Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: The Chessmen: Masters of Seduction #2
Publication Date: 6/27/23
Period: Victorian London – 1875 (mostly)
Number of Pages: 384
This author always manages to take a character I was prepared to totally dislike and makes them, not only tolerable but very likable. From what I’d seen in some discussions, I was thoroughly convinced there was no way she could make me even tolerate Lord Knightly. I was, of course, wrong. I came to not only tolerate him but love him and I hope you will as well. I guess it goes to prove that we should never judge someone – especially if we don’t know the whole story. He was a young man forced into a choice that no one should ever have to make. Did he make the right choice? I’m sure you’ll decide for yourself after you read the book, but for me, I think perhaps he did. He just handled it very, very, very badly.
Five years ago the Earl of Knightly met Miss Regina Leyland at her come-out ball. He never intended to be there in the first place, but once he saw her, he was smitten. Regina was the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Bremsford, but she was acknowledged and loved by her father – who also loved her mother. Regina’s father was oblivious to the reality of her life situation and he thought that just because he loved her and accepted her that all of society would as well. This ball was to find her a husband and she knew all of the eligible males who were there were only there because of the large dowry she had. Then, she was introduced to a man who seemed to care nothing about her dowry or her illegitimacy. How could she not fall in love with him? Theirs was an epic love story – until the day of the wedding when he arrived at the church and announced they would not marry.
Regina has had five years to stew about the way Knight had left her life in shambles. She is the one who paid the price for his betrayal. She lived abroad for a while – and when she came back, she was ready for revenge. Only, that revenge backfired, and – once again – Knight comes out the winner and she is in jeopardy.
Knight does his best to come to her rescue – and to keep his distance. Can Knight save Regina and still walk away again? Can Regina learn to even tolerate Knight after what he did to her? I absolutely loved the way Regina held on to her anger – because she had every right to that anger – she wasn’t bitter, but she was very distrustful of Knight. She questioned his every motive – even those that seemed to bring only good to her and bad to him. Can Regina ever get past the anger and hurt? Can she find love again with someone else? You’ll just have to read the book to see.
I can highly recommend this book. In it, you have an epic love story, a gut-wrenching betrayal, a villain, and an epilogue that will make your heart swell to the point of bursting. The writing is excellent, the pacing is near perfect, and the characters are deep and interesting. It is definitely a great read.
The Chessmen are four steadfast friends who have stood by each other since they met at school. One of the things they do is make pots of money as they are very good at investing. We first met them in the second book (The Duchess Hunt) of the Once Upon A Duke series where King finds his HEA. Bishop finds his HEA in the first book of this series – The Counterfeit Scoundrel. So, after this book, the last man standing will be Rook and I can only imagine it will be quite entertaining because in this book Rook tells Knight that love will never have its way with him. HA!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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