The Lieutenant and the Lady by Collette Cameron
Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Culpepper Misses, #5

Release Date: March 26, 2019

Blaire Culpepper’s worst nightmare has come true, the man she loves, who she thought returned her feelings is courting another woman.

Lieutenant Julian Drake loves Blaire Culpepper, but he felt he had nothing to offer her, when his brother passed away and Julian inherited the estate, he thought he would finally be able to declare himself and ask for her hand. But when Daphne, his brother’s betrothed tells him she is pregnant with his brother’s child, Julian feels honor bound to marry her and give his brother’s child the name and inheritance that should have been theirs. He sees Blaire and tries to talk to her, but Daphne and her mother intrude and are rude to Blaire. Later he seeks her out and tries to explain, he tells her that he has not actually proposed to Daphne, but he most likely will. Blaire wishes him well and decides that she will go to the family estate to lick her wounds.

But it appears fate is not ready to let the would be lovers walk away just yet, on the way to the country, Blaire comes across an accident and stops to offer aid. The carriage passengers turn out to be Julian, Daphne and her mother. Julian is unconscious and in need of immediate attention, so Blaire takes them to the nearest inn and when the doctor arrives, she agrees to stay and nurse Julian. She learns from Daphne that they were on their way to his county house to marry – a blow that Blaire was not expecting.

Julian wakes and has no memory, the doctor assures him that it is not uncommon for someone with a head injury to suffer memory loss and is sure that it will return. He remembers nothing, so when Daphne tells him they were going to marry, he tells her they will have to wait until his memory returns. Blaire nurses him and the more time he spends with her, the more he wonders why he would ever consider marrying Daphne.

Little by little, his memory returns and he is sure that Blaire is the woman he should marry, but before they can even consider a HEA, there will be several obstacles for them to overcome as well as some shocking revelations and some unexpected twists and turns.

I think this might be my favorite story in the series, it is well written, flows nicely, has a lot of twists and turns, secrets, lies, deception, heartache and some sweet kisses (no steam). The ending was wonderful and even though this is the fifth book in the series, it can easily be read as a stand alone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me.*