Beyond Compare

Author: Candace Camp


Kyria Moreland is an unconventional girl in an unconventional family. The whole Moreland clan is made up of scholars, except for Kyria who designs jewelry and her older brother Reed who's considered normal and runs the family estates. When her sister Olivia's wedding to a silver magnate brings Rafe McIntyre to their home, Kyria finds herself truly fascinated by a man for the first time. She's had many admirers and enjoys flirting, but no one has made her feel the way Mr. McIntyre does just by being in the room. She knows better than to fall in love with him. He's a charming flirt and she can see right off that he isn't the type to marry and settle down. The arrival of a mysterious artifact delivered by a man who is killed at their door step brings about a frightening and dangerous chain of events that draw Kyria and Rafe closer and closer together.

Rafe McIntyre was once a southern gentleman, but gave that all up to fight for the Union during the civil war. He did what he thought was right, but it cost him his family and his fiance. Now he's a partner in a silver mine and something of a charming rogue. He doesn't mind a bit of flirting, but he never intends to let himself love again no matter how temping he finds Lady Kyria. If she wasn't in danger, and if he wasn't feeling so damned protective of her, he'd get away from her before she really got under his skin. Unfortunately fate seems bent on presenting him with situations where only his will to do the honorable thing keeps their passion in check.

I really loved Rafe. He was fun and charming and he put up with an incredible amount of stuff from Kyria. Most men of his time wouldn't have taken Kyria along on the "adventures" they had to undertake while trying to solve the mystery of the artifact. She made these info gathering forays more difficult because, not only did their plans have to be more complicated to keep her undetected, Rafe had to split his focus between finding what he came for and protecting Kyria. Not to mention that he held back during interrogations for her sake. He probably would have had the mystery solved in a quarter of the time if Kyria hadn't been in his way. He was suspicious of the villain earlier on, but because Kyria had him all mixed up, he ignored his instincts. Kyria did that thing I hate where a character thinks that being independent and strong means making dumb decisions and not letting anyone talk you out of them. She kept waiting for Rafe to say she couldn't do something so that she could be disappointed in him for treating her like some weak woman. She was so hell bent on being in the middle of things and proving how smart and independent she was that she never stopped to think that she was making things harder for Rafe or anyone else involved. Pretty self-centered IMHO. The artifact and it's story were interesting. The mystery, well, about the same time Rafe was feeling an inkling of suspicious about the villain I had already decided who the villain was and I was not wrong. I loved Con and Alex.