A necessary novel in this entertaining series to learn more about the characters, especially the secondary ones, and to set up the next book. The plot against the tsar makes sense, given the actual historical record against the Russian royal family. But the novel's plot is very close to OTT territory. ( )

The third book picks right up after book two, Lizabeth has a received a coded letter from her half sister letting her know that Eli is in jail in the Holy Russian Empire. One long train ride later and she is there to meet his family and get information to go about rescuing him. You meet the rest of his family and find out why he is in jail. With the help of Felix, who would like to marry one of Eli’s sisters, plans are set in motion to rescue Eli. Things work out by the end of the book and there are no major strings left hanging. Not sure if we will see more in this setting or not but I hope so even if it doesn’t feature Lizabeth since the setting is nicely fleshed out and there is plenty of room for other characters to come forward.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
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A letter from her sister Felicia sends Lizbeth Rose into the HRE to rescue her partner Eli Savarov. Eli has been arrested and imprisoned although no one knows what crime he is supposed to have committed.

After a long train trip and arriving like a fish out of water in San Diego, Lizbeth goes to see her sister at school to find out what she knows. Lizbeth also calls on Eli's mother and sisters to find that they also don't know why Eli has been imprisoned.

Determined to free Eli, Lizbeth connects with Felix, a grigori who is a friend of Eli's. They learn that Eli's arrest is not known to the tsar. They decide they need to let him know. To do that, they arrange to "save" the tsarina when she is attacked during a public outing. That gets Lizbeth an invitation to the palace and a chance to get the tsarina's help to get Eli out of jail.

Lizbeth soon learns that there are problems within the new government. Someone, like the tsar's uncle, is spreading rumors that the tsar's blood disease will soon kill him. The uncle feels he is much more worthy of being tsar than Alexei. There are also problems within Eli's family. His stepbrothers resent his influence with the tsar and favor the tsar's uncle as ruler.

Between coping with dangerous relatives and the lead up to a revolt, Lizbeth needs to get Eli out of jail.

This was another entertaining episode of the Gunnie Rose series. I liked that this one has a lot of political maneuvering and an interesting setting. San Diego as the seat of the Holy Russian Empire was interesting.

I liked the way Lizbeth and Eli's relationship is progressing despite their very different backgrounds and cultures. ( )

A little slow in places but good overall. Lizbeth Rose has to go to the Holy Russian Empire to save Eli after he is arrested after his arrival home. Russian politics are twisted but a gun cuts through the red tape. ( )

This is a really fun series! I adore the characters! ( )