โ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ฑ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฑ, ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ, ๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐จ๐ฆ.โ
I have been breathlessly recommending Scarlett Peckhamโs writing from the moment I first discovered her magnificent prose in The Duke I Tempted, and Iโve been eagerly awaiting her second novel ever since. A mix of tropes that are essentially my catnipโa marriage of convenience between two people who appear to hate one another, with an unrequited love twist thrown in to up the angstโthis Regency-era romance continues the Secrets of Charlotte Street series with a story that is so much more than the sum of its tropes. Brimming with emotion, passion, and plenty of pining, Scarlett Peckhamโs latest offering is a touching portrayal of two people finding out what they mean to themselves and to each other by pretending to be something they are not. Itโs by far one of my favourite reads of the year.
โ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ. ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ.โ
As one of the most rebellious young women in all of London, Lady Constance Stonewell is known to be a spirited hellion who never conforms to societyโs expectations, and whose favourite pastime is collecting gossip. But when the very man sheโs been secretly yearning for since she was a teenager ends up caught in a scandal of her own making, Constance rushes to fix the situation the only way she knows howโby proposing marriage.
๐๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ข๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ด?
Constanceโs actions, however, not only threaten to destroy the character of a man who has spent the past eight years trying to become the kind of man who has more to offer to a woman than a crumbling earldom, but they also end up killing any hopes heโs ever had of finally proposing to the woman he has loved for just as long. Because Julian Haywood, the Earl of Apthorp, has only ever pined for one woman and one woman aloneโ Lady Constance Stonewellโa woman whose irrepressible wit and free spirit had always made her infinitely endearing to him, but who he now only sees as cruel and reckless. So when he agrees to her plan, he does so planning to stop loving her, too.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ.โ
As Constance begins to weave a complicated maze of lies and manipulations to restore her fake betrothedโs social standing, a decade-long worth of misunderstandings and heartbreak slowly begins to rise to the surface, affecting their every interaction and reshaping the way they see themselves in the otherโs eyes. Julian discovers that all the years he spent hiding his true feelings behind a stiff, faultless faรงade of a true gentleman have only served to hurt his beloved and make her feel rejected and inadequate, while Constance learns that loving someone means never being reckless with their heart.
๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆโ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ด, ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด.
I adore stories in which the characters battle their own flaws even as they work to overcome adversity, and Scarlett Peckham does a marvellous job at humanizing her characters by unapologetically displaying their shortcomings alongside their qualities. Constance and Julian both hide their true selves from everyone around them, pretending to be stronger, more confident, more emotionally resilient than they truly are, all the while being frequently struck by moments of oppressive solitude of the soul where they feel inept and self-conscious. Loving one another gives them the sense of belonging theyโve both been aching to find in life, as well as the freedom to be completely themselves with the one they love. At last.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ.
With a voice that is agile and commanding, Scarlett Peckham weaves a rich, lyrical and utterly absorbing tale of unrequited love and the perils of misconstrued intentions. I found myself lingering over her beautiful sentences, reading them time and time again, desperate to absorb every nuance of a prose that is as masterly as it is absolutely stunning. I dare anyone to read this book and not fall in love with this authorโs words in a matter of minutes.
โ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ?โ
โ๐ ๐ฆ๐ด?โ
โ๐๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.โ
Customer reviews
Review this product
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Natasha T.
Rich, lyrical and utterly absorbing!
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2018Verified Purchase
Elizabeth C.
Missed the Mark
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2019Verified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
Frances Bard
Wonderful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 11, 2018Verified Purchase
Daisy
Blissful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 11, 2018Verified Purchase
Becky @ A Fool's Ingenuity
A Steamy Romance With Interesting Characters
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2018Verified Purchase
DD
Good
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 1, 2019Verified Purchase
LadyLionheart
Very entertaining
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 23, 2020Verified Purchase