The Major and the Pickpocket edition by Lucy Ashford Literature Fiction eBooks
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"Trying to escape, were you?"
Tassie bit her lip. Why hadn't he turned her over to the constables? She certainly wasn't going to try to run past him, even if he did have a limp. She was tall, but this man towered over her—six feet of hardened muscle, shoulders forbiddingly broad beneath his riding coat, strong booted legs set firmly apart. Major Marcus Forrester. All ready for action.
And Tassie couldn't help but remember his kiss….
The Major and the Pickpocket edition by Lucy Ashford Literature Fiction eBooks
This book has everything: Characters with winning personalities, grand adventure, and secrets that keep you wondering! Very well written to boot!Product details
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The Major and the Pickpocket edition by Lucy Ashford Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
I really enjoyed this story. LA managed to find the sweet spot between having the characters do things that cause problems without them coming across as TSTL or just plain evil. There were some misunderstandings, but they came and went quickly enough that they caused drama but didn't require a lot of literary hoop-jumping and plot contrivance to make work. Both the hero and heroine did things that caused trouble for the romance, so you never felt like either one was 100% in the wrong while the other was a hopeless martyr. And LA did a great job of showing their relationship developing into one of trust and friendship as well as sizzling attraction. All around it was just a fun romp that I couldn't put down.
<Spoiler Alert>
The story begins with Marcus coming home from the war with America to find that his beloved Godfather has been swindled out of his wealth, which is also Marcus's inheritance. A distant cousin named Sebastian prodded the Godfather into gambling to excess and then "saved" him from debtors prison by lending him enough money to cover the debts. But in exchange, he forced the Godfather to sign a letter promising that if he couldn't come up with all the money by September, then his entire estate would become Sebastian's.
Marcus tries to challenge Sebastian to a duel but that doesn't work out. An old army buddy named Hal invites Marcus to come stay with him and his sister Caroline, Marcus accepts. On the way there they come across a couple of street performers putting on an illegal gambling game. The cops charge in and the performers scatter. One in particular, a young boy, is very nearly caught. Marcus decides to help the boy out by hiding him. The boy is, of course, our heroine, Tassie. Tassie, used to her life on the streets and needing to take money wherever she can, picks Marcus's pocket while he's hiding her.
Back at her home above a tavern with the gang of "low lifes" she's been with since she was 9 and ran away from a home she barely remembers, Tassie looks in the wallet. She feels somewhat guilty about repaying Marcus's kindness by stealing from him but shrugs it off. She finds a note and a lock of hair inside the wallet from a woman named Phillipa, proclaiming her undying love for Marcus. A short while later, Tassie decides to make her way to a new illegal gambling establishment and use her skill at cheating at cards to earn big money. So she borrows an ugly and oversized dress from a tavern wench and heavily applies rouge to her face, then talks one of her friends into going with her. She ends up playing against none other than Hal and soundly trounces him because she's cheating. Marcus, watching the game, realizes what she's doing. He's just called her on it when the cops burst in and there's a mad dash as everyone tries to avoid being arrested.
Marcus quickly realizes that Tassie is the pickpocket from earlier but Hal has been suggesting a rather bold plan to help Marcus's Godfather. And that is to entice Sebastian into a high stakes card game by using his favorite bait - a beautiful blond-hair woman who is dynamite at cards just like Tassie. Tassie passes out and Marcus takes her to Hal's house where they lock her in a room. She tries to escape, pocketing some small valuables on her way out. I liked the way LA explained Tassie's thieving ways in this early stage. That it was a second-nature survival instinct after having spent so many years scratching out a living and never having enough to eat. And Tassie does feel bad about it after she's caught. Particularly when she learns that the house belongs to Caroline, who had been incredibly kind to her.
One thing leads to another and Tassie and Marcus strike a bargain for her to swindle the letter out of Sebastian. Marcus wants to wait 5 weeks to enact his plan, both because Tassie needs time to learn to act the part of a lady, and because it'll coincide with when Sebastian's rent is due and it'll put him in desperate-enough financial straits that he might be willing to play such a risky game.
Tassie has to put up with a lot of negativity from those around her. Marcus assumes that she's not only a thief and a liar but also a whore. The servants all think she's a strumpet who thinks she can trap Marcus into marriage by sleeping with him. And then Phillipa pays them a visit. She had broken things off with Marcus when it became known that he was no longer in line to inherit a great estate. So even though they'd been childhood sweethearts and she'd sworn her love to him, in truth, she didn't love him enough to be poor with him. She comes around a few times in the book, once to invite Marcus to a party because his presence there will make her current suitor jealous and might entice him to finally propose. And then again at the end of the book when she's heard that Marcus's wealth might yet be restored. And I'm pleased to say that Marcus didn't fall for her crap even a little bit.
Marcus moves Tassie out to the country to stay with his Godfather. Tassie wins over everyone there with her sunny personality, frank way of speaking and eagerness to help with any task from milking the cows to peeling potatoes. The Godfather is completely enchanted by her and she's very good to him. Marcus shows up after a time and finds Tassie soaking wet, wearing pants, and riding astride behind the local farm boy. Her clothes are practically see-through because of the rain and Marcus is insanely jealous. This causes him to say mean things and leads to them kissing. After which Marcus gets pissed at himself and takes it out in her, ultimately leading her to cut off her blond hair and then escape through a window. Just a few short minutes later, Marcus is informed about all the nice stuff Tassie has been doing, including the reason she was out in the rain just now and Marcus realizes he owes her an apology.
There was a huge error in the audiobook at this point. I think an entire track is missing, which is around 5 minutes of book time. Because one second Marcus has just realized she's missing and the next they're finishing up a discussion in which Tassie asserts that the only reason she's sticking with their bargain is for the money he's promised her if she succeeds. So that was irritating. This conversation apparently happened in the big estate house, which is all shut up because the Godfather can't afford to maintain it, but still contains a trove of rich antiques and paintings. Tassie had gotten in through a window and when Marcus goes to check that it's been relocked like she said, one of her friends from back in London dashes out of the darkness, hands her a note and then runs off. The shock of finding that her friends are there makes her completely forget to mention to Marcus that she noticed some of the paintings were missing.
The following night, Tassie sneaks off to meet with her friends, who were worried when she just disappeared without a word. They try to get her to come back to London with them but she says she has to keep her bargain with Marcus, that it's a matter of honor. The friends say they'll stick around in case she needs them, then ask if it would be okay if they robbed that nice big house. She tells them absolutely not and they agree to leave it alone and stick to honest work while they're there. Marcus follows her on this nighttime trek and hears some of what they discuss, but not all of it. He doesn't reveal that he know her friends are there. He also doesn't want to examine too closely why he felt so relieved when he heard Tassie say that she wasn't leaving.
Things continue on for a while with Marcus and Tassie getting along better. He teaches her some things about being a lady and she is so adept at playing the part that he reiterates his suspicion that she wasn't born to a life on the street. Tassie doesn't like to talk about her childhood but does explain that she was being mistreated and ran away. Marcus leaves off asking questions because it upsets her so much. Marcus is also having second thoughts about his plan. He's been uncomfortable from the start with using Tassie the way he plans but when he thought of her as a jaded whore and thief it was easy to overcome that discomfort. Now that he sees her as a sweet, friendly young girl who makes his Godfather smile, it's a different story. He offered several times throughout the book to release her from their bargain and at this point even offers to pay her the full amount of money he'd promised. Tassie refuses, both because she's come to adore the Godfather and wants him to have his home back and also because ending their bargain would mean she had to leave Marcus and she's not ready to do that yet for reasons she won't look at too closely.
So naturally the Black Moment has to make its appearance. They realize that the paintings are missing from the estate house and Marcus immediately assumes that Tassie's friends are responsible, probably acting on information provided by her. He even thinks that this is the real reason she wouldn't accept his offer to pay her the money and release her from the contract because she'd been banking on getting a much bigger payday out of stripping the house of its many valuables and selling them. Marcus is really hurt because he'd thought that they had formed a special bond of friendship over the last few weeks and can't believe that she was playing him the whole time. But of course he reminds himself that he's known from the start that she was a lying thief.
Tassie protests her innocence and that of her friends, naturally, but when questioned she has to admit that they DID consider robbing the place. She's also hurt that Marcus doesn't trust her when she, too, though they'd formed a special friendship. But then she reminds herself that Marucs has only ever seen her as a tool to be used to get his inheritance back. That he's never really cared about her or believed that she wasn't the lying whore he originally assumed her to be. Marcus is somewhat moved by her insistence that she and her friends are innocent. He believes that she didn't steal the paintings herself, but doesn't believe that her friends weren't involved. However he does agree to hold off on accusing them officially. He goes to London to report the theft and have watchers put on the auction houses to see who turns up trying to sell them. He leaves Tassie with his Godfather because, no matter what else he thinks of her, he believes she genuinely cares for the old man and will stay with him and treat him well.
Back in London, it doesn't take long for Marcus to learn that it was actually Sebastian who took the paintings to try to cover some of his own gambling debts. It's technically illegal for him to have done it since the estate isn't his property YET, hence why he did it in secret. Marcus feels awful for not believing Tassie and races back to the country to apologize. But he arrives in the middle of a snow storm to find that Tassie has gone off with the farm boy to try to save lambing sheep that have gotten stranded in the high hills. The farm boy has just arrived back and doesn't know where Tassie is.
Marcus races off to find her and they take shelter in a cabin. Nature swiftly takes its course and they have sex. Marcus is surprised to find that she's a virgin, even though he had on some level suspected it all along because she had such an air of innocence about her. Afterward he says "why didn't you tell me" and Tassie, still unsure of Marcus's feelings toward her because of all the times he's been mean, assumes that he's angry with her. She's heard that some men feel that women try to trap them into marriage by tricking them into taking their virginity. Marcus says that they "have things to discuss" and then goes to get more wood for the fire. While he's gone, Tassie finds Marcus's wallet and in it is a new note from Phillipa saying that Marcus should come visit her and that she has an important answer for him. Tassie thinks Marcus intends to marry Phillipa like everyone has always said they would and that the "things" he wants to discuss are his irritation at how much harder it'll be to set Tassie aside now that he has inadvertently taken her virginity.
Tassie feigns sleep when he gets back so she won't have to face him. Then they get rescued at first light. Marcus is being really nice and solicitous to Tassie during the trip back home and that gives her hope but then when they arrive, Phillipa is there in all her fancy clothes and finery. She's highly distraught about Marcus having been lost and presumed dead the previous night and throws herself into his arms upon arrival, calling him her darling. Tassie is miserable and goes inside and pretends to sleep for the rest of the day. Then when night falls, she slips out and meets up with her friends who take her back to London.
Next thing we know, Tassie is on the doorstep of a certain woman who runs an exclusive gaming establishment that is entirely staffed with beautiful women who are also available for sex if the price is right. Tassie plans to carry off the original plot to get the letter from Sebastian by herself. Both for the Godfather's sake and to try to exorcise Marcus from her life. She feels it'll definitively end their bargain if she can get the letter and that it might even make him feel a bit ashamed of himself for using her the way she thinks he did.
Meanwhile, Marcus has been searching frantically for Tassie. He knows that it was Phillipa's performance that made Tassie leave, and he's reproaching himself for not telling Tassie that he loved her when he had the chance. He tracks down Tassie's friends, who are initially combative but ultimately realize that Marcus's intentions are honorable and that Tassie may be in real danger.
Tassie has things all planned out with Sebastian who seems to be falling right into her trap. He's played cards with her 3 nights in a row and she's been letting him win. Now she invites him to a "private" game in a room she's rented so they can play for higher stakes. She comes right out and asks for the letter and offers her virtue in return if she loses the game. Sebastian agrees. But then things go wrong when one of Sebastian's friends, who had met Tassie when she was in London with Marcus in the beginning and assumed that she was Marcus's mistress, arrives at the gaming house. Tassie is worried he'll recognize her and hastily invites Sebastian to play their private game tonight instead of tomorrow. Since the room she rented is not available tonight, Sebastian offers to bring her to his own house.
On the way there the reader gets to see Sebastian's inner monologue and we find out that he knows who Tassie is and has sinister things planned for the night. I was actually feeling like Tassie was a little TSTL at this point because her plan was way too obvious. I mean, like Sebastian wouldn't be just a tad suspicious that she pointedly asked him to play a high stakes game for this particular letter that he knows Marcus would do anything to get a hold of? But when we actually have the big climax, it turns out that Tassie wasn't quite so naive. She knew Sebastian would never let her leave with the letter so she had a forgery made and switched it out for the real one when Sebastian went to get more wine. She also brought a derringer with her for protection. Not to mention that she's got some handy self-defense moves at her disposal.
Sebastian is cleverer than Tassie realizes though. And not only does he have no intention of letting her leave, he's also laid a trap for Marcus for when he tries to ride to her rescue, a fact he gleefully reveals to Tassie when she tries to escape. Tassie is horrified at the thought of Marcus being hurt or killed because of her and tries to shout a warning. It's not necessary though because Marcus isn't stupid and brought reinforcements with him in the form of Hal and all Tassie's friends. The bad guys are summarily beaten and Sebastian is left with the threat of charges for kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and attempted murder on top of the now provable fact that he had deliberately cheated the Godfather in order to put him in such debt. A witness has come forward to confess that the gambling hall Sebastian took the Godfather to was 100% set up by Sebastian and filled with known card sharps specifically with the intent of cheating him into penury. It seems that nothing really was done to him, other than forcing him to give back the letter (which Tassie had already successfully stolen), so I guess we're just supposed to assume that he went to debtor's prison without the Godfather's estate to cover his losses.
Tassie and Marcus confess undying love and the book wraps up with Marcus informing Tassie of who her real parents are and how she came to be in the awful house where she was abused. Of course she's secretly rich and possibly titled, though that part wasn't clear. It's also not clear how she'd be able to prove that she actually was this long lost heir since everyone involved was dead but, whatever. She, Marcus, her friends, Hal, Caroline, the Godfather and all the servants are happy with the way things worked out. Phillipa is still single and her parents are still trying to find a rich man for her to marry. The end.
<End Spoiler>
All in all it was a good story. Yes Marcus thought the worst of Tassie in the beginning and held onto that for half the book, but she'd also legitimately done bad things to make him think that. It wasn't just a misunderstanding and that she was actually a saint. No, she actually WAS a thief, a liar and a trickster when they first met. And she also thought bad things about Marcus that ultimately proved to be false, namely that he only cared about his inheritance, not restoring his Godfather to his proper home. So nobody was a pure saint or devil in this one. It was a great balance and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride!
it came in good condition and i liked it when i finished reading it i recomennded this book to friends
This book has everything Characters with winning personalities, grand adventure, and secrets that keep you wondering! Very well written to boot!
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