Reigning

Name: Reigning
Rating: 4.4 (234 reviews)

by Malcolm Archibald Book 3 in the The Rise of an English Lawbreaker series.

First published 2023

Amazon

4.3(234)

John Smith has left behind the life of a smuggler and highwayman and now appears in London society as Lord Fitzwarren, a prosperous ship owner. Respectability does not bring safety. Rival merchant Charles Shapland is determined to destroy Smith’s trading interests, and his alliance with Kate Rider gives the attack a personal edge because she carries her own grievance against him.

Smith and Bess must defend both their household and their business as hired killers, thieves and the Bow Street Runners complicate a struggle fought across streets, docks and commercial networks. The American War of Independence adds pressure to Atlantic trade and creates opportunities for men willing to profit from disruption. The novel completes Smith’s transformation from coastal lawbreaker to established merchant by asking whether wealth and a title can ever free him from the enemies and methods of his earlier life.