Review: Kelly Bowen's NIGHT OF THE SCOUNDREL.

Thanks to Netgalley for my complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions provided are my own.
 
The stars aligned earlier this week and I was gifted a copy of Kelly Bowen’s novella Night of the Scoundrel when I needed it most. Featuring her long-mysterious character King as lead, Scoundrel starts with a rush as he watches a beautiful woman expertly take down her foes with a rapier and a knife in an alleyway. The woman is known as Adrestia (real name: Adeline), and she’s come to achieve justice for one of her clients. That’s what she does.
 
Shortly thereafter King is confronted with the worst part of his awful past and he hires Adeline to get justice for him. Easy enough, right?, especially since he knows who deserves the justice coming for him and where the man is. But to King’s dismay/discomfort/fear, though he’s done everything he can to bury his past none of those skeletons want to stay buried when Adeline starts her investigation. Suddenly the hard-won control he has over his life seems threatened from every angle.
 
This novella is just wonderful. Scoundrel gave me all the warm fuzzies on a day when I really needed them, and as I followed the magnetic story of King and Adeline I was reminded again of how lovely a writer Kelly Bowen is. Both King and Adeline are impenetrable, unfathomable forces of nature to others, and the most exquisite moments of Scoundrel are when they let down their guard for one another. The passion that circuits between them is so well done, but even more hit-you-in-the-heart is a beautiful moment when King holds her while they sleep. Do you see the potential for loveliness, here?
 
Scoundrel had that enviable balance of strength and sweetness—the skirmishes and the kisses—the pain and the hope—that I adore in a story working its way to a HEA, and I loved it.
 
4.5 ⭐️