Published: September 29, 2026
Publisher: Forever
Series: The Hand and the Heart #2
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 590 (Kindle)
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
The second standalone romantic fantasy set in the world of the USA Today bestselling novel The Second Death of Locke.
A ruthless spy. A deadly mission. A thief who could ruin it all.
Nore Gordon is a woman of many she can speak a variety of languages, disguise herself in plain sight, and has made a name for herself as a successful wine merchant. But unbeknownst to those closest to her, it is all a front for Nore’s true role as the favoured spy of the Lindle crown.
Tasked with infiltrating enemy lands in search of a powerful relic, Nore is forced to engage the services of a great thief. Unfortunately, the only person for the job is her estranged husband Caspian. Both Nore and Caspian bear the scars of the disastrous end of their marriage, but if they are to survive their deadly new assignment, they must pose as a happily married couple to avoid detection.
As danger closes in, Nore finds herself tangled in a web of lies and deceit-and though Caspian is at the centre of it all, she may not hate him as much as she once did. But Caspian has betrayed her before, and trust can be far more deadly than deception.
I greatly enjoyed The Second Death of Locke last year and I was excited to return to the same world with yet another fantasy romance. The Thief and the Traitor Bride is set approximately three years after the events of the first book and can be read and enjoyed on its own, but as with all series set in the same world, you’ll miss out on some of the references. That’s one of my favorite things about series like this, so I tend to read these interconnected standalones in order.
This particular book follows a spy and her estranged thief husband as they are forced to work together on a dangerous mission. Nore is in her mid-thirties and has been running a successful imports and exports business specializing in wine, but this is merely a long running cover that allows her to send and receive information from all over the world. Nore is a spy for the Lindle crown and has been for decades now and aside from a brief and swiftly corrected lapse in judgement, she’s very, very good. That lapse in judgement was her husband Caspian, who hasn’t set foot in the country since he was caught thieving and escaped capture, minus a finger. Until now that is… Caspian is back and has agreed to work for Lindan once more (for a price, of course). The job requires that he and Nore pose as husband and wife as they infiltrate Locke to find a relic and gather information.
As one might expect, this book is filled with tension thanks to the dramatic history between Nore and Caspian. This is truly enemies to lovers and Nore would gladly knife Caspian and throw him overboard if her success didn’t depend on him at the beginning. This book does switch between past and present, so we get to find out how Nore became a spy in the first place, how she met and fell in love with Caspian, and how his betrayal came about. I felt like the story slowed toward the middle, but once they arrived on Locke things picked back up a little. It was fascinating to see Locke (Grey) and Kier from the perspective of outsiders, especially since Grey has been in power for several years now. She comes across as so cold and intimidating and Kier is called the Viper, so he’s obviously earned a terrifying reputation as well.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see what the third book will be about and who it will follow! V.L. Bovalino has built an interesting world that successfully stands up outside of the relatively small territory it originally started in. Though I think I like Grey and Kier’s story a little more, I think Nore and Caspian had great execution of the enemies to lovers and forced proximity tropes and I genuinely liked them as well. I was also really satisfied with the ending, which gave a convincing resolution to several plot lines that I was curious about.
Powder & Page 
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