Otherwise Engaged by Amanda Quick

How nice to get a Quick novel along the lines of what she wrote before the Arcane series. I love the books but it's nice to get a palate cleanser. It's not exactly like Quick's previous books (lots of modern ideals inserted: solar power, condoms, criminal profiling) but I really did enjoy this book.

Miss Amity Doncaster suffered a heartbreak at age nineteen. She took her pain and became a world traveler, selling articles about her experiences. Her book is just about to come out. If her recent scandals don't scare off her publisher, that is.

On her last adventure before returning to London, Amity stumbles across a man who has been left for dead. Benedict Stanbridge feels incredibly lucky to have encountered a female who is not only not flighty, she is pragmatic enough to get him back to his ship. And even has the skills (learned from her doctor father) to help nurse him back to health. The more he spends time with her, the more interested he becomes. But when they get to New York, he is not going on to London but rather to California.

A month later, there are rumors circulating about just what the two of them got up to while on board. And to make matters worse, she's been kidnapped by the crazed serial murderer dubbed the Bridegroom by the press. Luckily, she has her steel-tipped fan and can get herself away but the story just makes her even more notorious. And of course, just as the story is reaching it's height, Benedict decides to show up. After not sending word for over a month. 

They will have to work together, and with others like Amity's sister and an inspector from Scotland Yard in order to stop not only a crazed madman but also some diabolical Russian spies.

The group melds together rather quickly, the ending does drag on a bit, and there are rather a lot of people to keep track of, but I really enjoyed this story and hope to get more from AQ.

Three stars
This book came out April 22, 2014

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own