Lawrence Sutherland, Royal Navy Captain and the Viscount of Glenrith, has just struck a devil’s bargain. To save his family from financial ruin, he needs the help of his closest childhood friend, Violette. They must work together so he can gain the hand of her wealthy but spoiled heiress cousin and make a mutually beneficial marriage—a sound business arrangement for them both. In return for her … her help, Lawrence offers Violette the one thing she covets most—freedom. With his help, she can leave England and her cruel family behind.
But there is a vital flaw in this near-perfect plan. Violette Pélet de Castelmarou is secretly in love with Lawrence and has hidden it for years. Yet now she finds herself feeding him lines and coaching him through sticky social situations in order to win over her cousin. But when emotions get involved, hearts become inextricably entangled.
When the time comes, will Lawrence be able to say goodbye to Violette or will he compromise her virtue and make her his forever?
If he cannot have her for his wife, then he’ll make her his mistress…
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Really good beginning. liked this story and would recommend.
The ending was too abrupt!
nothing new with this plot
It was a good traditional love story. Inconvenient love for 4 star crossed lovers. It was a good read and I did enjoy it.
Many misunderstandings but happy ending.
Love Love Love this book!
Steamy love scenes with very likable characters. Violette and Lawrence had an angsty love story and you felt bad for Violette and her unfortunate circumstance. Liked that they were sweethearts that grew up together but at times you wanted to wring the hero’s neck.
A read
Long, drawn out and repetitive. I thought it would never end.
I could not figure out how this could have a happy ending. I was just hanging on until the end!
I really enjoyed it.
Not bad, though very predictable
Good characters
I loved how this author made me love all the characters….and I hurt when they hurt. Loved this book! I will be watching for more by Claire Dulac!
Childhood friends who become sweethearts and then lovers, with class distinction always keeping their ardor a secret – the title gives some of the plot line away. The hero is an ass who doesn’t deserve a happy ending. I also wanted a description, not just conjecture, when the tables are finally upended for the evil aunt. The story went on too long, then wrapped up with a very public “climax” that made me think less of the heroine and her protests that she isn’t that sort of woman. Editing was shabby with typographical errors, bad spell check and poor use of quotation marks in conversational passages.
Although the book had a nice happily ever after, the setting was more modern than the implied period. There were too many far fetched happenings for that particular time period. It was still a fun read but don’t go into it thinking you will be transported to a particular place and time in history.
Excellent story of love and duty
Everyone should read this book it’s just beautiful
I liked this book very much and will be interested in reading more books by this author. Thank you.
I enjoyed how it showed both sides of how life in the 1800s was for men of society and women. It touched on racism (female character was part French), class structure, and how torn the main character is between love and duty. Great book.