Spain - Present Day

When a legendary necklace turns up in a Spanish bank vault, the government agrees to hand over the necklace to the Roma royal family, as a gesture of goodwill. Luke Moreno has been hired as security for the ceremony, and the minute he sees Sofia Mikhelson at the event, he knows that trouble is coming. Five years earlier, Luke and Sofia had been in love, but when their employer, Don Fernando Heredia, accused Luke of using Sofia to steal precious gems, Sofia believed her patron.

Seeing Sofia and Don Fernando at the ceremony, Luke knows that something bad is going to happen, and it does. A lone man guns down the Roma king and queen, and in the confusion, Luke realizes that this would be the perfect opportunity to steal the necklace. He catches up to Sofia, but when the two witness the theft and one of the thieves murdering his accomplice, Luke knows that they will be blamed and they need to leave immediately. The only way to prove their innocence is to find the necklace and the person who stole it, but Luke and Sofia only have one another to rely on, and with their history, how can either of them trust the other?

Two people still bitter over the other’s betrayal will have to turn to each other for help in HEART OF A THIEF. Luke was raised in the ghettos of Madrid, and when his mother died and his father went to jail, Luke ended up in a boys' home, believing his other relatives didn’t want him. Sofia was abandoned by her parents and ended up in the foster care system in America. With those backgrounds, it was easy for Luke and Sofia to believe that their relationship was a lie when confronted with evidence of betrayal. Now they have to put that aside and work together to not only prove their innocence, but also to save their lives. The attraction between them is still strong, and it doesn’t take long for old feelings to resurface, but can there be anything more than lust between them?

It’s not difficult to guess who the villain of the piece is, but the motivation behind his crimes is not simply greed -- and it sets up the series. The necklace is the first of three artifacts that legend says were stolen from the Gypsy people centuries ago. While the Spanish government is willing to return the necklace, the only piece found so far, there are others who are willing to go to any lengths to see that the Roma do not get their treasures back. The first in the Crusaders series, HEART OF A THIEF is a fast-paced and captivating book.

Jennifer Bishop