its like chunks of time and plot are missing from this book? please give us some sexual tension. Don't just go from 0 to 60 in three paragraphs. ( )

Set in 1890 England, this time period offers a look at the life of a minor royal princess at this time. The Duke of Olympia makes yet another appearance, this time meddling in the lives of his nieces. Great romance, good suspense, loose ends all over the place setting the stage for a sequel or two. What's so special about Juliana Gray is her ability to make her romances fresh, full of plot twists and unique characters. I did not anticipate the ending, as I so often do in romances. ( )

If you look at my "read" shelf, you know I love a good story about a woman disguised as a man. I also love a good case of mistaken identity. This book has BOTH. Emilie disguises herself as a (male) tutor in the household of the Duke of Ashland in howling wilds of Yorkshire. While she meets with someone from her past while dressed as herself (female), she is ALSO mistaken as Ashland's every-other-Tuesday lady of the night. DOUBLE TROUBLE, YES.

Ashland was seriously disfigured in battle, with scars covering most of his face and missing his right hand. There is no fairy-tale transformation where suddenly his scars are gone making him handsome again, or giving him his hand back (or even a replacement hand). Instead Emilie is able to see his scars and missing hand as a part of him, and love him (and by extension them) just as he is. I do so love a story where the person is loved for their entire self, without some transformation or being required to change into someone or something else to suddenly be worthy of love. Instead all it takes is the right person so really see you in your entirety, and love you precisely as you are. Now *that's* a love story.

This is the first in a series, and from the ending of this book it sounds like books #2 and #3 likely run concurrently with the events in this book (centered around Emilie's sisters, who are also in hiding disguised as men - um, YES PLEASE.) At one point she meets up with her sister who is also in hiding as a man, and it's clear there's a major story going on with her sister - I'm going to go ahead and assume that's book 2 (which you'd better believe I've got requested at my local library right now!) ( )

While I loved Emilie and Ashland together, I have to say that Freddie was my favorite character in this book. He cracked me up! There needs to be a book about him sometime soon. I thought it was neat that this took place a little before Juliana's first trilogy, also involving the all-seeing, always-planning Duke of Olympia. There was only one thing that seemed off to me, and that was this: Whatever Dingleby was trying to get Emilie to drink whatever it was before the engagement ball was never really explained. Was she trying to cause her to lose the baby, or was it just something to drink. I thought that should have been addressed, and if it was, it wasn't clearly done. I enjoyed meeting the three sisters, and I can't wait to read about Stephanie and Luisa. ( )