King of Hearts by Eileen Putman
Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: League of Rogues, #1

Release Date: September 28, 2017

After a drunken bet goes horribly wrong, Gabriel Sinclair finds himself with a noose around his neck and in his last moments contemplates his life and wishes for a second chance. His second chance comes in the form of Louisa Peabody…

Louisa Peabody is a woman who has been grossly wronged by the men in her life and has made it her mission to save other women from the injustices heaped on them by men. Scarred inside by the events leading up to and her incredibly brief marriage, Louisa believes that love is not for her and turns all her passion into helping other women. When her latest rescue mission goes wrong and she ends up with Gabriel instead of the woman she planned to save from the gallows, Louisa reluctantly takes Gabriel back to her home and nurses him back to health.

Once Gabriel recovers and is ready to leave, Louisa makes him an offer, help her break the woman she originally meant to save out of prison and she will pay him a small fortune for his help. Tempted by the money and the lovely repressed woman making the offer, Gabriel agrees to her mad scheme.

Gabriel and Louisa are wonderful leads that have both had more than their fair share of pain and heartache. Gabriel finds himself drawn to Louisa and fights his reaction to her – he will leave and forget he ever met her – he really will! And Louisa needs no man in her life, she will be happy to see the last of Gabriel – she really will! Ah, the lies we tell ourselves 🙂

This is a truly lovely story of second chances and the healing power of love. I thought it was really well written and paced well. The dialogue is both amusing and heartfelt. The secondary characters aka “The Flowers” are a wonderful addition to the story and add several additional storylines to this book without pulling the focus from Louisa and Gabriel. The love scenes are warm and well placed, there are some tender moments, some tense moments and moments of joy. Happily, the villains get their comeuppance and everyone gets a HEA.

I really enjoyed this book and would be happy to recommend it.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*