Originally Published: 10-22-18
Scoundrel is the 2nd book in the Blades of the Rose Series by Zoe Archer.
During book 1, Bennett had retrieved the Star of David, a medallion that allowed the Heirs to summon a Golem which they had used in the battle at the end of that book.
After this battle, he returns the medallion and gets words that he needs to find something else that will aide the Blades in finding another Source.
And this sends him to Athens, Greece!
So you will find that this book picks up right after book 1 ended, but only in Bennett’s point of view.
By now, Thalia and Gabriel are officially married and inducted into the Blades ranks. And the Mongolian Source is well protected in the monastery deep in the Gobi Desert.
And life goes on!!!
And that sends Bennett to Greece to find the Source that’s located there.
Meanwhile, the Heirs are doing what they can to find the next Source as well. Joseph Edgeworth came to Greece as well trying to find clues to finding the Source. He’s a ruthless leader that believes that women should be kept at home and not interfere with the likes of the work that he and his men do.
He reluctantly brings his daughter, London, along as she’s somewhat of an expert when it comes to languages and linguistics.
And it’s in Greece that London and Bennett have a chance meeting.
They both are in search of the Source that’s in Greece. Edgeworth wants London to translate the ruins on Delos in order to find the it. Bennett and his small band are there to stop him.
But after the chance meeting with London, Bennett knows that London needs to know what’s going on. She’s been sheltered and controlled her whole life and knows nothing of the Heirs and their mission. So he kidnaps her, tells her who her father really is. She then chooses to go back to her father.
But after realizing that Bennett and Athena were right, she knows she must choose to follow Bennett and help the Blades.
By choosing to follow the Blades, she is now without everything, clothes, home, family. But now she’s also in control of her own destiny, not someone else.
And it’s while they race across the seas, following these clues to find the Source, that she starts to develop her own standing and making decisions for herself.
And that includes a relationship with Bennett. She was married before, but found that her relationship with her husband was not what it should have been. Her husband was killed.
And this is where the story gets interesting. Bennett was the one that killed her husband and he’s also an enemy to Joseph Edgeworth. Edgeworth wants Bennett dead, especially now that he thinks that his daughter was seduced away from him.
As they race across the seas following the clues, we get to know Bennett, London, Athena, and Kallas. A Scoundrel and a ladies man, the enemy’s daughter, a beautiful witch and a seafaring captain are the only ones left looking for clues!
They also have to learn all the aspects of how to man a ship and how to navigate across the ocean reading the stars and the waves. It’s entertaining to learn about seafaring and navigation and all the legends that go along with this story!
What you’ll find the most though, is that this story is about London learning to stand on her own two feet. Learning that she can’t and won’t be kept by her father or by her husband. She’s a woman capable and willing to love and to learn.
And Bennett comes to realize that he no longer wants to be a ladies man, he wants to be one lady’s man! And it takes the majority of the book to come to this realization.
And their job is not done even when they find the Source. They must return the Source to the earth so that no one can use it for nefarious purposes again.
And that brings us several heart wrenching scenes where we see the relationship that London has with her father dissolve and the heartbreak that she feels.
Okay, I won’t give you the ending, but needless to say, it ends happy!! And sad!
The story is captivating and interesting. It keeps you glued to the page until you finish!
The story is well written with enticing and engaging characters that you will fall in love with too, right along with the characters. Definitely worth reading again and again!
Take a look at book 3, Rebel, where we get to know some new, but not new, characters that also help the Blades defeat the Heirs.
Check out the other books in the Blades of the Rose Series:
