"An Hour Unspent" by Roseanna M. White

We first fell in love with London's premier family of thieves in A Name Unknown, and continued following their adventures in A Song Unheard. Now oldest brother Barclay finally gets his turn to star on the pages, and he cuts quite a dashing figure as he tries to help Mr. V and the Admiralty with anything they need while the Great War rages.

Barclay has worked hard to build their family - a collection of orphans who have banded together to escape life on the streets. He is fiercely protective of each one of them, and even though he's now reformed from his life of stealing to earn bread, there is still an element of his background coming into play in his honest work for the British government. Barclay is assigned to attain the design of a gear that is being developed by a local clockmaker, and Barclay approaches him with honesty rather than the subterfuge that would once have marked his steps.

The clockmaker's daughter, Evelina Manning, has tried hard to fight for her independence, both personally with her recovery from a childhood bout of polio, and also politically as an active suffragette. She is passionate about issues close to her heart. Her world receives a serious setback, however, when her fiancee breaks their engagement and enlists in the war. She was on the cusp of attaining a higher place in society to better proclaim her social ideals, but now she's relegated to being at the mercy of her demanding mother and aunt once again.

Evelina's spark draws Barclay towards her, and for her part, the alluring and somewhat mysterious Barclay makes an excellent diversion from her current unpleasant reality. His family is also highly intriguing. Their friendship will be tested as it becomes apparent that the Admiralty isn't the only one interested in Mr. Manning's gear, and German zeppelins begin their bombing raids over London. It's a dangerous time to live and love, and Roseanna M. White brings it to life beautifully in this engrossing story.

I loved Barclay. His all-out passion for his siblings is something I understand, as well as his lonely musing about romance: "Maybe... Barclay [was] destined to spend his life with children aplenty but no wife by his side to care for them." As a sister and a teacher, that's a sentiment I relate to! I thoroughly enjoyed his story, and I hope Roseanna decides to write another series about this unusual family - there are enough of them to carry us readers through for quite a while!

I received my copy of the book from the publisher. All thoughts in this review are my own.