The Lady’s Deception by Susanna Craig
Rogues & Rebels #3

When Paige Burke overhears her half-brother’s plot to marry her off to someone she is not interested in she flees with the plan of finding a lawyer to find out what her rights are. Stumbling across barrister Paris Burke when she finally reaches town she realizes that he has misunderstood her purpose, thought she was there to be the new governess and headed home with him to do her best with his two younger sisters. She is still hopeful she can find a way to elude her brother and the man he has in mind for her but in the meantime hunkers down and fits in as she can in Burke’s home. This story has precocious young girls, a kitten in need, a barrister trying to make amends, a dastardly brother, smugglers, a “ghost”, a look into the lives of those in the previous books of the series, a bit of history and a lovely romance. This story with a HEA for Paris and Rosamund was an enjoyable way for me to escape to a different time and place instead of dealing with the not so wonderful news and weather outside.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington – Lyrical Press for the ARC – this is my honest review.

4-5 Stars ( )

An unusual meeting is just the first step!

First impressions of Paris Burke? He's harassed to the point of being obtuse. He's late for an appointment. Not good for a supposedly on-the-ball solicitor. So focused is he on problems of the home front that when a young woman approaches him at King’s Inns Quay he assumes, because she's looking for a lawyer, she's the governess he's been sent to organize his sisters' time.
Mind you, the fact that Miss Gorse fainted when they reached his home should have been something of an alarm bell. And what governess would approach a perspective employer on a dockside?
Paris is a member of the radical organization, Society of United Irishmen. The recent rebellion had left a trail of heartache for him. This has been part of his distraction.
So for Paris, "His absolute and only concern was whether Miss Gorse was a suitable governess for his sisters."
Rosamund Gorse has fled a haunted castle and the demands of a man her half brother has demanded she wed. She's searching for a lawyer to make some sense of her brother's guardianship and what that entails. Thus the speaking at cross purposes when she and Paris first meet. Fainting wasn't high on Rosamund's list of how to make an impression or garner assistance either. But she's desperate and needs to hide whilst figuring out her next move.
I quite liked the intrepid Miss Gorse even if she does seem to skirt around convention. Needs must, and let's face it, attraction between the two main characters becomes rather unavoidable.
I enjoyed Paris' young sisters Daphne and Bellis and delighted in all the adventures where the kitten Eileen is front and center.
Paris Burke Is wryly clever, with a well developed sense of humor when he allows it to show, but he's also a lost man seeking absolution.
Is he Dublin's most charismatic bachelor? That he was a skilled lawyer particularly in the courtroom seems evident. Does the equate to being labeled a 'charismatic bachelor?' Not as far as I could see.
His and Rosamund's romancing advances at a racy pace, on par with everything else that's going on.
Heaps of action and subplots makes this story a breezy, pleasant read.

A Kensington ARC via NetGalley ( )