Adelaide Frampton left behind her life as the princess in a gang of thieves for a role as a Mayfair wallflower - and the knowledge that she continues to use her skills as a cutpurse to benefit the work of the Hell’s Bells is known only to a select few. But Henry, Duke of Clayborn, has been watching Adelaide for two years across ballrooms, and knows there’s more to her than meets the eye. When the two must team up to protect his brother and his fiancee by racing across Britain, Adelaide realizes that she must also protect her heart - but perhaps this duke is almost as clever a thief as her.

I begin this review with my usual Sarah MacLean disclaimer - all her books are automatic 5/5 stars for me for the writing and the work they do, so really this is a 9/5 star book. I’m biased! You must live with it. But I will admit to struggling with her last two books: the characters had been teased for so long that it was tough to watch them still dance around getting together, and to be honest, they kind of lacked the joie de vivre that I expect from her. They felt like they were tough to write, and thus became a bit tough to read. As much as I knew Sarah would take care of me in Bombshell and D&TD, it took us a long, painful while to get there.

This book, though, comes very close to achieving the lightness and wittiness of early MacLean books while still doing the important political and social thinking she’s begun to integrate more fully (not that Sarah has ever written an apolitical book, but it’s become more integral to the structure recently, which I love). 

Heartbreaker is fun from the first page - we have a duke who’s no-nonsense on the outside and gooey cinnamon roll on the inside, a heroine who’s afraid to acknowledge her own worth because then someone might take it from her, and a band of strong, strong women who would do anything to protect the people in their crew. And Sarah certainly never skimps on the spice but here? Whew. I think that sweet Henry may be her dirtiest talker yet.

This book came to me in the middle of a tough week in the middle of a tough month in the middle of a tough year in the middle of a tough…well, you’ve all been around for it too. It felt like a glass (bottle) of wine with a good friend, and truly reminded me why Sarah is one of the best in the business. It’ll be one I dive right back into when my hard copy comes later this summer!

Thank you Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!