James Vickers once believed honor and family duty to be
his life's work. Now he knows better--and he's appointed himself as silent
witness to his father's sins. His greatest goal is to act as the continuously
pricking thorn in his lordship's side--and scandal is his greatest weapon. He
has no use for an innocent young miss.
Propriety is Miss Adelaide Stockton's most important
asset. She must be all that is prim and proper if she's to live down her
parent's misdeeds and have any hope of catching a husband. She must avoid
scoundrels like Vickers at all costs.
Yet fate has thrown them together--and given each a key
to the other's ambition. A bargain is struck...but together they find that
gaining what one desires most is far more difficult than a waltz in the park.
Very good story. I liked this one much better than
An Unexpected Encounter. The characters were more interesting and the story more
complex. Addy is a young woman whose life has been upended by the death of her
mother. Her father leaves her and her baby sister with relatives and goes off
on a journey alone. Addy's great-aunt believes the best thing to do is marry Addy
off as soon as possible, while Addy isn't so sure. She tries to be everything
her aunt requires while wanting to be true to herself. It isn't an easy process,
especially after she catches sight of James Vickers across a crowded ballroom.
James cultivated a scandalous reputation intentionally.
Once proud of his family name, everything changed after he learned something
horrifying about his father. Now he uses scandal to remind his father of what
he knows. James appeared in the previous book,
An Unexpected Encounter, as the
friend who let Lisbeth down and rejected his guardianship of Aurelia. A
conversation with his friend Hestia at the end of that book turned his efforts
in a slightly different direction, still against his father but with a changed
intent. While his scandalous reputation remains, his pursuit of it diminished,
and a more honorable man begins to emerge.
I liked the first meeting between Addy and James. He is
determined to speak with Addy's chaperone, her cousin Rosemond, who was one of
his father's mistresses. Rosemond put those wild days behind her to help with
Addy's season and wants nothing to do with him. Addy promises James that she
will help him with Rosemond if he introduces her to Hestia. James hesitates
because he can't see how an innocent can help him but decides to give her a
chance. The attraction that flares between them complicates matters.
I loved the complex and complicated steps that James and
Addy had to take to carry out their plans. Addy has quite the inventive mind,
while James has plenty of experience in sneaking around. As their search for
the proof James needs against his father throws them together frequently, James
and Addy learn more about each other. The more they know, the greater the
feelings that develop between them, but the obstacles in front of them grow
too. The tension mounted as they came closer to finding what was needed. I
ached for them both when using that information could destroy Addy's family.
Both James and Addy had decisions to make after harsh words flew between them. James
received some excellent advice and used it effectively to solve part of his
problem. Meanwhile, Addy faced her role in their argument and realized she had
a choice to make. I loved her big moment as she showed James how important he
was to her. The epilogue was a terrific wrap-up to the story.
*part of Encounters with a Rogue
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