Bear No Malice

October 15, 2018
A British clergyman struggles with his habit of falling for unavailable women in this Edwardian-era love story.When the novel opens, Canon Thomas Cross is in the midst of an extramarital love affair with Julia Carrington, a wealthy parishioner. His guilt over their ongoing tryst has reached a crescendo, and he insists they put an end to their meetings. Several hours later, after Tom has conducted church meetings and visited sick patients at a hospital, his conscience is eased by having performed these good deeds. Unfortunately, as he heads home, he is kidnapped and driven far outside the city, where he is beaten and left for dead. As he languishes in the woods, he is discovered by Miranda Thorne, a local artist, who brings him back to the remote cottage where she lives with her brother, Simon. As Miranda and Simon nurse Tom back to health, the three form a bond, with Tom and Miranda taking extra-special notice of each other. As Tom regains his strength, he must return to London and attempt to find stability in his life. He hopes to discover the identity of his attackers and to live a more moral life. Unfortunately, he is unable to forget Miranda nor the pull he felt toward her. When Miranda's brother marries and the Thorne family moves to London, Tom and Miranda rekindle their connection. As Tom and Miranda grow more deeply attached, unexpected obstacles to their relationship continue to crop up. Told at a slow and steady pace, this is a tale not meant for rushing. Details about the story's setting are conspicuously absent, as the author focuses instead on the characters' thoughts and actions. Even so, the descriptions of characters' interior emotional lives are sufficiently engaging to keep readers turning pages. The novel also contains many interesting details about the art circles of the era as well as the political inner workings of the English church. Written as a sequel to Harwood's Author of Impossible Saints (2018), the book can also stand on its own.A smart and highly civilized tale about love, temptation, and second chances.

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It's 1907, and Canon Thomas Cross--if Cross is even his real name--has some heavy crosses to bear, many of his own making. Outwardly a principled reformer, he secretly has a lover and fights in an illegal club. When he's beaten to near death and dumped in the countryside, he's cared for by Simon Thorne and his sister Miranda, a skilled but reclusive painter who harbors plenty of her own secrets and sorrows. Through a complex series of circumstances, Tom and Miranda struggle to understand each other--and to reveal themselves. Tom comes to love Miranda, but he's afraid to express it when he feels burdened with past lust, blood guilt, and memories of a drunken father. Harwood's novel successfully explores human culpability, despite one aspect of Tom's transgressions never being fully addressed. Readers may recognize Tom's character from the author's debut novel, Impossible Saints, but this new work can stand alone. VERDICT Historical fiction fans with a penchant for complexity in their romances will appreciate this story of two ardent people overcoming the pasts they can no longer escape.--Sara Scoggan, Fishkill, NY

November 15, 2018
Anglican canon Tom Cross is not exactly a model clergyman: he's far too charming with the ladies, doesn't get along well with his fellow priests, and enjoys fighting bare-knuckled in the boxing ring. Still, his zeal for reform and ability to smoothly operate in every sphere have placed him first in line for the deanship of St. John's Cathedral. Until he is kidnapped and beaten almost to death by unknown enemies. Tom is taken in and nursed by Miranda Thorne, a talented artist, and her brother, hardworking Simon. In Miranda's presence, Tom knows peace, but when he returns to his clerical duties in London, everything falls apart, as his lies and hidden past catch up with them both. Harwood (Impossible Saints, 2018) has taken the villain from her last novel and turned him into a sympathetic, if flawed, protagonist. Both historical-fiction and historical-romance fans will relish this novel, in which characterization is strong and realistically informed by backstories and in which two damaged people come to truly know themselves and find their missing pieces in each other.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)