Miranda Hodgkins is an orphan, living with her aunt and uncle in a small village. She grew up alongside the Carlisle boys, knowing them even before their family was elevated to an earldom and eventually a dukedom. For the past 15 years, she has loved the middle brother, Robert. But lately, he's been paying particular attention to another girl, Miranda is invisible to him. So she's come up with a plan to get him to notice her; sneak into his bed and seduce him. It's all going well until she moans his name... and discovers that the man she's in bed with is his brother Sebastian, the Duke.Sebastian is astonished that the seductive masked woman who introduced herself as Rose is actually his brother's childhood friend. He's even more astonished when he finds himself agreeing to bring her to London with the family so that she can have a Season. And making a deal with her that, if he can help her land Robert, she will help him find a wife. Of course, fate has different plans in store for them.
There is always a lot of world building in the first of a series and that can take away from some of the story. I also didn't love either the ending of this book nor Sebastian's interminable brooding (dear God, there was so much brooding) but am very excited to read Quint's book when it comes out.
Three stars
This book comes out February 28
