This will be a short review as there isn't much I can say and not give away something important. This is the beginning of Daniel Steinberg's happy ending. I will warn all of you that this part of the story doesn't end well. Harry Ashbury is a young lieutenant during the Peninsula War. His father bought a commission to toughen Harry up. Harry follows Daniel one night hoping to get him alone. Daniel has just finished a mission and is hyped up on adrenaline and in need of a release.

I have to admire Daniel for trying to keep things casual with Harry. War is no place to form a permanent relationship. There is no guarantee that anyone is going to survive the next battle or assassination attempt. Daniel knows that being a spy keeps him in danger all the time. He has come to accept that but he doesn't want to see Harry die. I think that Harry leaving is much worse for him then the story implies.

Harry is only nineteen and trying to find a way forward. He is very attracted to Daniel and wants a relationship with him. He knows that in the eyes of society it is wrong but he can’t help himself. It is funny that he is the dominant one in the relationship that forms between the two.

It breaks both hearts when Harry is sent back home. Daniel is happy that Harry will be safe but he is very sad that he will be alone. Harry is miserable because he didn't tell Daniel the truth and because he knows that there isn't any way for the two to be together. My least favorite character is Sir Barnabas James. The man is a manipulator of the first order. I didn't like him in PRISONER OF LOVE and I don’t much like him here. I am sure there is more to this whole story then what we are given in these few pages. We get very little history on Daniel or Harry which makes it hard to know the quality of either. We know some of Daniel’s story that spans the war from earlier books but that is about it.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of the story and finding out how things finally work out for these two. ( )