Her plan to marry well…has backfired spectacularly!
Miss Betsy Fairfax must marry to save her family from
financial ruin. Only, her mother's overzealous efforts to find kindhearted
Betsy a suitable match have made her society's most undesirable debutante!
She's ready to give up and become a paid companion, when she shares a
spine-tingling kiss with James, a charming steward. Hardly the way to catch a
viscount, unless he's not entirely whom he seems.
Good book, though I wasn't sure when I found out Betsy
was the heroine. She made her first appearance in the previous book, A Scandal at Midnight, as a neighbor of Lord Bramhall's. In that book, she brazenly walked
into his study, threw her arms around him, and kissed him in an attempt to
force a marriage between them. Stymied by the fact that he was already married,
she later behaved vindictively toward Lady Bramhall. I didn't like her at all
and wondered how the author would redeem her in this book.
I was a little iffy about James, also. In the first book,
he and his brothers were notorious for the pranks they played on their sister.
One of those pranks ended with her married to Lord Bramhall. He had also been
instrumental in ruining her Season in London by driving away her suitors. As
the oldest son, he can do no wrong in his father's eyes.
As this book opens, James is on the way to Bramhall Manor
to oversee the work on the estate while Lord Bramhall returns to his regiment
to fight against Bonaparte. He's happy to do so, as he is frustrated by his
father's refusal to allow him any say in their estate management. He's also
become tired of his brothers' pranks and looks forward to distancing himself
from them.
As he rides across Bramhall land, he encounters Betsy, weeping
under a tree. Their initial meeting is somewhat antagonistic as she accuses him
of trespassing (like she isn't?), and he reacts. Betsy makes quite the impression
on him with her attitude. When she assumes he is a steward for the estate, he
doesn't correct her. He likes the idea of being seen for himself rather than
his title. Her feistiness is different than the women he is used to, and he
wants to get to know her better.
I liked watching the development of their relationship.
James is pretty sweet, if a little clueless about women, thanks to his father's
attitude and lectures (see book one for the full effect). He takes every
opportunity to spend time with her, even putting up with her snobby mother. Betsy
frequently frustrated me. She's just as drawn to James but blows hot and cold.
Every time she seems to get closer to him, something happens that sets off her
temper, and she lashes out at him. Her guilt about her actions with Lord
Bramhall and her embarrassment over her parents' toxic marriage have her
constantly on edge.
In the scene at the church, their attraction almost gets
out of control before they rein it in. It clarifies their feelings for each
other, but when Betsy comes up with a plan to evade her mother's disapproval,
James finally confesses his deception. While I understood her reaction to the
deception, I did not understand why she remained angry and refused to see the
plus side. Then faced with her father's deception, she ran instead of fighting
for what she wanted.
I hurt for James, who had his dreams blow up in his face.
I loved how his younger brother Gem's (Jasper) arrival changed things for him.
Gem is more experienced than James. Their conversation about Gem's problems and
knowledge of women was funny and heartbreaking. I loved James's decision to go
after Betsy. His arrival as himself set tongues wagging and opened him up to everything
he hates about Society. I thought his plan to win Betsy back was unnecessarily
complicated and easily misinterpreted, as proved by Betsy's reactions. I liked
James's big moment at the end when he finally saw the benefits of the direct
approach. My only disappointment is that the book ended so abruptly. I would
like to have seen their parents' reactions.
It looks likely that the next book will be about James's
brother, Gem. The story behind his arrival is his clash with his father over
some incident with a woman. James invites Gem to take over for him at Bramhall
Manor. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.
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