All she wants is security:
The last place finishing school instructor Mrs. Jane Munroe belongs, is in polite Society. Vowing to never wed, she’s been scuttled around from post to post. Now she finds herself in the Marquess of Waverly’s household. She’s never met a nobleman she liked, and when she meets the pompous, arrogant marquess, she remembers why. But soon, she discovers Gabriel is unlike … unlike any gentleman she’s ever known.
All he wants is a companion for his sister:
What Gabriel finds himself with instead, is a fiery spirited, bespectacled woman who entices him at every corner and challenges his age-old vow to never trust his heart to a woman. But…there is something suspicious about his sister’s companion. And he is determined to find out just what it is.
All they need is each other:
As Gabriel and Jane confront the truth of their feelings, the lies and secrets between them begin to unravel. And Jane is left to decide whether or not it is ever truly safe to love a lord.
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I loved this book. Although I saw Gabriel in a different light than the synopsis suggests. I didn’t think he was pompous or arrogant at all. I immediately liked him because here was a man who was thrown into a position of authority and caring for the well-being of his siblings but at the same time felt he didn’t belong in his position nor did he feel worthy of love.
In comes Jane, a bastard by birth who is determined to carve a path for others by opening her own finishing school with a new onset of rules. She’s fired from her current position but lies to her new employer to buy time until her inheritance will come through. I loved her strength and her determination fuels her forward to achieve what she feels she must. But what she hadn’t expected was the feelings she had when around the older brother of her charge.
It’s a wonderful story about two people who didn’t feel worthy of love and found it in each other. The road to that realization was a bit rocky, but then anything that’s so valuable is worth that journey.
Jane Munroe is the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Ravenscourt and an actress. From her earliest memory, Jane wanted to be loved and protected, but her mother’s love was for her protector. At 24, Jane has moved from post to post, evading the unwanted attentions of society. Now dismissed from Mrs. Belden’s Finishing School for daring to teach young girls to improve their minds, fate intervenes when Jane discovers a note from Marquess of Waverly asking for a chaperone for his sister for two months. That is perfect for Jane who is due to receive a small inheritance from her father on her birthday – which she will use to open her own school. Arriving at the Edgerton townhouse in London, Jane meets Gabriel, who immediately decides she will not suit. But with no where to go, Jane defies the Marquess and forces him to allow his sister, Lady Chloe to decide her fate. Upon their meeting, Chloe is taken with the lovely and independent minded Jane. Expecting arrogance and distain, for the first time in her life Jane is warmed by caring and friendship from Chloe. But Gabriel, prim and proper, and afraid of the entanglements of love and caring, tries to keep his distance from this courageous lady – and fails. The secret of childhood abuse is shared by him and his siblings, but as the eldest, Gabriel has lived with his guilt in his failure to protect them from their evil and cruel father. Can this attraction survive the lies and secrets on both sides? Tragic story of cruelty and the guilt wrongly assumed by the victims. But for the realization of forgiving oneself and seeing truth, love can not begin to grow and lighten the darkness of heart and soul!!
I’m never disappointed by Christi Caldwell.
Wonderful characters… great imagery…
She weaves a tale so engrossing that you feel like you are part of the story.
***I am voluntarily posting an honest review.***
I have loved this whole series about the Edgerton Family siblings and the abuse each one suffered at the hands of their father when they were children until he died. Gabriel, the eldest is now the Marquis of Waverly, is bitter, serious and haunted from his past for himself and for not being able to save his younger siblings. He has one more sibling to see married to a good husband that will protect his sister, Chloe.
Jane Munroe is an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Ravenscourt, who never claimed her as his. She has been a governess and a teacher at a ladies school, where she has lost her position because of complaints on her independent thinking for women. Jane lies herself into a position as companion for 2 months to Gabriel’s sister while she finds a husband (his idea, not how his sister feels) by season’s end.
Now starts all the lies, regrets, friendships, love romance, broken hearts & spirits, humor and some really likable characters plus some revisits from family from earlier books. I really did enjoy the story – Gabriel had suffered so much and Jane was treated badly being illegitimate (she was too back and forth between sweet and outspoken for my liking) but it was a good read and I would recommend it.
I always enjoy Caldwell”s historical romances. This is, I believe, the third in the series about a gypsy necklace that brings its wearer true love. The heroine is unloved, unwanted and used to being ignored. The hero is intent in protecting himself from any type of emotion. The tale of their meeting, animosity, and frustrated attempts to deny their feelings makes for a very readable, entertaining story.
Interesting spell binding