REVIEW: The Winged Tiara by J’nell Ciesielski
Diamonds and danger dazzle in Ciesielski’s latest enchanting romp through post-war Europe as estranged spouses and jewel thieves hunt an elusive Valkyrie tiara.
November 12, 1918. It was a match made in champagne-soaked heaven, but all too soon the bubbles dried up, and Esme Fox awakens the morning after celebrating the end of the Great War to find herself shockingly and accidentally married. She gathers her belongings and slips out before her new husband can stop her. After all, she knows it’s best to leave before he does.
Four years later, Jasper Truitt, after having made a name for himself in the underground world of jewel thieves, is on the hunt for a valuable heirloom: a one-of-a-kind winged tiara–the last Valkyrie tiara ever created. So it’s with great surprise that he discovers it at a charity event atop the head of a woman he’s never forgotten. His long-lost wife . . . who happens to be pursuing the tiara for a vengeful opera diva desperate to obtain the jewel for herself.
The reunion is cut short when Esme vanishes–again–but their separation is temporary. With a hitman on their heels and a deadline looming, the pair find themselves in an epic game of cat and mouse across Europe following leads from the French Riviera to a shop of wonders in Venice, a fairy-tale castle in Bavaria, and a veritable circus thrown by a champagne heiress, all before a dramatic horseback flight through the French countryside.
In the end only one can win, and with both of their hearts on the line, the winner may well turn out to be the loser.
In her latest glamorous historical romance, J’nell Ciesielski spins a sparkling story filled with her signature snappy dialogue and vivid atmosphere that will keep you reading late into the night to see what happens next.
Dear Ms. Ciesielski,
This was fun. There are loads of zingers and quips, delicious historical clothing details, and lots of European scenery. But – for the historical sticklers (and I am one of them) it ends with a doozy of a “not possible in any authentic historical” mistake. I love Jasper and Esme to death but no, this could never have happened.
Four years ago, after their impetuous marriage, Esme Fox (Truitt) sneaks out on the morning after, sure that leaving is the best thing to do before she gets her heart broken. Mimsy (aka mother) taught her that. Four years ago, Jasper Truitt woke up to an empty side of the bed, no wife, and an abandoned wedding ring. Now he’s found her again and the two of them are after the same prize but for different reasons. He wants respect and a place in the family while she has a whack-job employer with a ruthless hitman dogging her steps. Who’s going to get the glittering prize and when all is said and done, is the prize what Esme and Jasper think it is?
After the prologue, the story starts quickly. Esme and Jasper have both been “hired” to find the same thing – a fabulous “winged” tiara that was created decades earlier after the Wagner craze caused by the Ring operas. Both have legitimate and personal reasons. Esme was brought up in the theater of the East End by a single mother actress. Esme has scrabbled to get out of that gutter and if stealing things for grasping 1%ers lets her live a comfortable life, she’ll steal. Usually she nabs pretties and then sells them but now she’s working to order for a slightly crazy aging Italian opera singer who has a pet hitman who now tracks Esme and makes threats Esme knows he’ll enjoy carrying out.
Jasper is the bastard son of a bastard son of a Duke. Jasper also grew up poor until “Duke” (as he calls his grandfather) began to show some interest in him, finally teaching him gentlemanly things although still letting Jasper know that he is not worthy of the family name. Now Jasper hopes that by finding this priceless object and returning it to his grandfather, he might finally secure a place and be accepted. There’s also a bizarre Frenchman (who has a pet chicken) after the tiara as well.
For the first part of the book, trailing the tiara seems more of an excuse to toss Esme and Jasper back together as they try to outwit each other. They’re both intelligent and have been stealing things across Europe long enough that they can quickly regroup, plot a new strategy, and be off again with little time lost. This also gives readers a great view of 1922 when flappers were in style, people smoked and people drank – a lot.
Then the action shifts to England and Esme’s tough mother appears a few chapters before Duke finally pops up in person. Neither of them are really nice people but at least, for me, Maud has some excuse as she’s made something of herself in the face of all the men taking from her. But what about the romance between Esme and Jasper? It’s clear to readers that they actually do love each other even if initially they are both prepared to pip the other to the post when it comes to bagging the tiara. I got a bit more annoyed with how long Esme continues to deny her feelings and puzzled later on by how Jasper appears to do a (temporary) volte face. I’m not really sure the plot needed it but there it was.
There are some moments of quiet reflection on their lives sprinkled throughout but really this one is all about the froth and the repartee. I wondered how Jasper’s journey would end. Part of me wanted one thing and part of me wanted the opposite. Either would have been okay but when things played out, I realized how I wanted things to end. Be that as it may, the ending is also
Spoiler: Show
~Jayne
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The blurb sounded terrific until the penultimate paragraph (of the blurb, not the review) which is for me, too spoilery. Save some suprises for the reading of the book, publisher! For me this started reading like the equivalent of a trailer that gives away all the best parts of the movie. I may check this out anyhow though, a lot of what you describe sounds appealing.
I just noticed the publisher is Thomas Nelson. Is this a Christian romance? I didn’t have that impression before…
@Janine: It’s from a Christian publisher but honestly I didn’t notice anything in the story that is faith based.