William Barlow’s life has been forever altered: his estranged father is dead, and William has inherited the title of Viscount Farleigh. Along with the title comes a neglected estate, an enormous amount of gambling debt, and one astounding acquisition that will turn William’s world upside down . . . It is her first London Season, and Lady Louisa Hargreaves could not be more pleased. She has … attracted the attention of the Earl of Kerridge, and the two are on the cusp of an official betrothal. That is, until she learns of a generations-old family debt: her grandfather gambled her hand in marriage and lost, and now Louisa must pay the price. She will marry not the earl but a man she just met, who has taken her freedom in one fell swoop. Even as she struggles to understand the handsome and aloof man she is to wed, Louisa is irresistibly drawn to him—and he to her. But she soon realizes he is harboring secrets, and as her wedding day approaches, she must discover what her future husband is hiding before she makes the gravest mistake of her life.
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I liked the characters in this book and felt like I knew who they were. I loved Louisa’s bubbly, talkative self and thought she was awfully mature in handling the situation in which she was placed. I cared about William because even if he couldn’t express himself in words or even facial expressions, he still felt deeply. He cared about those he loved and was willing to set aside his own happiness for them. In so doing, he gains true happiness for the first time in his life.
Louisa’s brothers were quite delightful. Their banter with Louisa was very entertaining. And William’s staff members were so lovely and devoted. And Mary so exuberant in her love for her Will. All these characters were lovable. And even the third part of the love triangle was likable I suppose. He wasn’t an awful person. He was just the wrong person and a little arrogant and blind to Louisa’s feelings. The only unlovable character was he who we were not supposed to love. And he is already dead so we only have to deal with the aftermath of his wretched life.
The premise for this book is different from most any regency romance I’ve read so points for being unique. It was so out there though that I wondered about believability. I had to review the beginning to even understand the legalities of what was going on. Would a loving father truly put family honor above his daughter’s happiness when the legalities of the whole thing would likely be struck down in court? I feel like family honor would be maintained in being able to legally say that all claims are void. So in order to enjoy this book I had to set aside a whole bunch of disbelief.
In addition to that, I also had to be willing to endure a lot of angst. After a while I started to feel this was the equivalent of a regency soap opera. One drama after another.
There was sometimes too much detail that detracted from the flow of the story. It would have been sufficient to know that Louisa chose to wear her lavender dress (or whatever) but instead we got sleeve details and the like. Details are good but sometimes less is more.
But that being said, by the time we got to the ending I felt perfectly satisfied. It was a heave a dreamy sigh of relief and contentment at the HEA ending.
Sex: no. Innuendo and William’s father was an adulterer but none written in the book.
Language: no
Violence: Bruises are evidence of a boxing match
This book was provided to me by Netgalley. I voluntarily wrote this review and all opinions are my own.
I had so much fun reading this book. It was just what I wanted! A silent, broken leading man just doing his best and an open honest fun leading lady. Both doing what has to been done in their time. Tuft is very good at writing deep characters. I felt like I could have had a little more from them both but was very satisfied. The ending was just what I wanted and needed from the whole story. It felt like it came full circle to me. I just love a good chaste regency romance and this did not disappoint.