“Oh, for heaven’s sake, she’s a girl in pants!” Within the first 10 pages and Scarlet is still being mistaken as a “lad”, men can be so blind. Someone had to say this! This was definitely a great way to start the book, it just was.
Lady Thief follows Scarlet as she navigates the world as a married woman. Gisbourne is a great villain! He can pull off the vicious, cruel man that he is as well as pretending to be a gentleman. They definitely have a rocky marriage, but, there was this one rare scene that A.C. Gaughen included and it exposed a side of Gisbourne that I never thought I would see, especially one where him and Scarlet seem to get along.
“You won’t see any of this back, you know? His lip curled up like a dog.
“So be it. You’ve already been stealing from me anyway, haven’t you?”
Tying the purse inside my skirts. I didn’t cop to it none. “Marian,” he said.
“Fine, I nicked the coins,” I said rolling my eyes. “You married a thief, you should hide things better.”
They are joking, together!! If you had asked me if I thought that would be possible after all I’ve read, I wouldn’t think so, but it happened. This humanized Gisbourne and it shocked me. It showed that not all men are all evil (I’m not saying that he’s a good guy, because he definitely isn’t but this showed that people aren’t just one thing).
Even married, Scarlet still fought for her people. She stood up to her husband despite knowing the threat it would have on her own life.
“No,’ I snarled. “That girl will eat because of me. You cannot do your violence and blame it on me. If she lost her hand it would have been because you sat idly by and watched de Clare hurt an unarmed child. It would have been because de Clare is a bully. If anything the only thing I see is how god damn powerless a noble lady is meant to be, and I am not powerless.”
She put him in his place and exposed a raw nerve that everyone seems to ignore. Things are corrupt. Their rules are not working! Why can’t anyone but Scarlet and the band realize that?
Gisbourne asks Scarlet why she makes him hurt her and her response is beautiful!
“I’m not making you do anything, Gisbourne. Hurt me if you want but I’ve felt pain. I know what pain is. And it’s less than love, than loyalty, than hope. You can make me cry, or scream, or whatever else. All that will mean is that I feel the pain, that I’m still alive. And as long as I’m living I can promise I’m not afraid of you, Gisbourne. I’m afraid of sitting quiet while the people that are meant to protect others do their best to hurt them. I’m afraid of people like you and Prince John going by unchecked. That’s what I’m afraid of. I’m stronger than your damn pain, and I do not give up.”
I didn’t think it would be possible for her to become any stronger than she already was in Scarlet but she has. She has come so far and has dealt with so much for being this young and that is why she is such a great character! Nothing in her life is easy and yet she rises every time she is beat! There is no stopping this girl!
In the first novel, most of the band interaction fell into the Rob/Scarlet/John love triangle or they would split up in pairs that were always, Rob and Much and John and Scarlet. I was really glad to see more band interaction with Lady Thief because it shed light on two major things that were not seen or mentioned in Scarlet. The first being, what happens if you want out? Out of the band and living a normal life. John poses this idea early on after discovering Bess is pregnant and although it wasn’t well received at first, he is finally accepted out of the band. Rob took it really badly and I still don’t understand why, but I’m glad it was resolved and it was a great idea to include because not only does it make sense for someone to want to do this but also because it again added this deeper level to the whole story that made it real and stronger to imagine.
I loved this second one so much because it was so adorable and was basically non-existent in Scarlet. The bond between Much and Scarlet. They grew very close in Lady Thief and it shocked me how much he seemed to grow and the amount of wisdom he had was astounding! These scenes pulled at me every which way!
First they bonded when Scarlet lost faith in her ability to fight due to her hurt arm and he cheered up with this beautiful pep talk.
“Scar, you learned to use your hands to fight for you. And you learned to trust the band to be at your back. You may have even learned to let Rob save you. But you didn’t need a damn one of those things. Your power, your great gift, is that you never give up. When something fails you make a new plan, and another. You never accept defeat. You never give up.”
Then he did it again when she was doubting the annulment.
“You can’t run now’ he reminded me soft.
‘I can always run’ I growled at him. ‘But running won’t never change that these are my people. Running won’t give me an annulment and let me be with Rob, proper and right.’
‘Then fight,’ he told me. He grinned at me, slow and bright like the sun, holding my hurt hand gently as the Brother tied it off. ‘And try and use your words.’”
He always seems to say the right things and be there for Scarlet, a lot like John used to be but without that added element of romance and I really liked that. Their friendship is one that most strive for and it was definitely something Scarlet needed when facing Prince John and Gisbourne. He was someone she could turn to without any added fear or expectation. He was there to listen and help her. These scenes shined a light on Much’s character greatly!
We went from very little romance between Rob and Scarlet to full blown love in this installment! There’s even a proposal!!!! *cue swoons!!!
“Then I’ll wait. Every sunset, every day. I’ll count them all until you’re mine. My perfect wife. My only wife,’ he said. ‘The only heart that’s meant for mine.’ His nose dragged on my face. ‘I only feel like a hero when you’re with me, Scarlet. I feel like I have a destiny greater than pain and hurt when you’re in my arms.”
How about another? Because they are so damn cute together!!!
“Scarlet,’ he murmured. His hands squeezed my waist. ‘I’ve told you all along, I knew who you were from the first. I know your heart. Names, titles, hair, odd clothing choices, none of that changes who you are. And I am madly in love with who you are.”
That’s true love folks.
There were many characters that emerged in this novel as well. Winchester, a fellow nobleman she meets upon moving in with Gisbourne, Eleanor, Queen of Aquitaine and her son, Prince John.
“Good,’ Winchester said, still looking at me. ‘Any man that harms a woman ought to be flogged.’ He gave me the littlest of smiles. ‘Though I hear some women have their own ways of answering such harm.’
“Some women do, my lord,’ I agreed, bowing my head as I were meant to.”
What an entrance! Bravo Winchester! Stealing hearts right off the bat like that! There was so much to like about his character and this is just a glimpse into how pure and genuine he is. His platonic friendship with Scarlet was such a good addition to these books! He was there for her when no one else could be and his character proved to be the exact thing she needed when faced with her marriage and all it entailed. He was there for her! And it was absolutely adorable! He was not afraid to stand up to Gisbourne or ruffle Prince John’s feathers and I fell for him so hard! Definitely my favourite character in Lady Thief! Seriously, he had no competition!
“My lady,’ he said quiet, so much so that I had to lean toward him. ‘I’m more than aware of your husband’s ungallantries. Should you ever wish for my assistance, you shall have it upon a moment.’
“You know Rob?”
He smiled, tasting his soup. ‘So I imagine the stories are true, then. It’s him that truly has your heart.”
So gallant!
“Winchester did not even wait for Prince John’s response. He knelt to me and took my hand and waist, helping me up gentle.
‘Step aside, Winchester!’ the Prince snapped.
Winchester did not turn, did not move. “You would do well to remember, my Prince, that you are not the King, your nephew is the heir to your brother’s throne, and that you are not so much higher than an earl. You are by no means untouchable to me.”
DAMN!!! Like I said this guy is fearless!
Eleanor is the one to drop the bomb on Scarlet and revealed the identities of her parents, King Richard and a blacksmith’s daughter. This was such a sad truth because it was just discovered that the parents she’d always known were not only not her real parents but also blamed her for their real daughter’s death. They had no regard for Scarlet or her feelings before outright blaming her for what happened. Her life was absolutely turned upside down. Despite the sad turn of events, I feel like she will be able to do a lot with her newfound heritage. She is after all a princess. And if things weren’t already complicated enough, this means that Eleanor is her grandmother and Prince John (you know the guy hell-bent on destroying her) is her uncle?? Like what! And I thought there was already tons of twists! I was really happy to see her connection to Eleanor because she is also a very strong woman. She even puts Prince John in his place!! She literally scolds him! Its great!
“You are a child,’ Eleanor said, stepping forward, her voice like steel and fire. ‘You are a bully and in danger of being held in my esteem as the stupidest of my sons, Isabel gave you such a grand opportunity tonight. A coup d’etat. An idea, by the way, that your wife stole from her. Feed the people and they will love you. Helplessly and eternally. And what do you do, my stupid, stupid son? You squander the opportunity and make them hate you.”
Prince John is a vile man. A great villain. He seems cowardly but then he does something that proves he’s not playing around, like chopping off two of Scarlet’s fingers?!! Like YIKES! This I never saw coming. And he did this personally. No henchman and not from afar. He gets his hands dirty and he shouldn’t be seen as anything other than what he is, a threat. I’m surprised he killed Gisbourne in an attempt to capture and punish Scarlet, they seemed to be thick as thieves up until then which only increases his threatening power.
I was even more surprised when he chose to imprison Scarlet rather than flat out kill her because she is a worthy adversary and one that he shouldn’t keep alive. What a cliffhanger this was too! And I still can’t believe John died at the end! What a tragedy! He was getting out! And then just like that he’s gone. I hope Prince John gets everything he deserves! (And yes I’m going to read the next book right now!)
“Marian had her future taken from her by the will of others—the Leafords, Gisbourne, even Prince John. And Scarlet were locked in Sherwood, unable to be with Rob, unable to have a future at all. But I could become more than a silly lady or a lowly thief—I would be a princess of England, and I would use it to steal back the right to my own heart.”