To Capture His Heart by Nancy Campbell Allen

About the book:

Seaside, England, 1886

Eva Caldwell is an accomplished and well-known photographer who often works with the local constabulary to assist in documenting crime scenes, which means she also often works alongside the handsome and charming detective, Nathan Winston. She appreciates his intellect and how he treats her like an equal, but Eva’s heart is still healing from a past relationship, so, for now, she decides to keep her feelings for Nathan a secret.

One evening, Nathan arrives on her doorstep asking for a personal favor. Would Eva be available to photograph his mother’s legendary, week-long dinner party and matchmaking event? The catch is that Eva would also have to pretend they are courting in order for Nathan to avoid the many single women seeking his attention.

Though wary of the charade, Eva agrees. Spending a week with the two things she loves most—her detective and her camera—sounds simple enough. And if she wants to imagine that Nathan’s pretend courtship of her is real, well, what’s the harm in that?

But when a criminal from Nathan’s past threatens revenge on the detective, Nathan must be extra vigilant to keep his mother and the rest of the partygoers safe. He confides in Eva, and as the two work together to solve the mystery and apprehend the criminal, they find that they might capture more than they expected—each other’s heart.

My Review:

5/5 stars. This book was so much better than I expected! I'll be honest, I kind of thought it would be a bit too cheesy or poorly written, but it definitely wasn't. I have no complaints. The romance was so cute, and the mystery elements were unexpected and kept me very engaged, especially in the last third or so of the book.

The premise for this book intrigued me. I thought the set-up was really cute. It was sort of a twist on the "fake dating" trope because both people actually have feelings for each other from the start. The first part of the book was centered around this aspect, and it was very cute to see them being into each other but not realizing the other was too. That led to some adorable moments.

Speaking of adorable moments, the banter between the main couple was amazing! They had great chemistry, and they were so subtly romantic with each other. Early on, it was more playful teasing, but then it became super swoon-worthy lines and confessions. Nathan, the main guy, was so romantic, and his confession of love gave me all the feels.

Beyond the romance, there was a mystery thread happening alongside the couple developing. I didn't think those elements would play as big a part as they did, but I really enjoyed it. At first it was subtle things you didn't think much of, but then it all came together in such a clever way in the end. There were some really suspenseful moments toward the end that held my attention well.

One final thing I loved was the character of Sammy, and especially how Eva and Nathan treated him. He was a cute character, and the found family dynamic was super sweet.

Content:

Language: None

Sexual Content: Light touches, lots of wanting to kiss and touch each other and wondering what that would be like, hand kisses, lingering kisses across multiple features, a mention of a man trying to kiss a girl and pushing further when she didn't want it

Violence/Gore: Dead bodies, blood, suicide (talked about but not shown), someone gets poisoned, injuries, wounds, an explosion that injures people, a mention of a kidnapping that happened in the past

Drugs/Alcohol: None