1871
After two disastrous marriages, beauty columnist Amalia Truitt’s life is finally her own—well, it will be if she can get herself back to Delaware and demand access to her share of the Truitt family fortune. After all, the charity she’s organized for women who can’t afford their own divorces won’t fund itself.
However, not everyone wants her to reach her destination. When her family learns she’s been receiving anonymous death threats, a solo journey is out of the question.
Enter David Zisskind, the ragtag-peddler-turned-soldier whose heart Amalia broke years ago. He’s a Pinkerton now, and the promotion he craves depends on protecting his long-lost love on the unexpectedly treacherous journey across Pennsylvania.
That their physical connection has endured the test of time (and then some) is problematic, to say the least.
In very close quarters, with danger lurking around every curve, with each kiss and illicit touch, the wrongs of the past are righted. But David can’t weather another rejection, especially with his career in jeopardy. And Amalia can’t possibly take a lover, never mind another husband…not with so much depending on her repaired reputation. Not when she’s hurt David—her David—so badly before.
Ahhhh I love when I fall madly for a family and get the opportunity to see them over and over again. I have just this kind of chance with Dalliances & Devortion because Oh. My. Gosh. did I ever get a case of the happy, heart sighing swoony with the Truitt family. And now we get a glimpse of the after part of their happily ever after.
Dalliances & Devotion can be read as a standalone, but is a much more fulfilling read if you start with book one in The Truitt series, Appetites & Vices. You can check out my review of it here.
Dalliances & Devotion is yet another brilliant and engaging historical romance from Ms. Grossman.
I am a huge romance lover, but historical romance isn’t my go-to… unless the author is one as gifted as Ms. Grossman. She won me over with book one in her Truitt series Appetites & Vices so I was SUPER anxious to get my hands on this puppy and it did not disappoint.
Dalliances & Devotion stars the daughter of Urs and Jay from Appetites & Vices fame. I absolutely fell in love with Urs (kinda want to be her when I grow up) and her charming counterpart Jay. Amalia manages to embody (quite literally) some of Ursula’s traits such as her resilience and inner strength. She has been thrice divorced which is incredibly scandalous in this time period. She picks herself up after such painful moments and creates a career for herself as a beauty columnist teaching all women how to best care for their hair, skin, and nails. But in her personal life, she draws on her eternal optimism and perseveres in believing that one day her prince will come. Even if deep down she knows she’s already met him…
Enter darling David. We need LOTS of heart eye emojis just for saying the name because I literally happy sigh thinking of him. He is a caring and empathetic male lead which we, sadly, do not see enough of in romance be it contemporary or historical. I adore him and his begrudging ceaseless devotion to the girl he fell in love with so many years earlier.
Amalia finds herself in the crosshairs of a sadistic stalker (think Fatal Attraction boiled bunny kind of stalker, but replace the rabbit with a beheaded mouse) and David is charged with finding who it is with his Pinkerton counterparts. A series of incredibly unfortunate events befall our beloved characters and they find themselves knee deep in survival mode.
I refuse to spoiler ANY of this fabulous roller coaster that is Dalliances & Devotion, not simply because I hate spoilers as a reader, but because you need to experience it for yourself!
Five stars is not nearly enough to encompass Ms. Grossman sophomore release. I can’t wait to read more by this talented author and SINCERELY hope this isn’t the end of the colorful and intriguing Truitt tribe.
Even if you don’t typically enjoy a historical romance, I encourage you to dip your feet into bygone era love stories with one of Ms. Grossman’s works.
Amelia Foster 