Title:	Her Rival
	Author:	Emma Tallon
	Published:	September 21, 2021, Bookouture
	No. of Pages:	336
	Cover Price:	$10.99 Paperback, $4.99 Kindle

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In the second novel of her new series, Her Rival, bestselling author Emma Tallon outdoes herself with a edge-of-your-seat thriller. Scarlet and her Aunt Lily attend a high-society black tie dinner where they are invited to an after party at the home of a rich business owner. Scarlet ends up being sexually assaulted by the drunken man and decides to steal his most valuable treasure. Unfortunately, there is a witness, and Scarlet is not only in danger, but also puts her entire family and their underworld business in danger. Although Scarlet is smart and well-suited to work with her Aunt Lily in their crime family business, she still has much to learn. What she does may be the end of her.

Tallon is very skilled in developing her characters and readers will have a clear picture of them in their minds as the novel progresses. Although Scarlet is no saint, she is likeable and readers will rally around her and want her to win out in the end. Aunt Lily, the head of their crime family, is smart, shrewd, and perceptive, and is trying to pass on those traits to young Scarlet. Hopefully Scarlet will pick up on what it takes to partner with her Aunt, and things will turn out well. As the suspense builds, the novel will be difficult to put down and as the dénouement comes at the very end, readers will be shocked.

Tallon is, as usual, an excellent storyteller and the novel is easy to read and will keep the interest of anyone whether they have read her previous novels or not. This novel is good enough, however, that readers will definitely want to pick up the previous novel in the series. The London underworld is a fascinating place, and since most readers aren’t actually familiar with it, are spellbound as the story unfolds. Hopefully there will be more novels, because this novel is excellent.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.