Rating: A ... Heat: Hot

This was book was... fantastic. And so different from the usual HR. So different.

For starters, the hero has six illegitimate children. And he is no longer content to let them be raised in orphanages or suffer on the streets. So Leopold, the Duke of Villiers, is finding his children, one by one, and bringing them home with him. To be raised properly and eventually introduced into society... Which is why he needs a wife. And not just any wife will do; he needs one who 1) is willing to raise his by-blows, and 2) has the clout and standing to make others accept them.

Which means that only a Duke's daughter will do, and there aren't many of those available for marriage. In fact, there are only two.

One of which is our heroine, Eleanor, who stated publicly during her debut season that she would only marry a Duke... Though not because she has a thing for status. It was a defense mechanism, limiting her number of suitors by nearly 100%. Eleanor is brash and sarcastic and says what she means, much to the distress of her mother and most men. And though her clothes say that she is dowdy and puritanical, the truth is that Eleanor - at 22 - hasn't been a virgin for six years.

Both Leopold and Eleanor have their issues. Leopold doesn't know love, of any sort, and so he is blind to it. And Eleanor fears the passion inside of her, fears what it says about her.

The passion between Leo and Eleanor developed sweetly and then scorched the pages when it finally ignited. Very romantic, indeed.

But their journey is very bumpy and mired with all sorts of obstacles. Not least of which is Lisette. I'm not sure exactly what her major malfunction is... but she is crazy as a coo-coo. And has the attention span of a gnat. She starts out appearing completely innocent and harmless - but sometimes such innocence in all things is harmful... Or should it be considered obliviousness?

I truly loved this book. I loved Leo and Eleanor's individual journeys as well as their combined one. And the children, Tobias in particular, were adorable... And the Epilogue might be one of my all-time favorites. It was a very sweet conclusion.

-- A Romantic Book Affairs Review

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