Desperate times call for desperate measures!
The Forgotten Duke (Diamonds In The Rough #5)
by Sophie Barnes
The trope is familiar. A powerful man having come from nothing is now a force to be reckoned with in the infamous St Giles.
Carlton Guthrie holds many secrets and he's sworn to take his revenge for a dardastardly deed that destroyed his childhood.
Lady Regina Berkly, the daughter of the Earl of Hedgewick, flees from an unwanted marriage foisted on her by her usually doting father. Of course there's something havey cavey about the whole affair. Her future bridegroom is the Marquess of Stokes. He is fourteen and suffers from a continuing illness. I liked this young person whose life has been one of constant pain, who's just as much a pawn of his father's desperation for the family line to continue, as Regina is of her father's scheming. I was touched by Stoke's forthright words to Regina, "as I deteriorate with time, you will regret being my wife, just as much as I will regret ruining your life.” The wedding is to be quickly done, within a couple of days.
Early on the day of her wedding, backed into a corner Regina bolts. Garbed in her bridal dress and bonnet, she runs away from Mayfair into unknown parts--St Giles. Where she literally stumbles into Guthrie, The Scoundrel of St. Giles. Guthrie seizes the chance to avenge himself against Hedgewick, 'the man who’d haunted [Carlton's] nightmares for two long decades, offering Regina sanctuary. The story flows from here as Regina and Carlton struggle with different purposes that in the end meld into one.
Flawlessly executed and a scintillating read! Loved the cover BTW!
An ARC from the author via NetGalley
*****
by Sophie Barnes
Carlton Guthrie holds many secrets and he's sworn to take his revenge for a dardastardly deed that destroyed his childhood.
Lady Regina Berkly, the daughter of the Earl of Hedgewick, flees from an unwanted marriage foisted on her by her usually doting father. Of course there's something havey cavey about the whole affair. Her future bridegroom is the Marquess of Stokes. He is fourteen and suffers from a continuing illness. I liked this young person whose life has been one of constant pain, who's just as much a pawn of his father's desperation for the family line to continue, as Regina is of her father's scheming. I was touched by Stoke's forthright words to Regina, "as I deteriorate with time, you will regret being my wife, just as much as I will regret ruining your life.” The wedding is to be quickly done, within a couple of days.
Early on the day of her wedding, backed into a corner Regina bolts. Garbed in her bridal dress and bonnet, she runs away from Mayfair into unknown parts--St Giles. Where she literally stumbles into Guthrie, The Scoundrel of St. Giles. Guthrie seizes the chance to avenge himself against Hedgewick, 'the man who’d haunted [Carlton's] nightmares for two long decades, offering Regina sanctuary. The story flows from here as Regina and Carlton struggle with different purposes that in the end meld into one.
Flawlessly executed and a scintillating read! Loved the cover BTW!
An ARC from the author via NetGalley
*****
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