BOOK REVIEW- NICHOLAS: Lord of Secrets by Grace Burrowes

Nicholas Haddonfield has something to hide...

After a wild youth, Nicholas Haddonfield, Viscount Reston, has promised his ailing father he'll finally take a bride, though doing so will force Nick to make impossible choices and face old, painful wounds.

Leah Lindsey is glad to find refuge from her own desperate situation in a marriage of convenience with the gallant viscount. But soon convenience is not enough, and Leah can't understand why Nick remains so distant. What is he hiding, and will he never all ested and fears overcome. Once you enter the lush Regency world of award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes, you'll never want to leave.  AMAZON  3 STARS

I was kind of disappointed with this book and it had so much potential to it.   It was so slow it made me want to scream.  I wasn't even sure that I was even going to finish it.  Nicholas and Leah were both good main characters.  Both had a lot of depth to them and had met in an interesting, secretive kind of way.  But, even though the story was developing and I know the foundation had to be built by Chapter 10 I wondered if anything at all was going to happen.  A lot of trouble and angst was there too, on both sides.  Although Leah seemed more direct about most things while Nicholas did have a lot secrets.  He was also misinformed about some things, and that made him his own worst enemy.  I did like how kind, tender and charming that the very LARGE Nicholas was.  He was very protective of those he cared about.

Leah was absolutely HATED by her father and he actually was kind of delighted if he could put her in harms way.  He was evil selfish and greedy.  Also vindictive, because when her two brothers lovingly tried to protect her, he punished them.  They were adult men but held the purse strings and for the most part all of the power.  

There does end up being several unexpected surprises that I didn't see coming and I did enjoy as they unfolded.  Still the pace of the book didn't speed up much until towards the end of the book.  Where there is a H.E.A. and some justice is served.