3 stars but JUST BARELY.
This was a real slow burn book, but Sharon Cameron did pretty good. Sophia Bellamy's family is close to ruin. In order to save them, she agrees to marry the wealthy and witty Rene Hasard. Now, this is all well and good, except Sophia is the infamous Rook. She helps the innocent escape the dungeons of a corrupt and cruel ruler. Rene, however, is not to be kept in the dark. He is determined to find out what is happening. Unfortunately, things get tough as both Rene and Sophia are under the nose of Rene's cousin, LeBlanc, who is EVILLLLL. Also he's basically the guy throwing everyone in the dungeons, because why not?
Rene and Sophia, don't ever exactly develop a trusting relation until the end. They constantly tip toe around each other despite secrets being revealed that would really benefit them to trust it one another, but alas, better late than never I guess.
This book wasn't anything stupendous, The plot was original, but the execution cliche. In addition, it was too damn long. It could have easily been done in half the time. In fact, I probably would have given it 3.5 stars had it been half the length It was tedious to read and really, we didn't need the numerous mini information dumps and Tet-a-tets. They stopped being fun at one point.
Overall, it was a decent stand alone and I don't regret reading it. It kept my attention (mostly) and the story is uniquely set in a world that ubiquitously relies our own society's fears.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23399192-rook