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The fortune hunter

Meagan McKinney

374 pages

A shadowy, intense historical romance where a fiercely protective survivor clashes with a bitter alpha male, leading to a passionate journey of healing.

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What it feels like

Reading this book feels like stepping into a shadowy, atmospheric parlor where high-stakes survival meets intense, old-school romance. The narrative moves at a brisk, dramatic pace, driven by the fierce protective instincts of a heroine who has reinvented herself to save her found family. The mood is thick with tension and romantic conflict, leaning heavily into classic bodice-ripper tropes as a bitter, brooding alpha male clashes with a desperate survivor. Beneath the surface of uneasy bargains and deceptive spiritualism, the story explores deep emotional themes of healing, acceptance, and bridging vast class divides. It is a passionate, emotionally charged experience designed for readers who love watching two guarded, troubled souls slowly surrender to a comforting, transformative love.

Mood: shadowy
tense
atmospheric
romantic
Tone: dramatic
passionate
intense
earnest
Pace: brisk
Themes: found family and survival · healing a troubled soul · enemies to lovers · reinvention and deception · class divides
The writing: Emotionally charged and dramatic, leaning into the intense, atmospheric tropes of classic historical romance.
The arc: Moves from desperate survival and defensive hostility to vulnerable acceptance and healing love.
Who it's for: Readers who crave intense, old-school historical romances featuring fiercely protective heroines, brooding alpha males, and high-stakes emotional bargains.

Content notes

orphanage abuse
child abandonment

About the book

Lavinia Murphy fled a brutal St. Louis orphanage with four younger "siblings" and learned a spiritualist's ways from the carnies and gypsies she met on the road to New York City. Transformed as the mysterious Countess Lovaenya, she has built a safe haven for herself and her troubled family when she is suddenly confronted by a phantom more fearsome than any she's ever conjured in her shadowy parlor.

Edward Stuyvesant-French—the illegitimate son of Lavinia's wealthiest, and most frequent client—has vowed to destroy her. To protect her family, Lavinia will enter into an uneasy bargain with the powerful and bitter Edward that forces her to understand that beyond the darkness of a troubled soul may lie a heart aching for comfort, acceptance, and healing love.

Description from Open Library.

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