Reckless by Beth Henderson

Winona Abbot is a woman who recently found out that the man she was in love with was cheating on her with another woman. Deegan Galloway is a man who subsists on the money of other women, so he was only hedging his bets in finding another woman in case Wyn dumped him. The only good thing that Wyn finds in the whole affair is that he was dumped by both of them after they found out. No longer sure she will marry, Wyn takes her savings and loans them to her brother to cover the cost of a new passenger liner he is building between America and England.

Her brother is so grateful for the loan that he insists she be the family member on board for the native voyage. She is glad to go, and travels with her friend, Hildegard Keyes, who was recently widowed and then had the further shock of her husband's diamond necklace that he gifted her with being stolen in a daring midnight robbery. Since her husband died with substantial debts, the widow was bound to lose them anyway, but this further reversal of fortune actually makes the creditors pity her. She isn't the only one to have lost her prize jewels to the thief, just the first.

To give her friend a change of scenery, Wyn takes Hildy with her on the trip. Much to her dismay, however, Deegan Galloway is also on board, and with him is his friend Garrett Blackhawk, newly ascended to the peerage. Seeing that he is travelling with Deegan, Wyn decides that Garrett is a fortune-hunter like Deegan and that his status as "Baron" is just a ploy to lure women to him. She decides not to fall for him, but also agrees not to disparage Deegan during the trip... as long as he leaves her alone.

Garrett is intrigued by Wyn, and finds himself attracted to her. Upon learning that this is the woman Deegan was in love with, but screwed it up by hedging his bets, he becomes more determined to pursue her. Hildy, though, is attracted to Garrett, and announces her intention to pursue and eventually marry him to her friend. She asks Wyn to not go after Garrett and Wyn agrees, thinking him a fortune-hunter anyway. She cautions Hildy about her suspicions, but Hildy doesn't care. She wants Garrett, and she will have him. She immediately begins altering her gowns to show off more of her assets, in hoping to attract his attention and get him to woo her.

Wyn is mildly shocked by her friend's behavior, but since she knows Hildy's husband was abusive and old, she knows already her friend is not going to be mourning him very much. Despite herself, though, she finds herself attracted to Garrett, and weak to his attentions, despite trying to push him away for the sake of her friend. Even more shocking is discovering that the thief is onboard the boat with them, as several woman lose their cherished jewels in the space of a few nights. Wyn is one of the lucky ones, but as she gave up her jewels as part of the surety for the loan, she has no great jewels to steal.

This makes her a candidate for the thief, according to the Pinkerton operative who is on the boat, and who has been tracking the thief. Though the passenger cabins are all searched, the Jewels are not found, and the tension slowly ratchets up throughout the voyage. At first, Wyn fears that Garrett is the thief, but when she becomes aware he is not, she slowly starts falling for him herself. She is unable to confess this to Hildy because of the promise she made at the start of the voyage, and on the last night, she finally sleeps with Garrett, knowing that the voyage is over and she will never be seeing him again. Unbeknownst to the both of them, the thief is watching them the whole time.

The next morning, the ship debarks and she and Hildy travel into the countryside, to the home of Hildy's sister Rachel, in Liverpool. Rachel was lucky enough to marry a lord, Alston Loftus, and has settled into her life as a Lord's wife. When they arrive, however, she finds out that Garrett owns the estate next to that of Lord Loftus, and that she will be seeing him again after all. Hildy finds this wonderful, as she still hopes to woo Garrett. But her behavior becomes increasingly cheap and trashy, demanding that her sister throw a ball in her honor, or when she will not because her sister has only been a few months in mourning, for Wyn.

She continues to alter her gowns to show more and more of her body, and becomes scarily possessive of her things. When one of the maids goes to borrow a bit of ribbon to adorn one of Rachel's gowns, and touches it without asking Hildy, Hildy strikes her. In contrast, she borrows things from Wyn and is slow to return them, almost beginning to treat them as if they were hers, not Wyn's. She also begins to show how shallow she is, caring only about herself.

Wyn begins to feel that she really doesn't know her old friend, and when it becomes clear that Wyn will run roughshod over her own family, Wyn despairs for her friend. Only her love for Garrett makes her feel like her old self. The jewel thief has also not gone away, and when a local lady falls victim to the thief, suspects are few. When the jewels are found in Wyn's room, however, suspicion falls on her head. Both Wyn and Garrett come to realize the thief's identity simultaneously, and Wyn nearly falls victim to the angry thief's sense of vindictiveness before Garrett can save her and propose marriage.

I have to say that the suspense subplot of the story, the jewel thief, was masterfully interwoven with the love affair carried on between Wyn and Garrett. The identity of the thief was also skillfully kept secret until very near the end of the book, when really, it could no longer be hidden because of the lack of suspects. Despite this, I found the love story rather tepid and just felt it wasn't very good. So this book is a bit of a mixed bag for me. Good mystery and suspense, so-so romance and main characters. I can't recommend it for the romance, which should really be the best or better part of the story.

I'd say give this one a miss, personally. Nothing about the hero or heroine really stood out, and while the suspense/mystery plot is superb, it can't carry the whole book on its own.