Andrew Macalister, oft regarded as the Stone Duke of Bradstone, hates his annual birthday ball tradition. He dislikes facing those around him who only see him for his title, and has given up on a chance to live a normal life. That is, until he spots Lady Clara Masson across the ballroom. Clara's twin sister is the woman who infamously jilted Andrew at the altar five years ago, but little does Clara know, Andrew had been smitten with her since childhood, and he finds her presence a ray of sunshine in a dreary dukedom.
When Clara's life is threatened by her evil brother, Johnathan, Andrew must do the only thing he can think of to save her: propose marriage. Between Clara's trust issues and Andrew's battle with societal norms, two find romance under dangerous circumstances. AMAZON 4 STARS
Both of the main characters were interesting and well drawn. I liked both of them, and got caught up in history of their lives pretty easily. They grew up together and Clara had a major crush on him for many years. But so many things got in the way. And her twin sister is only one of those things. Her brother Jonathan hates her with a passion and is incredibly violent. And that violence has been escalating. Clara's other brother Patrick might try to help her but he's too far away. That's when Andrew finds out about it and steps in and literally saves her life. Because her brother does want her dead. Some of the reasons are quite the surprise. And he does make for an evil but clever adversary.
Clara at times has a hard time relating to the new Andrew, who had to become the "Stone Duke" just to survive those wanting to use him. But she remembers the real Andrew and that's the one she longs to see more of. That's the man she trusts.
Andrew had to take on the responsibility of family and title at a very young age. He also had quite a few siblings and did the best he could. His family added an interesting quality to the story. He wanted Clara but there were so many misunderstanding between them.
At the end of most of the chapters there was a "Gentle Reader" addition. It's what a gossip rag was saying at the moment; it was full of speculation and rumors.
There were a few times when it felt like it dragged a bit but over all I liked it. There was at least one time when I thought they were a bit careless with her protection towards the end. But they made up for it and had many people like an "invisible group" looking out for her and looking for her. That makes for some more secondary characters but it didn't feel overwhelming to me.
Several surprises are waiting for the reader as we get close to the end.
The H.E.A. isn't the surprise but how they got there is. Because there will be a lot of danger as well as romance.
I received a copy of this book via Netgalley and this is my honest opinion of it.
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