“You aren’t going anywhere.”
She looked up at him. She knew tears were swimming in her eyes—he’d always been the only one who could make her cry. “Why not?”
“Because…” he said in a harassed voice. “Because…” He took a step toward her. “Because…” He caught her arms in a tight grip, pulling her against his hard body so suddenly that she let out a gasp. “Because of this.”

It Takes a Thief by Anne Stuart was one of the most highly anticipated novels for me in 2022 from an author who remains on my top shelf of go-to authors due to her exceptional flair for writing dark heroes that most romance readers don’t find affinity with.

I know that there are many authors of today who label themselves as writers of dark romance because their stories feature heroes from backgrounds such as the mafia. However, those authors don’t really live up to the hype and buzz that their books create amongst a wider audience. Heroes who are truly dark are written by authors like Ms. Stuart who captures in most of her books, the essence of what it means to be a villainous hero in its finest sense.

Published in June of 2022, told in the third person from the perspective of four characters, two main and two secondary, It Takes a Thief is a novel in a historical setting, featuring the story of how 23 year Emma Louise Manchester wins over the heart of her long lost step-brother Ben Crawford, aka Nick the Butcher.

It is unfortunate circumstances that reveals to Emma that her partner in crime up till she was eleven years old when Ben had been kicked out of the family home and seemingly lost to her forever, is in fact alive and thriving, albeit in a criminal setting. It is common knowledge that Ben is the leader of the Beggar’s Ken, of which the name itself signifies what the “organization” does.

Betrothed to a man not of her choosing as compensation for the gambling debts incurred by her brother, Emma was willing to bury her yearning for adventure and her belief in true love and happily ever after to become the dutiful wife of her betrothed. However, that single glimpse of Ben changes everything and Emma finds herself pursuing him with a newfound enthusiasm and fervor that makes a mockery of everything she is supposed to do.

Emma’s spirit for adventure and zest for everything to do with Ben, even when he tries (and fails spectacularly) to dissuade her, is the reason that Emma finally manages to pierce through the armor that Ben protects his heart and soul with. Ben believes that he is undeserving of a woman like Emma, even when he knows that her betrothed would destroy Emma’s spirit and heart if he were ever to truly claim her.

I must admit that for the very first time in a novel by Ms. Stuart, I was more enamored by the love that blooms between the secondary characters in the story, Molly O’Hanlon, better known as Red Molly who looks after the young ones at Beggars’ Ken and Thomas Alexander Campion, the man who pursues her, who wears her down bit by bit, and brings down the walls that she puts up with renewed strength every single day. Her back story was fascinating, and it was truly heartwarming when she found love in its truest form when she has always believed that she was of the undeserving.

I found that throughout the story, I was in a state of anticipation for that special something to happen between Emma and Ben which would give the novel the Anne Stuart factor, but alas. Nevertheless, because Ms. Stuart is such a stellar weaver of magical tales of love where one would least expects to find it, I enjoyed this little number and will continue to look forward to her announced publications in the future.

Recommended for fans of Anne Stuart and those who love romances in historical settings.

Final Verdict: It takes a thief like Emma’s undaunted spirit to win over the hardened heart and cynical soul of such as Ben’s. Ms. Stuart always delivers a rousing tale!

Favorite Quotes

The autumn sun was setting low, turning the chilly air even colder, when suddenly Campion took her arm and drew her into the shadows. She didn’t resist.
“Listen to me,” he said in a low, vibrant voice. “I can’t keep doing this to you. I’m driving you mad and I know it, and I’ve refused to listen to what you’ve told me over and over again. But I’ll listen now. You don’t want me; you don’t want anything to do with me. So be it. We’ll find Skittle, bring him back to the ken, and then I’ll leave you alone from now on.”
“Will you?” she said, her voice tremulous, and his eyes narrowed in the twilight. Before she realized what he was doing, he’d lifted his hands to cup her face, and his eyes were searching, questioning, as his thumbs stroked her cheeks.
“Molly?” he whispered. “Why are you crying?”
She couldn’t be. She’d shed all her tears for a lifetime, and she wasn’t ever going to cry over some damned man…
Whom she loved. “I don’t want you to leave me alone,” she said in a hoarse voice.
“Then tell me what you want from me. Because I have no earthly idea what it is.”
He was right, she was crying—she could feel the wetness on her cheeks, the sting of the cold wind against them. “Love,” she said. “I want your love.”

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