Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Sinclair Brothers, #2
Release Date: October 8, 2024
After years on the marriage mart, Miss Eliza Weston has set herself on the shelf and is ready to live an independent life. She had her brother invest her dowry, moved into the Putney Hotel and makes a good living writing novels under the pen name E.B. Westin. She is happy and successful, her only regret is a kiss with a grumpy earl that got her banned from Wyndhill Park, a place she is sure is the hiding place of a thieves’ cache of stolen goods, which happens to include a mummy. There is also the pesky problem of a secret stalker, who has figured out who she is and where she lives. But as luck would have it, she is invited to the wedding of her dearest friend Olivia, who is marrying Xavier Sinclair at his family home – Wyndhill Park. There is no way Lucian Sinclair, the Earl of Garretson can forbid her attending. And once she is there, she plans to stay by renting a cottage that is conveniently right next to Wyndhill Park. She is sure she will be able to sneak onto the estate and search for the stolen goods, especially since Lucian’s brother Micah has supplied her with a map of potential hiding places. But things do not go as planned and Eliza’s stalker has once again found her. Forcing her to accept the protection of Lord Garretson, the grumpy earl with whom she shared a kiss that she had never forgotten and for whom she fears she has lost her heart.
Lucian Sinclair, the Earl of Garretson is a very sensible and controlled man, the complete opposite of the lovely and vivacious Eliza Weston, the one woman who irritates him more than any other and the one he can’t seem to forget. Banning her from the estate ten years ago after she kissed him, a kiss that might have ended in a forced marriage if anyone had seen it, seemed like a good decision and since he rarely went to London, he should have been able to forget about her and move on. He didn’t. She has haunted his dreams and tainted his perception of women; none measure up to her. He is upset when he learns that she will be living nearby, but when he learns of her stalker, nothing will stop him from protecting her – not even her own stubborn independence. And maybe having her close will finally end his inconvenient infatuation. It doesn’t.
As usual, Jane Charles delivers a wonderful, well-written story with likable characters. This book has a lot going on, but even with a plethora of plot lines, it is still a romance and thankfully that doesn’t get lost in the details. I did feel like this book dragged a bit and there was some repetitive, overemphasizing about Lucien’s feelings for her and Eliza at times made decisions that had me questioning her intelligence. But overall, I enjoyed this book, it was a fun story with great characters, stolen treasure, a creepy stalker, a grumpy earl, steamyish love scenes, intrigue and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. This is the second book in the Sinclair Brothers Series (and has ties to Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies) but it could easily be read as a standalone title.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *
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