over." Hands on hips, Lindsey Graham marched across the office like a raven swooping down on its prey.

Holding the evidence of his guilt in one big hand, Thor stood in the doorway of the back room of Heart to Heart, the ladies' magazine owned by his brother's wife, Krista Hart Draugr, and her father, his teacher, Sir Paxton Hart. It was Thursday, the day before the paper came out, and the office hummed with activity.

"I did not steal it," he said to the avenging angel bearing down on him. "I borrowed it. I wanted to know about the murder."

Her eyes shot to his, a tawny golden color like the she-cat she was. "There was a second murder?"

He nodded, held the paper so she could read the headline. "Down in Covent Garden," he said. "Same as before."

Lindsey took the newspaper and scanned the article. She was taller than the average woman, yet far shorter than his six-foot-five-inch frame. She was slender, her hair a light golden brown. With her fine-boned, delicate features, she was pretty, but not in the way he preferred.

Like his brother, he wanted his women lusty, buxom and full-breasted, the kind built to satisfy a man. Leif had found Krista, the mate of his heart. Thor was still looking for the female who would be his.

"Another woman killed," Lindsey said, her tawny gaze glued to the page, "strangled just like the last time. The police believe the same man is likely responsible."

Lindsey was editor of the women's section of the paper and also wrote a gossip column called Heartbeat. She was a hard worker, he knew, a quality he admired since he worked so hard himself. Whenever he wasn't down at the docks, bossing the stevedores who loaded and unloaded the cargo carried by his brother's company, Valhalla Shipping, he worked for Heart to Heart. He was saving his money to buy a place in the country, far away from the choking air of London.

"Here's something new," Lindsey went on, her fine, straight nose immersed in the printed lines. "It says the women who were killed were 'ladies of the evening.'"

"Whores," Thor said simply.

Lindsey blushed. "That does not mean it is all right for someone to kill them."

"I did not say that."

She sighed. "I feel sorry for the people who live in the neighborhood. Two murders in the last six months. They must be terrified. I certainly hope the police apprehend him this time."

"The paper says they have found clues. They believe they will soon have a suspect. Mayhap this time they will catch him."

"I wonder what they have discovered."

Thor made no reply, since neither of them knew the answer. Engrossed in the paper, Lindsey wandered over to her desk, sat down and continued to read. In the middle of the room, the big Stanhope press sat silent, but soon the next edition would be rumbling off for sale on the streets.

Thor liked to watch the press at work. In truth, he was amazed by the heavy machinery he had seen since his arrival in England, equipment that could spin cotton into cloth, or press glass into various shapes and sizes. There were even powerful steam machines called locomotives that could carry people to distant places in hours instead of days.

There was nothing like that on the remote island of Draugr where he and Leif had been born and raised. People on Draugr still lived as they had hundreds of years ago. They were warriors and farmers, not city dwellers like the people in London.

Flashing a smile at the typesetter, Bessie Briggs, an older woman who mothered him as if he were her son, he went back to work stacking boxes and crates, making room for tomorrow's papers.

It was only a few minutes later that the bell rang above the front door, drawing his attention to a thin man, slightly beak-nosed and dark-haired, who walked into the office. Dressed in an expensive-looking dark brown tailcoat and tan trousers, he carried one of those stupid high hats London men favored and Thor flatly refused to wear.

Returning to his work, he forgot about the man until he heard voices raised in anger. Saying a grateful prayer that this time the object of Lindsey's wrath was someone else, he gazed through the door in her direction and saw the well-dressed man standing next to her desk. They were arguing. Noticing the hard set of the man's jaw, the blood-lust in his eyes, Thor's senses went on alert.

Lindsey clamped her hands on her hips. "I don't give a fig whether you bloody well like it or not. If you hadn't been cheating on your wife, I wouldn't have found out and I wouldn't have written about you in my column!"

"You little bitch! My wife is threatening divorce. I am the Earl of Fulcroft and a Whitfield, and Whitfields do not divorce! You will write a retraction immediately or I will personally see you ruined!"

"And how, may I ask, do you intend to do that?"

A grim smile curved the earl's lips. "I will dig into your past until I find something that will scandalize the very people your column is meant to impress. There will be something—there always is—no matter how young and innocent you seem. And I shall keep digging until I find it! Then we'll see how much you 'bloody well like it!'"

Thor had heard enough. Seeing Lindsey's face had turned a little pale, he strode toward Fulcroft, grabbed him by the lapels of his expensive coat and jerked him up on his toes.

"You are finished with your threats to the lady. You will apologize for the name you called her and then you will leave."

"Put me down this instant!"

Ignoring the stunned look on Lindsey's face, Thor shook him like the rat he was. "I said you will apologize. Do it now."

The earl dangled there, his feet swinging, his shiny leather shoes dangling several inches above the floor. "All right, all right. I'm sorry I called you a bitch. Now put me down!"

Thor set the man back on his feet and the earl eased toward the door. He pierced Lindsey with a glare. "Your bulldog notwithstanding, I meant every word. I'll expect to read your retraction in the next edition of the paper."

"Don't hold your breath!" Lindsey called after him as he turned and hurried out of the office.

Thor was feeling well pleased with himself when Lindsey rounded on him. "Don't you ever do that again!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You interfered in my business. I can deal with my problems myself. I don't need any help from you."

Thor clenched his jaw. "You wished for the man to continue his insults? You did not mind that he called you a female dog?"

Her eyes widened. Then a corner of her mouth twitched. "I minded. But I could have handled him myself."

"Fine. The next time a man insults you, I will pretend not to hear. Does that suit you, lady?"

Her eyes held his an instant before she glanced away. "It suits me. I don't need your help or anyone else's."

Thor shook his head. "Stubborn as an ugly horse."

"You mean mule," she corrected.

"Fine. Stubborn as a mule."

Lindsey flashed him a last brief glance, turned and walked away.

Damned woman, he thought, trying not to notice the way her hips swayed beneath her full skirts, to wonder if her waist was really small enough for his hands to fit around it. She was as slender as a boy. Why he should notice her at all he could not imagine.

Still, he had to admit she had a very pretty face and skin as smooth and pale as cream. Her hair, the color of rich, dark honey, shimmered in the sun shining in through the window.

His body tightened. Grinding his jaw against a shot of lust that angered him more than aroused him, he strode back to the rear of the office and began stacking the rest of the newspaper bundles.

He wasn't attracted to Lindsey Graham. She wasn't the sort of woman he found the least attractive. But as she moved across the office in that graceful way of hers, Thor found himself watching her again.

Lindsey finished reworking the notes she had made for this week's column. At the back of the office, she could hear Thor at work loading stacks of bound newspapers, getting ready for the edition that would be on the streets tomorrow.

Lindsey knew Krista was eager for this particular issue to come out. She was campaigning hard against the institution of baby farming, the awful practice of selling illegitimate infants into places that ultimately resulted in their deaths, neatly disposing of unwanted problems.

Their mutual friend, Coralee Whitmore Forsythe, had uncovered the terrible practice during her search for the man who had murdered her sister. While Corrie was away on her quest, Lindsey had taken over writing the society column for the gazette. Though Corrie was currently on her honeymoon with her husband, the Earl of Tremaine, once she returned to England, she and Gray would add their support to Krista's campaign.

Lindsey glanced through the door leading into the back room of the office. She could see Thor at work, his powerful body hoisting and moving the bound stacks of newspapers as if they weighed nothing. It was a laborer's job. Thor was a man who seemed to enjoy physical exertion.

He wasn't obsessed with learning as his olde...

Customer Reviews

Well written and worth the time
Heart of Courage by Kat Martin

Historical Romance Mass Market Paperback - January 1, 2009
4 stars

Heart of Courage is the third book in the Historical Heart Trilogy. This series takes place in the 1800's England. Although women of this period are traditionally reserved and demur, the heroine, Lindsey is no such lady. She is an adventurous, smart, and unconventional young woman who is on a mission to prove her brother is innocent of a series of heinous crimes.

Of course, a woman in the 1800's cannot be out on her own solving crimes, so a work colleague, Thor, agrees to help her on her quest. When Thor is first introduced, he is a stiff, conservative man, but I am happy to say that as the story unfolds so does Thor. As the book progresses, so does the soft vulnerabilities of this proud Viking.

This book begins as Thor does, stiff, but it's a case where patience really pays off. By the middle of the book, you become wrapped up in the story. By the end, it's a book that cannot be put down.

The love scenes are steamy and the hero is strong, but it is the heroine that really steals the show. She's one of those characters that stick with you and in the end; you really feel that she deserves a happy ending. Overall, this book is well written and worth the time it takes to read it.

Reviewed by Amy from Bookaholics Romance Book Club

A Poor End to a Disappointing Trilogy
Saying the opening is stiff is an understatement. The writing and plotting of the first 100 plus pages were a slog to get through. It seems like Kat Martin submitted a fleshed out outine, not a real novel; sort of like she needed a third book to complete the trilogy, but the novel she produced is not completely committed. Overall this trilogy was definitely not up to Kat Martin's other books.
This book was by far the worst. The dialogue was clunky, almost like narration instead of realistic conversations. Lindsey and Thor's love story was neither compelling nor complex. While the book did get better, it was still not very good and not worth the 5 days it took to finish it. It could've been so much better, but the whole concept with Thor as a viking in regency times and Lindsey as the too forward, amateur sleuth who falls in love with him just did not work. I hope the next Bride trilogy is better, or else I'll have to cross Kat Martin off my buy list.

Not impressed
I have not really been enthralled with Kat Martin's Heart Series, the first book was okay but this last one was just not very engaging. The plot was predictable and the characters were stubborn.

Lindsey Graham is a society reporter who has a wastrel brother accused of murdering prostitutes. She knows he just has to be innocent. Lindey overlooks her brother's excessive gambeling and drunken nights. She is going to find the true murderer and she highly resents that Thor Draugr, her employer's brother-in-law, is going to stop her.

Thor is a self appointed body guard to Lindsey and when she is almost raped and killed in an incredibly foolhardy plan he saves her. She is grateful and accepts his proffered assistance. She is attracted to Thor and initially all they did was argue but she does appreciate the value in having a strong man around. She snoops in bawdy houses and pubs looking for clues that the police could never hope to find.

She is attracted to Thor and wants to become his lover as she is not a maiden. Seems she was curious about sex and indulged in some with a former suitor when she was in her teens. Thor resists but she is persistent. She does not love him but is still curious about the whole bedding experience with him. Thor is not a titled man and has some means but nowhere near what Lindsey's family possesses and he feels they should not engage in a physical affair but Lindsey does not listen that well.

The two begin an affair but are still searching for clues to the killer. Thor even has the time to tame a horse, he is an early horse whisperer, and he still manages to track down informants and leads for Lindsey.

This novel never really got off the ground for me. Lindsey just seemed self involved and made way too many excuses for her brother. Thor was stubborn and at times overbearing. The mystery was not important to me as I thought Lindsey's brother was a wastrel and spoiled. Finally the romantic tension was missing in the beginning of the story and the initial conversations between the leads always felt stilted and unnatural. I have thoroughly enjoyed other novels by Kat Martin, in fact many are on my keeper shelf, this however will not be one of them.