London, 1819. Four years ago, Darius, the Earl of Redgrave fled London two weeks before his wedding to Lady Mary’s sister and married another woman. Now a widower, he has returned to seek a new wife.
One woman catches his eye . . .
At first, Lady Mary doesn’t recognize the handsome lord as the cad who ran out on her sister. After giving him the cut direct in a London ballroom, she finds herself running into him everywhere she goes, and fighting a forbidden attraction. Not only has Mary sworn off men, Redgrave is so very wrong for her. But she cannot stop thinking of his kisses. Redgrave means to stay away from Mary but it is impossible. Passion between two people who can never be together is a dangerous game.
This was an entertaining book. I liked Darius. He really tried to do everything right, and the circumstances were just against him. I, mean, that father in law and late wife! Snakes! Both of them. I just wish something worse had happened to them.
I liked Mary, but was frustrated with how she handled her unwanted attraction to Darius. If she had truly been dedicated to her sister, I would have hoped she would have truly rejected Darius’ advances (given what she thought). I think it reflects more poorly on her than him. That doesn’t mean I don’t like her. I did feel for her, and I’m glad that she ended up happy.
Together, they made a nice couple. Plotwise, I was expecting a bigger deal to be made about Mary’s secret. It was a big deal… and then it was solved. Without so much as a blip. And that, plus my issue with Mary’s flimsy loyalty, robs this 4-star read of 1 star.