Description
A broken man. A fiery young woman. Neither one’s heart will come away unscathed.
Juliet Graham fervently counts the days until her twenty-first birthday, when she can claim the inheritance that will grant her the freedom she has always craved and the guardianship of her younger brother. Until then, she is trapped under her aunt Agnes’s domineering will.
When forced to accompany the family to a house party at Shaldorn Castle, Juliet’s only objective is to keep to herself. That is, until a chance encounter with a boorish stranger stirs up an unexpected whirlwind of emotions in her. Thrown off-balance, Juliet does the unthinkable: loses her temper and insults the man—who turns out to be her unwilling host, the Duke of Halstead. Fully expecting to be sent away, Juliet is surprised when the brusque and callous duke instead takes an interest in her.
Drawn to the duke in unguarded moments, Juliet finds herself more and more intrigued by the man who shuns Society’s rules as completely as she does, and over the next few weeks, their unlikely friendship deepens into a connection neither expected.
But even as Juliet comes to recognize her true feelings, her scheming aunt issues an ultimatum that threatens the future she was just beginning to hope for. Juliet must choose: either break the promise she made to herself years ago, or lose the man who has captured her heart and soul.
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My Review:
This sweet, clean regency romance is everything I had hoped it would be. The storyline is absorbing and kept me eagerly reading to see what happened next. It’s a “I’ll read just one more chapter” type of book, but then I’d actually read two or three more.
Juliet is a wonderful regency heroine. She’s fiercely loyal; outspoken; and sees past the rules that her society dictates must be followed. The Duke is also outspoken, and the conversations between them were always interesting. This is not exactly a “Beauty and the Beast” type of story, but the Duke’s injuries add an extra dimension to the depth of the story. As Julia tries to understand her own heart, she also realizes that there are sacrifices she must make for her young brother. Her road to happily-ever-after is a rocky one, and that made this story hard to put down.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
About Heidi Kimball
At a young age Heidi perfected the art of hiding out so she could read instead of doing chores. One husband and four children later, not much has changed. She has an abiding love for peanut butter M&Ms, all things fall, and any book that can make her forget she is supposed to be keeping her children alive.
Heidi currently lives just north of Boston, in a charming old town in southern New Hampshire.
