I love my Regencies. I like when they are a bit different from what we've come to expect. Here our main characters are not lords and ladies. Where there are Earls and Dukes, they are secondary characters. Our hero is the grandson of a Duke, but, more important, the son of a Sultan. His mother had been captured and put in the Sultan's harem. When his father died, he and his mother escaped to England. Our heroine is a rich merchant's daughter. She may be heiress to more money than many of the Dukes and Earls had, but she came from trade and was therefore below them socially. The only reason she was in society and attending the Season was her best friend, a Marquess' daughter, was there.
Coming from trade, our heroine was not really interested in marriage. It was only because of a strange custom of the era that she was induced to accept a proposal. In that time, if a young, unmarried woman of the Ton was found alone with an unmarried man without a chaperone, he was required to propose marriage or her reputation was ruined and she was unlikely to be married ever.
Naturally, while both felt strongly about the other, they found it difficult to tell the other about those feelings. That kept them separate for a while, until circumstances forced communication. The book gets a little spicy after that.
The only thing I disliked about the book was the bit of a cliffhanger ending. Otherwise it was a very enjoyable story. I confess, I will have to get the next book in the series.
I received the copy of the book I read for this review from BookishFirst.
Coming from trade, our heroine was not really interested in marriage. It was only because of a strange custom of the era that she was induced to accept a proposal. In that time, if a young, unmarried woman of the Ton was found alone with an unmarried man without a chaperone, he was required to propose marriage or her reputation was ruined and she was unlikely to be married ever.
Naturally, while both felt strongly about the other, they found it difficult to tell the other about those feelings. That kept them separate for a while, until circumstances forced communication. The book gets a little spicy after that.
The only thing I disliked about the book was the bit of a cliffhanger ending. Otherwise it was a very enjoyable story. I confess, I will have to get the next book in the series.
I received the copy of the book I read for this review from BookishFirst.