Humiliation, revenge, justice, threats, insights, pride and love- what a story.
Grayson Montgomery, Earl of Huntingdon, is also an art critic and a forger fools him...fast forward 5 years. He wants revenge and justice for his tarnished reputation. He discovers the forger's daughter is still in London and running a shop. Grayson blackmails Eliza Somerton into helping him find a stolen Rembrandt and he secretly hopes she will lead him to her father. She does not know where her father is; he left her and her two sisters without funds or protection, only Eliza’s wits to see them through.
This was a wonderful story. The art world has always been of interest to me and it was portrayed beautifully. The way the seedier side of this world was woven into a love story was vivid, you could almost feel the sleaziness of a couple of the characters. Going to the Royal Academy for Eliza would be equal to me going to the Louvre, the only difference is I can go alone, she had to be invited to attend with a man. Her visit and the feelings she had while there were palpable.
In Grayson’s quest for revenge has clouded his mind and it is fascinating watching him come to see Eliza for who she is independent of her father. As he starts to realize that there is more to her, he starts to question himself and what he ultimately wants in his life. His nicely ordered life gets turned upside down leaving him on a bit of a tilt.
Eliza has spent the last five years trying to keep a roof over her sister’s heads and food on the table. She has made a place for them in a small shop selling art and prints to well off merchants that do not have money to throw away, like many of the ton, but still appreciate good art. While she wonders what has happened to their father, she is more concerned with enabling her sisters to make good decent matches.
Once Grayson and Eliza start to work together and sparks are flying they are a delightful couple to watch. Their conversations are heated, humorous and steamy. They each of preconceived ideas about the other and their lives only to be surprised when they start to see the other’s world through different eyes. Because of her father, Eliza has some pretty big trust issues when it comes to men making it hard to see Grayson’s attempts at being altruistic as being genuine. For Grayson, her independence and non-fawning nature are foreign to him.
The secondary characters are brilliant. Eliza’s and Grayson’s sisters, Amelia, Chloe and Sara, each deserve their own HEA. The depth they add to Eliza and Grayson as well as the story makes it that much more enjoyable. The bad guys are dark, ugly and they lend their own layer to the story. Ms. Gabrielle has skillfully created a world I was reluctant to leave at the end of the book. I can only hope that the sister’s stories are on the board of things to come. Thank you, Ms Gabrielle for an afternoon of pure enjoyment.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.