After spending weeks in planning and then finally traveling in disguise across London in the winter of 1814 unaccompanied, a major scandal if that tidbit ever got out, Lady Caroline Foster thought she had everything well planned out. Yet, when the butler inquired as to her name at the door, she was flummoxed. Finally, when she gets to see Ian Clayton again, she just knows she can't slide back into her old role of dutiful daughter. So, despite the past that had both jointed and divided them, Caro plucks up her courage and tells him of her fate and her plan.

Jack Clayton, the half-brother of Caro's ex-fiancé, John Clayton, Viscount Wakefield, is torn. Why had Caro come to him now? He had pushed that part of life away and didn't wanted to be pulled by in by Caro's fantasy, yet, the passion they had once shared together rose too easily from his loins and he longed to be with her.

Caught between supporting the rigid dictates of their society and the gruesomeness of Caro's fate, Caro and Ian push and pull at each other as they dance to a date with fate and an uncertain future without each other. Then suddenly, their private dance gets pulled into a vortex of horror as Caro's mother madly determines that nothing would derail her own personal vindictive plans. Will the ties that attached the fated pair be strong enough to withstand this whirlwind of hatred?

With her excellent research and framing of the story, Cheryl Holt sets you immediately into a powerful dilemma faced by members of the London Ton in 1814 where one's personal will faces the Goliath like will of society to have its members conform to pre-designated duties and class fates or be expelled from its graces. As she weaves the threads of her story together, the author gives a very human face to all her characters and the dilemmas they face in this regard. This really made the story for me and kept me reading on late into the night. Given the unusual dares and desires being expressed, however, loyal fans of erotic romance may be a wee disappointed by the almost predictable nature of the scenes of passion as the lusty Ian Clayton re-sorts his love triangles. So, while the road to this romance may be rocky, there are lots of witty gems and good moments at play that will make this an entertaining read.

Book Summary

From girlhood, Lady Caroline Foster knew what her future held: marriage to an esteemed viscount, followed by a dignified high-society life. A sedate existence perhaps, but certainly preferable to her current state—jilted, humiliated, and then hastily bartered off to a man old enough to be her grandfather. Dreading the marriage, Caroline seeks advice from her ex-fiancé’s illegitimate brother, whose potent sexuality has always intrigued her… Ian Clayton can scarcely believe that the woman he’s coveted from afar is boldly seeking sexual instruction. A true gentleman would turn her away, but the yearning he feels for Caroline surpasses anything he’s ever known. Soon their encounters become more heated, more daring…and more dangerous. For someone will stop at nothing to end their illicit affair—and destroy a fantasy that is coming blissfully, brazenly to life...