Summary: Francis Courtenay is a duke – gorgeous but impoverished, allegedly wicked but a hero in the heroine’s eyes. The heroine here is Vanessa Tremaine, a young beautiful woman who ran away from home because her cousin has been pressuring her to marry him. She ends up in Francis’ company and later on, becomes her ward. But soon, Vanessa wants more and she feels there’s reason to hope that the duke may want more from her, too.

Blythe writes beautifully and the way the relationship between the two develops may be a tad slow but quite fitting with the story. The level of poignancy here is equal to but different from what you’d expect from a Mary Balogh regency.

I initially read from an Amazon reviewer that this, together with the Parfit Knight, were the only works of Blyth but apparently, she makes use of other names to write so that means we can look forward to other books from this wonderful author.

Sensuality Meter: Low
Rating: 10/10