Ruined debutante Prudence Thorogood lost everything when she was ousted from polite society, including her inheritance. Now she’ll do anything to take back what’s hers… even if she has to steal it. Accepting a scandalous offer from Lord Savage seems like the perfect solution to disguise her criminal intentions from the ton. Until she discovers that there’s more to this scoundrel than meets the eye.
Prue has every intention of disappearing from London after their affair ends. But her plan falters when she finds herself falling hopelessly in love with a man who may never love her in return. With time running out and so much at stake, she cannot help but wonder…
Ever since Prudence Thorogood's mother died when she was a young girl, her father and step-mother have basically ignored her or criticized her relentlessly! She was forced to watch her father become distant to her but be a family with his new wife and children. Then to steal a kiss in a garden and be sent away and disowned, she was sure she was inadequate in every way. But to make matters worse, the scoundrel from the garden pursued her, savagely took her virginity and then fled. She was left thinking she was not passionate, not desirable and that intimacies were painful and left bruises!
Leo Ramsgate, Lord Savage is a renowned rake, with a rotating door of mistresses. He keeps them for four months and contracts are drawn up for each relationship. He was abandoned by his mother as a young boy and left to be raised by his father. His father was a devilish man who took what he wanted and left chaos and pain in his wake. He was also badly betrayed by his fiancé and his best friend, so he is quite jaded and holds everyone at arms length.
When Leo stumbles upon Prudence trudging through the rain along a country road, he is intrigued by her and actually offers for her to become his mistress. She doesn't take him up on the offer, but they have a memorable carriage ride to London and can't stop thinking of each other after they part ways. As luck would have it, or lack there of, Prue is forced to seek out Leo and see if his offer still stands. They negotiate a contract and begin an arrangement of sorts with nerves, jealousy and romantic emotions coming to the surface!
I loved Prue's determination and resilience; even with the poor self image that was drilled into her by everyone, she still set a course for her future and pursued it! Her naivety was a little irritating at times, but I suppose that contributed to the developing relationship with Leo. Speaking of Leo, he was the sweetest! He was so patient with her and found himself really caring about her and not upset when she didn’t behave like a typical mistress should. Overall, this was another great book for the series…I was excited to finally get Prudence’s story!
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