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The Wishing Well #4
Penelope and the Wicked Duke
A princess in disguise. A charming lord. A quest for true love.
Half-Indian, orphaned and abandoned...
...Penelope Reid is done waiting for love.
Masquerading as a boy, she ventures to London to search for the man she’s loved her entire life: her elusive guardian, who’s all but forgotten she even exists. But proving her mettle in the bewildering world of men turns out to be a challenge. Lost and out of her depths, she prowls the streets of London, until she crashes headlong into a charming dandy whose sleepy grey eyes are more perceptive than she thinks.
Lord Archibald Alworth takes Pen under his wing and derives great amusement from introducing her to the glittering life of the Regency bachelor. As Pen falls from one muddle into another, he is prepared to haul her out of gaming hells and duels. Becoming increasingly irked that she will neither trust nor confide in him, he questions his self-imposed role as guide and protector. For there is something about the spirited beauty that grabs him and won’t let go.
Pen’s world crashes when she discovers the shocking truth about her guardian. When a mysterious patron steps forward to sponsor her for a season on the condition that she transforms herself back to a lady, Pen finds herself in a pickle. For she’s not only lost herself and her heritage...
...she no longer knows the truth of her own heart.
Can the lady Penelope find the love that the lad Pen couldn’t?
This is a sweet and clean romance. It is the story about a girl’s fierce loyalty, her quest for identity and true love—that isn’t always where you think it is.
Penelope and the Wicked Duke is a standalone and book 4 of the Wishing Well Series, which can be read in any order.
Half-Indian, orphaned and abandoned...
...Penelope Reid is done waiting for love.
Masquerading as a boy, she ventures to London to search for the man she’s loved her entire life: her elusive guardian, who’s all but forgotten she even exists. But proving her mettle in the bewildering world of men turns out to be a challenge. Lost and out of her depths, she prowls the streets of London, until she crashes headlong into a charming dandy whose sleepy grey eyes are more perceptive than she thinks.
Lord Archibald Alworth takes Pen under his wing and derives great amusement from introducing her to the glittering life of the Regency bachelor. As Pen falls from one muddle into another, he is prepared to haul her out of gaming hells and duels. Becoming increasingly irked that she will neither trust nor confide in him, he questions his self-imposed role as guide and protector. For there is something about the spirited beauty that grabs him and won’t let go.
Pen’s world crashes when she discovers the shocking truth about her guardian. When a mysterious patron steps forward to sponsor her for a season on the condition that she transforms herself back to a lady, Pen finds herself in a pickle. For she’s not only lost herself and her heritage...
...she no longer knows the truth of her own heart.
Can the lady Penelope find the love that the lad Pen couldn’t?
This is a sweet and clean romance. It is the story about a girl’s fierce loyalty, her quest for identity and true love—that isn’t always where you think it is.
Penelope and the Wicked Duke is a standalone and book 4 of the Wishing Well Series, which can be read in any order.
212 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 18, 2021
335 people are currently reading
252 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
July 13, 2025
This one was fun.
July 25, 2022
A real curate’s egg of a book, that starts off brilliantly, sags into implausibility in the middle and then goes off the rails altogether at the end. There’s a charming and very enjoyable romance lurking tantalisingly just out of reach here, but despite the oddball stuff, there’s a lot to like about it.
Here’s the premise: Penelope Reid (or Pen) has been waiting for years for her guardian to arrive and reclaim her from Miss Hilversham’s Seminary for Young Ladies, where he dumped her some years ago and then vanished. Tired of waiting, she escapes into the night, dressed in men’s clothes, and makes her way to London to find him. He’s not at the address where she expected to find him, so she takes cheap lodgings nearby and sets out to dream up a plan B. By chance, she bumps into (very literally) a passing viscount, Lord Alworth, whose close encounter with Pen suggests to him that she’s only masquerading as a boy. He’s so intrigued, he sets out to follow her and find out what she’s up to. She gives him the brush-off, but then he meets her again trying to get into White’s, the famous gentlemen’s club, in the hope of tracking down her guardian. Still intrigued, he not only takes her inside, he arranges membership for her.
So far, so howlingly implausible, but then realism isn’t exactly what this series is about. The basic premise is that the four heroines all made a wish at a wishing well, and one of them made the wish that all four should marry dukes. Three of them have now done so, and Pen is the fourth. She was so uninterested in marrying a duke that she dived into the well to retrieve the coin. She’s been in love with her guardian, the elusive Marcus Smith, ever since he saved her life in India and brought her back to Britain. He’s the only one she wants to marry, and he’s not a duke. So there’s a magical/fairytale theme running through the whole series, which makes it hard to quibble over any lack of realism or astonishing turns of fortune. That’s just the framework the author has constructed.
This part of the book is terrific. Alworth is a lovely hero, the typical jaded man-about-town, a dandy and dilettante, whose interest is piqued by Pen and her story. He sets himself to help her find her guardian, and before too long he learns the truth - that the enigmatic Marcus Smith is actually the wicked Duke of Rochford. Pen isn’t deterred, so the hunt is on to track down the duke and confront him. The verbal sparring between Alworth and Pen is brilliant, and very funny. At one point I actually laughed till I cried.
Meanwhile, Pen is getting into trouble at every verse end, including insulting someone and being challenged to a duel (and rescued by Alworth), and then being challenged again (and rescued by an Indian friend). In fact, Pen gets into so much trouble, and refuses to confide in Alworth, or trust him, that frankly I wondered just why he stuck around. Pen deserved to be left to stew in her own stupidity.
This middle section is very strange, because Pen does eventually tell Alworth some of her story, and he does make it clear that he knows she’s female, but they go on pretending that she’s a bloke, and I wasn’t at all clear whether Pen had any grip on reality or was just so wrapped up in her own little world that nothing else mattered. Anyway, this is where I began to lose patience somewhat.
And then there were glimmerings of Alworth stepping in, not merely to help Pen along, but to address the tricky problem that he’s fallen in love with Pen, who is *still* pretending she’s a bloke. So when a mysterious sponsor sets Pen up with a chaperon and some posh frocks to do the season, I hoped that she was going to see the light and make the sensible decision. You know, the really, really tricky choice between the guardian who dumped her in school years ago and never went back, and is *still* ignoring her, or the nice, charming, handsome, rich, honourable man who’s been helping her every step of the way.
But, no. Everything comes to a head at a big society ball, and really, that should have been it, make your choice, happy ending ahoy, but I guess that wasn’t enough drama, because there’s a whole bunch more Pen stupidity before she finally sees the light. Argh!
I get what the author was trying to do here, and perhaps for some people Pen’s clinging desperately to the fiction of her caring guardian makes it easy to accept her difficulty in knowing what she wants, but for me it just didn’t work. Pen was not likeable enough for me to have much sympathy for her. She was just a destructive whirlwind, hurling herself into all sorts of situations without a thought, and dragging other people into her messes. And her guardian was just too horrible for words (even at the ball! What was he thinking??!!). So ultimately, although I loved Alworth and the early part of the book was sublimely funny and refreshingly different, in the end it veered too far from realism for my comfort. Three stars.
Here’s the premise: Penelope Reid (or Pen) has been waiting for years for her guardian to arrive and reclaim her from Miss Hilversham’s Seminary for Young Ladies, where he dumped her some years ago and then vanished. Tired of waiting, she escapes into the night, dressed in men’s clothes, and makes her way to London to find him. He’s not at the address where she expected to find him, so she takes cheap lodgings nearby and sets out to dream up a plan B. By chance, she bumps into (very literally) a passing viscount, Lord Alworth, whose close encounter with Pen suggests to him that she’s only masquerading as a boy. He’s so intrigued, he sets out to follow her and find out what she’s up to. She gives him the brush-off, but then he meets her again trying to get into White’s, the famous gentlemen’s club, in the hope of tracking down her guardian. Still intrigued, he not only takes her inside, he arranges membership for her.
So far, so howlingly implausible, but then realism isn’t exactly what this series is about. The basic premise is that the four heroines all made a wish at a wishing well, and one of them made the wish that all four should marry dukes. Three of them have now done so, and Pen is the fourth. She was so uninterested in marrying a duke that she dived into the well to retrieve the coin. She’s been in love with her guardian, the elusive Marcus Smith, ever since he saved her life in India and brought her back to Britain. He’s the only one she wants to marry, and he’s not a duke. So there’s a magical/fairytale theme running through the whole series, which makes it hard to quibble over any lack of realism or astonishing turns of fortune. That’s just the framework the author has constructed.
This part of the book is terrific. Alworth is a lovely hero, the typical jaded man-about-town, a dandy and dilettante, whose interest is piqued by Pen and her story. He sets himself to help her find her guardian, and before too long he learns the truth - that the enigmatic Marcus Smith is actually the wicked Duke of Rochford. Pen isn’t deterred, so the hunt is on to track down the duke and confront him. The verbal sparring between Alworth and Pen is brilliant, and very funny. At one point I actually laughed till I cried.
Meanwhile, Pen is getting into trouble at every verse end, including insulting someone and being challenged to a duel (and rescued by Alworth), and then being challenged again (and rescued by an Indian friend). In fact, Pen gets into so much trouble, and refuses to confide in Alworth, or trust him, that frankly I wondered just why he stuck around. Pen deserved to be left to stew in her own stupidity.
This middle section is very strange, because Pen does eventually tell Alworth some of her story, and he does make it clear that he knows she’s female, but they go on pretending that she’s a bloke, and I wasn’t at all clear whether Pen had any grip on reality or was just so wrapped up in her own little world that nothing else mattered. Anyway, this is where I began to lose patience somewhat.
And then there were glimmerings of Alworth stepping in, not merely to help Pen along, but to address the tricky problem that he’s fallen in love with Pen, who is *still* pretending she’s a bloke. So when a mysterious sponsor sets Pen up with a chaperon and some posh frocks to do the season, I hoped that she was going to see the light and make the sensible decision. You know, the really, really tricky choice between the guardian who dumped her in school years ago and never went back, and is *still* ignoring her, or the nice, charming, handsome, rich, honourable man who’s been helping her every step of the way.
But, no. Everything comes to a head at a big society ball, and really, that should have been it, make your choice, happy ending ahoy, but I guess that wasn’t enough drama, because there’s a whole bunch more Pen stupidity before she finally sees the light. Argh!
I get what the author was trying to do here, and perhaps for some people Pen’s clinging desperately to the fiction of her caring guardian makes it easy to accept her difficulty in knowing what she wants, but for me it just didn’t work. Pen was not likeable enough for me to have much sympathy for her. She was just a destructive whirlwind, hurling herself into all sorts of situations without a thought, and dragging other people into her messes. And her guardian was just too horrible for words (even at the ball! What was he thinking??!!). So ultimately, although I loved Alworth and the early part of the book was sublimely funny and refreshingly different, in the end it veered too far from realism for my comfort. Three stars.
March 13, 2024
Awwwwwwww I loved this one
April 22, 2024
This was the first book by this author (and I've read several by now) that didn't leave me in raptures. In fact, it felt barely adequate. First, the editing was lousy. Lots of grammatical mistakes - missed words, wrong words, misspellings - plagued this novel. Second, the protagonists of this historical romance spent the entire story confused. They didn't seem to realize it was their romantic tale. Or the author was confused. I'm not sure.
Instead of developing their relationship, the girl, Penelope, was chasing someone else, the titular wicked duke, until the very end, and the man, Lord Alworth, was helping her, for a lark, as far as I could tell. Love didn't seem to enter the equation at all.
Besides, there was a masquerade involved. For most of the story, Penelope gallivanted across London dressed as a boy, and Alworth went along with her cross-dressing. He even derived amusement from introducing her into his clubs, although he knew from the start that she was a woman.
An odd romance, to say the least. It reminded me a little of Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades. In it, the heroine also masqueraded as a boy, but Heyer handled the situation much better.
Instead of developing their relationship, the girl, Penelope, was chasing someone else, the titular wicked duke, until the very end, and the man, Lord Alworth, was helping her, for a lark, as far as I could tell. Love didn't seem to enter the equation at all.
Besides, there was a masquerade involved. For most of the story, Penelope gallivanted across London dressed as a boy, and Alworth went along with her cross-dressing. He even derived amusement from introducing her into his clubs, although he knew from the start that she was a woman.
An odd romance, to say the least. It reminded me a little of Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades. In it, the heroine also masqueraded as a boy, but Heyer handled the situation much better.
January 31, 2024
Forced myself to finish
I’ve truly enjoyed the first books in this series, but this one…Pen was so completely annoying and rude, and acted like a 12 year old most of the time.
Alworth was great! I really enjoyed his character. He had the patience of a saint with Pen. But Alworth was correct in having one of his nicknames for her as “brat”.
I had to forced myself to finish, hoping against hope it would eventually get as good as the other stories were. The saving grace of this installment was the epilogue.
Ms. Laporte is a fairly new to me author, and I’ve really loved her other books, but this one did not do it for me.
I’ve truly enjoyed the first books in this series, but this one…Pen was so completely annoying and rude, and acted like a 12 year old most of the time.
Alworth was great! I really enjoyed his character. He had the patience of a saint with Pen. But Alworth was correct in having one of his nicknames for her as “brat”.
I had to forced myself to finish, hoping against hope it would eventually get as good as the other stories were. The saving grace of this installment was the epilogue.
Ms. Laporte is a fairly new to me author, and I’ve really loved her other books, but this one did not do it for me.
January 5, 2025
Sofi Laporte and her narrator hit it out of the ballpark again.
Really. Loved this one. Penelope WAS a bit immature. BUT. I think it was realistic.
The Wicked Duke. That one was a bit of a puzzle all the way to the end. I wasn't sure what to expect.
Definite shades of Heyer in this one. Loved it. A very Heyer-esque hero. And heroine.
If you don't know Heyer, you should read at least one.
Another recommendation comes to mind - The Parfit Knight by Stella Riley. It's been long enough that I really don't know if the FEEL of that one is the same as this one, nor even if it's similar to a Heyer, but it springs to my mind and was worth going down a RABBIT HOLE to find the name of the book, so I'm recommending it. And that's that.
Continuing. Oh, boy. I like my usual style of writing reviews much better than this stream of conscious thing......
Some surprising happenings at the end. Always a pleasure.
As for the hero... That's my kinda hero. Always knowing what's best. Always not quick to jump in. Always ready to be watchful and step in as needed. Always seeming to know people's characters and how they will react. Awesome. Book 3 was Beauty and the Beast and I loved that. But I really loved this one too.
I'll end it with that. Have a good night.... and a Happy New Year. :-)
Really. Loved this one. Penelope WAS a bit immature. BUT. I think it was realistic.
The Wicked Duke. That one was a bit of a puzzle all the way to the end. I wasn't sure what to expect.
Definite shades of Heyer in this one. Loved it. A very Heyer-esque hero. And heroine.
If you don't know Heyer, you should read at least one.
Another recommendation comes to mind - The Parfit Knight by Stella Riley. It's been long enough that I really don't know if the FEEL of that one is the same as this one, nor even if it's similar to a Heyer, but it springs to my mind and was worth going down a RABBIT HOLE to find the name of the book, so I'm recommending it. And that's that.
Continuing. Oh, boy. I like my usual style of writing reviews much better than this stream of conscious thing......
Some surprising happenings at the end. Always a pleasure.
As for the hero... That's my kinda hero. Always knowing what's best. Always not quick to jump in. Always ready to be watchful and step in as needed. Always seeming to know people's characters and how they will react. Awesome. Book 3 was Beauty and the Beast and I loved that. But I really loved this one too.
I'll end it with that. Have a good night.... and a Happy New Year. :-)
January 10, 2022
Ends the series on a high note
I absolutely loved Book 1 of this series and sort of lost interest after Books 2 and 3. Book 3, in particular, was on the tedious and depressing side of things. This one surpassed all of them.
The banter is amazing, the characters likable, and the plot beats unique and original and compelling. After 3 different variations of “Oh, so the love interest is apparently a duke, how coincidental,” the twist in this one was refreshing and sweet.
Pen, for all her hoydenish ways, is very easy to root for, and she comes second to Lucy as my favorite heroine of the series. The showdown at the ballroom in the last act is fantastic, chaos in the most entertaining way possible. Highly recommended!
I absolutely loved Book 1 of this series and sort of lost interest after Books 2 and 3. Book 3, in particular, was on the tedious and depressing side of things. This one surpassed all of them.
The banter is amazing, the characters likable, and the plot beats unique and original and compelling. After 3 different variations of “Oh, so the love interest is apparently a duke, how coincidental,” the twist in this one was refreshing and sweet.
Pen, for all her hoydenish ways, is very easy to root for, and she comes second to Lucy as my favorite heroine of the series. The showdown at the ballroom in the last act is fantastic, chaos in the most entertaining way possible. Highly recommended!
March 15, 2022
This started out fun, it was a cute plot, but it was not a clean read as it claims. I mean, it's not super bad, but the "bad duke" is basically a sleep around and it's talked about in not so uncertain ways. The lingo was also extremely modern, with a few shocking words even thrown in. I probably won't read this author again.
June 26, 2022
Disguised as a male, Penelope is a fearless heroine, but it it Alworth who rescues her time and time again as she falls into misadventures. Witty dialogue and well developed characters make this a great read. Very entertaining.
January 17, 2026
What a near escape! Pen finally grows in the sense that she truly understands herself and her history. I was so happy for—oops, no spoilers here! A great end to the wishing well series, though quite different from the others.
July 12, 2024
This was delightful end to a really charming series.
March 6, 2024
Listened to on youtube
July 16, 2023
Nice Read
This was a pleasant read. A bit slow starting but once it got going I really enjoyed it. Both the lead characters were likeable and their chemistry and banter was good fun. Definitely worth reading.
This was a pleasant read. A bit slow starting but once it got going I really enjoyed it. Both the lead characters were likeable and their chemistry and banter was good fun. Definitely worth reading.
October 31, 2021
This story builds on the happenings early on between four friends away at school together. They through their coins in the "wishing well" and wished to all marry dukes. Pen was determined to be a little different. Now it is years later and she is determined to go to London and find her guardian and marry him. She has loved him forever but he hasn't written to her in six years. She needs to find him and make sure he is ok and find out why he hasn't written to her.
She travels dressed as a man so she can have more freedoms. She literally runs in to Lord Alworth in London. He is handsome, a bachelor and he is fascinated by Pen. He recognizes quickly that he is a she dressed as a he. The more he gets to know Pen, the more trouble Pen causes and has to be rescued from and the more fascinated Alworth becomes.
When Pen finally learns the truth about her guardian she realizes that she no longer loves her guardian in the way she used to but now loves Alworth but is she too late. Is it possible find the man she truly loves before he leaves for India?
This is a sweet, clean, fast-paced romance with lots of twists and turns. It is well written and pulls the reader along on this crazy journey as Pen discovers who she really is and what she really wants.
I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my honest review.
She travels dressed as a man so she can have more freedoms. She literally runs in to Lord Alworth in London. He is handsome, a bachelor and he is fascinated by Pen. He recognizes quickly that he is a she dressed as a he. The more he gets to know Pen, the more trouble Pen causes and has to be rescued from and the more fascinated Alworth becomes.
When Pen finally learns the truth about her guardian she realizes that she no longer loves her guardian in the way she used to but now loves Alworth but is she too late. Is it possible find the man she truly loves before he leaves for India?
This is a sweet, clean, fast-paced romance with lots of twists and turns. It is well written and pulls the reader along on this crazy journey as Pen discovers who she really is and what she really wants.
I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my honest review.
November 5, 2022
This one was such a good addition to this series. I knew from the blurb alone that the plot and some of the potential tropes presented could be ones I enjoy.
The romance was a lot of fun. Penny and Alworth had the right things about themselves that were similar to the other and the right things about themselves that were opposite from the other, like Penny’s feisty nature and Alworth’s relaxed one, Penny’s brashness and Alworth’s calculating.
They also both have hurts and walls that they each have to overcome and heal from as they formed
an alliance, a friendship, and then fell in love.
I loved how well Alworth picked up on little things about Penny, how he saw deeper past both her disguise and her walls.
Alworth knew about Penny’s secret from the very first moment she crashed into him. It was so funny how he knew, and she knew that he knew, and he knew that she knew that he knew, but neither one acknowledged it until Alworth finally gave up the ploy and used her real name.
Penny could be a bit of a brat at points, but Alworth took it in stride and gave her room to grow and learn, yet he was firm with her when he needed to be.
It hurt though how much Alworth desired to be Penny's friend, but she had trouble letting him in and at times pushed him away.
I was a bit disappointed because I wasn’t expecting Penny to maintain her disguise as Pen for the majority of the book, which I found a bit annoying the longer that went on, but it did provide some pretty comical situations.
There were a couple actually really well-done plot twists that I thought were great.
Authors have seriously got to stop doing the fake-out love interest thing. You know, when it's obvious that the one love interest is endgame, but something happens to make it look like it isn't going to happen because the other potential love interest swoops in and almost wrecks everything, and the ending is fast approaching.
That happened in this story, and it stressed me out!
But! The ending, though quickly wrapped up, was cute and happened as I wanted it to.
I enjoyed this book a lot!
The romance was a lot of fun. Penny and Alworth had the right things about themselves that were similar to the other and the right things about themselves that were opposite from the other, like Penny’s feisty nature and Alworth’s relaxed one, Penny’s brashness and Alworth’s calculating.
They also both have hurts and walls that they each have to overcome and heal from as they formed
an alliance, a friendship, and then fell in love.
I loved how well Alworth picked up on little things about Penny, how he saw deeper past both her disguise and her walls.
Alworth knew about Penny’s secret from the very first moment she crashed into him. It was so funny how he knew, and she knew that he knew, and he knew that she knew that he knew, but neither one acknowledged it until Alworth finally gave up the ploy and used her real name.
Penny could be a bit of a brat at points, but Alworth took it in stride and gave her room to grow and learn, yet he was firm with her when he needed to be.
It hurt though how much Alworth desired to be Penny's friend, but she had trouble letting him in and at times pushed him away.
I was a bit disappointed because I wasn’t expecting Penny to maintain her disguise as Pen for the majority of the book, which I found a bit annoying the longer that went on, but it did provide some pretty comical situations.
There were a couple actually really well-done plot twists that I thought were great.
Authors have seriously got to stop doing the fake-out love interest thing. You know, when it's obvious that the one love interest is endgame, but something happens to make it look like it isn't going to happen because the other potential love interest swoops in and almost wrecks everything, and the ending is fast approaching.
That happened in this story, and it stressed me out!
But! The ending, though quickly wrapped up, was cute and happened as I wanted it to.
I enjoyed this book a lot!
October 18, 2021
Four friends at Miss Hilversham's Seminary for Young Ladies made a fateful wish one night throwing four coins in a wishing well. The wish was that they would all marry dukes. Lucy, Arabella and Birdie have all had that wish fulfilled and have married their dukes. Miss Penelope Shakti Reid had no desire to marry a duke because she was already in love with her guardian Marcus. Unfortunately for her she hadn't seen him since the day he dropped her off at the Seminary. So Penelope known as Pen to her friends had decided to seek him out and she ran away to London disguised in men's clothes.
This story is such a nice addition to this series and I love the many situations that Pen managed to get herself into all while trying to act like a man. There was a duel and a high stakes card game which were both in response to a slur against her good friend Lucy.
On her first day in London as she was trying to find her way, she knocked down a man, Lord Archibald Alworth. He knew immediately that she was a woman and due to boredom but really a surprising protectiveness, he took her under his wing. It was interesting that Lord Archie was planning a trip to India so he had studied a lot about the culture. So when Pen was trying to throw him off with a partly false name, he actually realized she was a princess. Archie wants her to trust him with her secrets and understanding her loyalty to friends, he wants her to be his friend. Archie will assist her in finding out who her guardian really is but what she finds out may be quite a shock.
Would Pen end up fulfilling that last wish to marry a duke or would her life take a different path?
I received a copy of this book from the author and this is my honest unbiased review.
This story is such a nice addition to this series and I love the many situations that Pen managed to get herself into all while trying to act like a man. There was a duel and a high stakes card game which were both in response to a slur against her good friend Lucy.
On her first day in London as she was trying to find her way, she knocked down a man, Lord Archibald Alworth. He knew immediately that she was a woman and due to boredom but really a surprising protectiveness, he took her under his wing. It was interesting that Lord Archie was planning a trip to India so he had studied a lot about the culture. So when Pen was trying to throw him off with a partly false name, he actually realized she was a princess. Archie wants her to trust him with her secrets and understanding her loyalty to friends, he wants her to be his friend. Archie will assist her in finding out who her guardian really is but what she finds out may be quite a shock.
Would Pen end up fulfilling that last wish to marry a duke or would her life take a different path?
I received a copy of this book from the author and this is my honest unbiased review.
April 13, 2022
Extremely Annoying Heroine 😝😝😝
I didn't like this book as much as the other 3 books in the series. It's not necessarily because I didn't think it was well written but rather that it's unfortunate that one of the main characters, Pen (Penelope - the heroine) is very unlikeable. She is horribly rude, has NO manners, is narcissistic (NEVER thinks about anybody else but herself), is impetuous, NEVER looks before she leaps... actually she LUNGES into trouble while pushing people out of her way, she's impatient, bossy, seems either really stupid or very very naive & immature, & she won't listen to anybody else because she just has to do things her own way even when it makes ZERO sense.
It's not like she changes for the better at the end either. The other characters are changed to accommodate this horrible person instead. We do eventually find out some of her back story but it's introduced late in the story & I already disliked her a great deal by then. The Hero, Alsworth, does help counterbalance some of Pen's crazy so if not for him, I don't think I would've been able to read the whole book. I'm not sure he was enough though. 😣 And Pen doesn't marry a Duke like the other girls ... but no explanation is given for why her ending was different and yet the "wishing well" seemed to be okay with that.
I have a hard time believing that Pen ever went to such a fine academy as the other 3 girls did from the other books. Pen seems like a wild child that grew up on her own with no adult supervision or intervention. She is always in need of rescuing by a man because of her wild schemes. Really annoying. I can't in good conscience recommend this book. Authors take a huge risk making a main character that is in every scene so utterly horrid.
I didn't like this book as much as the other 3 books in the series. It's not necessarily because I didn't think it was well written but rather that it's unfortunate that one of the main characters, Pen (Penelope - the heroine) is very unlikeable. She is horribly rude, has NO manners, is narcissistic (NEVER thinks about anybody else but herself), is impetuous, NEVER looks before she leaps... actually she LUNGES into trouble while pushing people out of her way, she's impatient, bossy, seems either really stupid or very very naive & immature, & she won't listen to anybody else because she just has to do things her own way even when it makes ZERO sense.
It's not like she changes for the better at the end either. The other characters are changed to accommodate this horrible person instead. We do eventually find out some of her back story but it's introduced late in the story & I already disliked her a great deal by then. The Hero, Alsworth, does help counterbalance some of Pen's crazy so if not for him, I don't think I would've been able to read the whole book. I'm not sure he was enough though. 😣 And Pen doesn't marry a Duke like the other girls ... but no explanation is given for why her ending was different and yet the "wishing well" seemed to be okay with that.
I have a hard time believing that Pen ever went to such a fine academy as the other 3 girls did from the other books. Pen seems like a wild child that grew up on her own with no adult supervision or intervention. She is always in need of rescuing by a man because of her wild schemes. Really annoying. I can't in good conscience recommend this book. Authors take a huge risk making a main character that is in every scene so utterly horrid.
August 2, 2022
Terrible. such potential turned annoying.
The first book by this author in this series was good. This one makes you really dislike the heroine. It could have been good. But the constant idiocy of the h was way too much.
The first book by this author in this series was good. This one makes you really dislike the heroine. It could have been good. But the constant idiocy of the h was way too much.
October 22, 2021
It was interesting, but very little Pen does makes sense or fits the time period. At all.
September 2, 2025
**IN THE UNHALLOWED HOURS OF LAST NIGHT**
Ohhh gosh 😭💔😭🥹
I want to to cry. I am crying. This is crazy.
I am in an unimaginable turmoil. My world has flipped over and I don’t know how to think.
Yes, everyone, books tend to do that to me…but, man has this been a wild three days. A whole delightful series gobbled up in three days! What a squandering ninny I am 😭.
But this one…gracious this one was crazyinsanewonderfulawesome. I think that the echoes of my delighted, half-deranged squeals will haunt my unfortunate pillow for quite some time. Some of those moments…they were priceless. Pricelessly squeal worthy. Known to bestow compuntual fits of hysterical shrieking.*
*do not read without a sufficiently muffling pillow on hand
I love Pen. I loooooove Alworth. Heck, I love this whole dang book to pieces. I love this whole dang series to pieces. I’m filled with the very most dismal-ist despair at the thought of reaching it’s regrettable, but sadly imminent end.Is it possible to turn suicidal over a regency romance series???
This was fantabulous. I feel that I can say that with certainty, even though I only finished this book less than twenty minutes ago. Further reflection is superfluous.
As it is I don’t how long last mid-night, and this is, for reasons we don’t need to explain, the third night in a row in which I have stayed up far past my designated bed-time, I didn’t plan on writing a full review now…but I guess I am, so there.
Penelope Reid, aka Pen, is the last remaining bachelorette in our delightful quartet of besties…all destined to marry dukes.
Or so we thought.
Pen hasn’t seen her gaurdian in more than six years. He deposited her at Ms Havisham’s school, walked off, and seemingly, never looked back. But Penelope, infatuated with her image of the dashing, green-eyed hottie who had entranced her as a child, refuses to believe it. She is determined to find him and—and….
Marry him. Naturally.
However, as he has never answered any of her letters, and she has no idea where he is, finding him won’t be easy. So she does the only thing a girl can do in these situations, which is, obviously, to dress up as a man and slip off to London.
This is where the adventures start, adventures that heavily feature a certain devastating dandy who immediately takes a great interest in our masculine-nised Pen. Who I like tremendously.
Alworth is without a doubt my favorite male lead of this series. Gabriel is okay. Philip is reasonably swoony, but he annoyed me greatly with his duke/earl/all-nobility-in-general hate talk. And Henry, well, he was of course a darling. But compared to Alworth? There isn’t even a comparison to be had.
Of course, much of this is merely personal inclination. As for me, I will always prefer the rake/dandy who after a suave introduction proves that under all his embroidered pink waist coats and corsets there is a bad-arss muscle-man with legendary fighting skills and a self-possessed courage that it is impossible to ruffle. Impossible to ruffle, that is, unless you happen to be the lovely girl destined to capture his heart. Naturally SHE should be able to ruffle him with a mere bat of a lash.
Watching him aid Pen as she gallivants around London, neatly landing herself in duels and gambling matches and extremely compromising situations at balls, is unbeatable. So is there hilariously awkward friendship. I was truly frantic with hysterics at times. I hope my parents could not hear me 🙏.
Pen was also a very good, comparable character. Possibly even my favorite female lead out of the series, though Lucy is also pretty high up there. Pen is sensible, and yet utterly girlish and naive and hot-headed at the same time.
If I were to say what Heyer’s this book is rooted in, since, let’s be real, all regency romances really have their roots in Heyer, I would say that this book is a mix between These Old Shades, and Regency Buck. Pen is very similar to Leonie, while Alworth is likewise reminiscent of Lord Worth. And the Duke of Avon, too, just a bit less terrifying. And less fearfully old, though I would hardly call thirty-five the pink of youth, either.
Only Lucy and Ashmore are actually present in this book, though Birdie, Arabella and their dear ducal husbands are mentioned.
I highly, highly, recommend. This was one devilish good read.
*looks at clock, faints in entirely ladylike heap.*
Crap, it’s past freakin two.
Ohhh gosh 😭💔😭🥹
I want to to cry. I am crying. This is crazy.
I am in an unimaginable turmoil. My world has flipped over and I don’t know how to think.
Yes, everyone, books tend to do that to me…but, man has this been a wild three days. A whole delightful series gobbled up in three days! What a squandering ninny I am 😭.
But this one…gracious this one was crazyinsanewonderfulawesome. I think that the echoes of my delighted, half-deranged squeals will haunt my unfortunate pillow for quite some time. Some of those moments…they were priceless. Pricelessly squeal worthy. Known to bestow compuntual fits of hysterical shrieking.*
*do not read without a sufficiently muffling pillow on hand
I love Pen. I loooooove Alworth. Heck, I love this whole dang book to pieces. I love this whole dang series to pieces. I’m filled with the very most dismal-ist despair at the thought of reaching it’s regrettable, but sadly imminent end.
This was fantabulous. I feel that I can say that with certainty, even though I only finished this book less than twenty minutes ago. Further reflection is superfluous.
As it is I don’t how long last mid-night, and this is, for reasons we don’t need to explain, the third night in a row in which I have stayed up far past my designated bed-time, I didn’t plan on writing a full review now…but I guess I am, so there.
Penelope Reid, aka Pen, is the last remaining bachelorette in our delightful quartet of besties…all destined to marry dukes.
Or so we thought.
Pen hasn’t seen her gaurdian in more than six years. He deposited her at Ms Havisham’s school, walked off, and seemingly, never looked back. But Penelope, infatuated with her image of the dashing, green-eyed hottie who had entranced her as a child, refuses to believe it. She is determined to find him and—and….
Marry him. Naturally.
However, as he has never answered any of her letters, and she has no idea where he is, finding him won’t be easy. So she does the only thing a girl can do in these situations, which is, obviously, to dress up as a man and slip off to London.
This is where the adventures start, adventures that heavily feature a certain devastating dandy who immediately takes a great interest in our masculine-nised Pen. Who I like tremendously.
Alworth is without a doubt my favorite male lead of this series. Gabriel is okay. Philip is reasonably swoony, but he annoyed me greatly with his duke/earl/all-nobility-in-general hate talk. And Henry, well, he was of course a darling. But compared to Alworth? There isn’t even a comparison to be had.
Of course, much of this is merely personal inclination. As for me, I will always prefer the rake/dandy who after a suave introduction proves that under all his embroidered pink waist coats and corsets there is a bad-arss muscle-man with legendary fighting skills and a self-possessed courage that it is impossible to ruffle. Impossible to ruffle, that is, unless you happen to be the lovely girl destined to capture his heart. Naturally SHE should be able to ruffle him with a mere bat of a lash.
Watching him aid Pen as she gallivants around London, neatly landing herself in duels and gambling matches and extremely compromising situations at balls, is unbeatable. So is there hilariously awkward friendship. I was truly frantic with hysterics at times. I hope my parents could not hear me 🙏.
Pen was also a very good, comparable character. Possibly even my favorite female lead out of the series, though Lucy is also pretty high up there. Pen is sensible, and yet utterly girlish and naive and hot-headed at the same time.
If I were to say what Heyer’s this book is rooted in, since, let’s be real, all regency romances really have their roots in Heyer, I would say that this book is a mix between These Old Shades, and Regency Buck. Pen is very similar to Leonie, while Alworth is likewise reminiscent of Lord Worth. And the Duke of Avon, too, just a bit less terrifying. And less fearfully old, though I would hardly call thirty-five the pink of youth, either.
Only Lucy and Ashmore are actually present in this book, though Birdie, Arabella and their dear ducal husbands are mentioned.
I highly, highly, recommend. This was one devilish good read.
*looks at clock, faints in entirely ladylike heap.*
October 4, 2021
Penelope Shakti Reid, known to friends as Pen, only ever wanted to marry her guardian Mr Marcus Smith. He was the one to rescue her after the earthquake that trapped her under rubble and killed her parents. She would dream of him coming to Miss Hilversham’s Seminary for Young Ladies in Bath, take her to his home and they would be happy, married and together.
Lord Archibald Edward Ainsley, Viscount Alworth, carefree, jokester, all around good fellow. Mrs Charlotte Serena Wentwood, his childhood sweetheart (Serena) he still wishes he got to be her husband. Mrs. Charlotte becomes chaperone for Pen.
The mysterious guardian, Marcus Smith, seems to be none other than Marcus Downing-Smith, the Duke of Rochford. Drunk, debauchery, gambler, devilish hunk extraordinaire, leaves Pen alone to wallow in his own life.
Pen disguises herself as a male, sneaks away from the school, travels alone to London, all to find her guardian Marcus. She runs into and knocks down Alworth who instantly realized what she is. Alworth goes along with the make fasaide to elevate the boardum and enjoy the devilary. He also does it to protect Pen as any gentleman should.
As Pen searches for Marcus, Alworth thing along gives her plenty of chances to tell him the truth, even after all the help and guidance Pen keeps quiet. When Alworth gives her information about Marcus Pen rejects that and believes he is the good person she wants Marcus to be.
So come along and enjoy the hijinx, that Pen finds herself in, as we traverse London to locate Marcus. Find out if she finds Marcus. Does she tell Alworth her secrets? Does Alworth tell her his secret? Will Marcus finally gave Pen and if so then what? To receive these answers and have a thrilling adventure you will have to read this witty banter filled jonty story.
Great escape from the everyday tale to give you that joy of helping someone through to find happiness, love, and true oneself.
Lord Archibald Edward Ainsley, Viscount Alworth, carefree, jokester, all around good fellow. Mrs Charlotte Serena Wentwood, his childhood sweetheart (Serena) he still wishes he got to be her husband. Mrs. Charlotte becomes chaperone for Pen.
The mysterious guardian, Marcus Smith, seems to be none other than Marcus Downing-Smith, the Duke of Rochford. Drunk, debauchery, gambler, devilish hunk extraordinaire, leaves Pen alone to wallow in his own life.
Pen disguises herself as a male, sneaks away from the school, travels alone to London, all to find her guardian Marcus. She runs into and knocks down Alworth who instantly realized what she is. Alworth goes along with the make fasaide to elevate the boardum and enjoy the devilary. He also does it to protect Pen as any gentleman should.
As Pen searches for Marcus, Alworth thing along gives her plenty of chances to tell him the truth, even after all the help and guidance Pen keeps quiet. When Alworth gives her information about Marcus Pen rejects that and believes he is the good person she wants Marcus to be.
So come along and enjoy the hijinx, that Pen finds herself in, as we traverse London to locate Marcus. Find out if she finds Marcus. Does she tell Alworth her secrets? Does Alworth tell her his secret? Will Marcus finally gave Pen and if so then what? To receive these answers and have a thrilling adventure you will have to read this witty banter filled jonty story.
Great escape from the everyday tale to give you that joy of helping someone through to find happiness, love, and true oneself.
May 22, 2024
Oh, this has to be Sofi Laporte's best book! It is incredibly good. I feel like it took every notion I had and turned it on its head. Every time it could be cliche, it said "no, no!".
Pen is the last of the girls from the seminary. She was the one who did not want to marryva duke. She was the one who jumped into the wishing well to undo the wish.
Because Pen wanted to marry her guardian Marcus. The man who pulled her from the rubble that had killed her parents. The man who brought her to the seminary and then ignored her after that. Pen wrote hundreds of letters to him, and he never responded. Never sent her anything.
So now she was desperate to find him so she came to London as a boy. She immediately crashes into Archie Alworth. Who follows her to an Indian restaurant. Pen being half indian loves the food, and for reasons unknown to her, she tricks Alworth into eating the spiceist entree there. Alworth is nothing but kind to her, and she won't accept him as her friend.
It is impossible to explain how great this book is without spoilers, but let me just say that Pen, Alworth, and the mystery of Marcus Smith are just wonderful. I love it so much. It was never at any point what I expected. But it was definitely everything that I fell in love with.
Pen is the same person as a boy or as a girl. She is a mess, a brat, and full of feelings. Alworth is a broken-hearted man who has become bored with the shallow life he is living to avoid feelings. It is pretty impossible to hide feelings and love the craziness of Pen. She snuck under that barbed wire.
I don't know what else to say. It is an amazing book. I had chills and tears. Love, love, love!!
Pen is the last of the girls from the seminary. She was the one who did not want to marryva duke. She was the one who jumped into the wishing well to undo the wish.
Because Pen wanted to marry her guardian Marcus. The man who pulled her from the rubble that had killed her parents. The man who brought her to the seminary and then ignored her after that. Pen wrote hundreds of letters to him, and he never responded. Never sent her anything.
So now she was desperate to find him so she came to London as a boy. She immediately crashes into Archie Alworth. Who follows her to an Indian restaurant. Pen being half indian loves the food, and for reasons unknown to her, she tricks Alworth into eating the spiceist entree there. Alworth is nothing but kind to her, and she won't accept him as her friend.
It is impossible to explain how great this book is without spoilers, but let me just say that Pen, Alworth, and the mystery of Marcus Smith are just wonderful. I love it so much. It was never at any point what I expected. But it was definitely everything that I fell in love with.
Pen is the same person as a boy or as a girl. She is a mess, a brat, and full of feelings. Alworth is a broken-hearted man who has become bored with the shallow life he is living to avoid feelings. It is pretty impossible to hide feelings and love the craziness of Pen. She snuck under that barbed wire.
I don't know what else to say. It is an amazing book. I had chills and tears. Love, love, love!!
January 3, 2024
Penelope is a runaway young lady masquerading as a young lad. She has run off to London in search of her guardian whom she has not seen or heard from in 5 years. He rescued her when her parents were killed in the uprising of India against English rule. Her guardian, Marcus Smith, has simply disappeared. Penelope's mother was from India and her father was an Englishman.
She chops off her hair, dresses in male attire and goes by the name of Pen Kumari. She meets a lord Alworth who recognizes that Pen is a female dressed in male clothes. He befriends her and tells her he is bound for India and asks for information about the food, customs, cities etc.
Pen and Alworth become fast friends and he rescues her from countless situations. He enjoys showing Pen the world of men and the situations are quite funny. He also inquires about her guardian, Marcus Smith. Pen is secretly in love with Marcus.
Alworth finally discovers who Marcus truly is and Pen verifies this when she sees him from afar.
A tangle of hearts results and both Alworth and Marcus feel obligated to propose marriage.
I will not spoil it by telling the ending but ...well, you'll have to read it to discover the truth.
She chops off her hair, dresses in male attire and goes by the name of Pen Kumari. She meets a lord Alworth who recognizes that Pen is a female dressed in male clothes. He befriends her and tells her he is bound for India and asks for information about the food, customs, cities etc.
Pen and Alworth become fast friends and he rescues her from countless situations. He enjoys showing Pen the world of men and the situations are quite funny. He also inquires about her guardian, Marcus Smith. Pen is secretly in love with Marcus.
Alworth finally discovers who Marcus truly is and Pen verifies this when she sees him from afar.
A tangle of hearts results and both Alworth and Marcus feel obligated to propose marriage.
I will not spoil it by telling the ending but ...well, you'll have to read it to discover the truth.
October 14, 2021
Another delightful Regency romance from Sofi Laporte! I really enjoyed the comical relationship between Penelope and Alworth. From their crash-meeting, to her tricking him into eating spicy vindaloo curry, to his helping her become a member of White's, all while knowing she is masquerading as a boy, the interactions between these two had me in stitches.
Alworth is the epitome of a 19th century dandy who can't decide which of his forty-three waistcoats to wear, fusses over the right way to tie a cravat, and has to make sure his outfit doesn't clash with the wallpaper at the club.
By contrast, Pen, the ravishing beauty of Indian and British heritage, runs around London disguised as a man for most of the book. She fights duels and gambling matches, and can punch hard enough to land a black eye.
When Pen learns of her connection to the notorious Duke of Rochford, her only hope to survive in polite society is to become a proper lady and navigate the Season to find a husband. What will happen when her cross-dressing escapades and her connection to the blackguard Rochford become known to all? Will she and Alworth own up to their feelings before he leaves for India? Or will Pen become the wife of a wicked duke?
This story is the last of four books in the Wishing Well series, but is enjoyable as a stand-alone novel as well.
Alworth is the epitome of a 19th century dandy who can't decide which of his forty-three waistcoats to wear, fusses over the right way to tie a cravat, and has to make sure his outfit doesn't clash with the wallpaper at the club.
By contrast, Pen, the ravishing beauty of Indian and British heritage, runs around London disguised as a man for most of the book. She fights duels and gambling matches, and can punch hard enough to land a black eye.
When Pen learns of her connection to the notorious Duke of Rochford, her only hope to survive in polite society is to become a proper lady and navigate the Season to find a husband. What will happen when her cross-dressing escapades and her connection to the blackguard Rochford become known to all? Will she and Alworth own up to their feelings before he leaves for India? Or will Pen become the wife of a wicked duke?
This story is the last of four books in the Wishing Well series, but is enjoyable as a stand-alone novel as well.
March 1, 2022
The last unmarried of the wishing well friends gets her story. This story was unique from the others since Pen spends the majority of the book dressed as a boy seeking her guardian. You may think it unlikely that she could go so long without being caught in her deception and you'd be right. She is caught right away, only Alworth is so amused by the situation that he keeps the secret. Even she doesn't know that he knows. Pen gets into all sorts of scrapes including a duel of all things.
I enjoyed Pen though she isn't always wise in her choices and I really enjoyed Alworth. His relaxed amusement in life was entertaining and I loved watching him enjoy Pen's discomfort since she is often in situations no lady should be in. Alworth is a perfect fop even if it is a cover to protect his heart.
I confess I missed the other ladies while reading this book. Yes, they are thought of but we get very little page time in their presence. And they are rather delightful.
I enjoyed this book and the whole series.
Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: attempted
I enjoyed Pen though she isn't always wise in her choices and I really enjoyed Alworth. His relaxed amusement in life was entertaining and I loved watching him enjoy Pen's discomfort since she is often in situations no lady should be in. Alworth is a perfect fop even if it is a cover to protect his heart.
I confess I missed the other ladies while reading this book. Yes, they are thought of but we get very little page time in their presence. And they are rather delightful.
I enjoyed this book and the whole series.
Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: attempted
May 9, 2024
The book began great, and I understood that Pen wouldn't marry a Duke, after all, she may not have taken out the coin, but that wish on her before was gone, with her words of refusal and the person casting the coins fell in with her, but still, Pen couldn't at least marry an Earl or Marquess, her friends are Duchesses and she is a lowly Viscountess. I like Alworth's character, hated Pen character, she was childish, stupid, and contradictory. I also found the book to linger it could have ended and solved most problems very quickly. The scandal that is her guardian, I don't find it to be such a great scandal, after all he is doing the same thing the Prince Regent later King George IV would have been doing and his friends, plus Rochford is a Duke, scandalous or not, he'd still be accepted everywhere, very eligible, and anyone in his connection would be accepted whether they were scandalous or not. So Pen great scandal is changing into a man for no sensible reason and then forgetting her disguise when she saw Lucy.
June 13, 2025
Which will it be
Penelope climbs out the window and lands on the ground dressed as a man. "He" heads for London seeking Marcus Smith. It doesn't go as planned and life takes a turn when she runs smack into Viscount Alworthas she rounds a corner knocking him to the ground. Like her friends stories, this is delightful especially with her masquerading as a man and being taken under the Viscount's protection. Marcus proves to be very elusive yet her search continues. A story of unrequited love, unexpected feelings, hidden secrets, promises made long ago, and revelations. Her forthright nature and fierce defense of friends lands her in danger. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. and very pleased with her decision in the end. In a sense it's three stories in one, her time in India then Bath, the quest to find her elusive guardian in London, and her interaction with Alworth as a man then lady. I highly recommend reading this series.
Penelope climbs out the window and lands on the ground dressed as a man. "He" heads for London seeking Marcus Smith. It doesn't go as planned and life takes a turn when she runs smack into Viscount Alworthas she rounds a corner knocking him to the ground. Like her friends stories, this is delightful especially with her masquerading as a man and being taken under the Viscount's protection. Marcus proves to be very elusive yet her search continues. A story of unrequited love, unexpected feelings, hidden secrets, promises made long ago, and revelations. Her forthright nature and fierce defense of friends lands her in danger. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. and very pleased with her decision in the end. In a sense it's three stories in one, her time in India then Bath, the quest to find her elusive guardian in London, and her interaction with Alworth as a man then lady. I highly recommend reading this series.
February 13, 2024
Penelope Reid was an orphan dropped off in Bath at a school for girls by her guardian. For years she was cared for by Miss Haversham but she never healed from her guardian. After she turned twenty one, she decided to go to London and track down her elusive guardian and marry him. She had been in love with him since he had rescued hew from an earthquake that killed her parents in India. Now it was her time to marry. When she reached his address in London, he didn’t live there. She was dressed as a young boy for the freedom males had. Bow she had to search London for a Marcus Smith. How many Smiths were there in London? It seemed a monumental task. She literally ran into the Duke of Alwiorth and he was bored with Ton activities. He decided to help Pen with this quest.
January 2, 2023
My favorite
This was my favorite book in the series. I love books about ladies disguised as a boy/man and the trouble they get into trying to keep their secret. And boy, does Pen get into trouble! Fortunately, the first man she meets is a dandy who helps her for his own amusement. Of course, he knows right away she’s a woman but he doesn’t let on for a while. The Viscount reminded me of another book, These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer, in that he he calls her child, infant, etc. and affects this rather dissipated air about him like the Duke in that book, who also finds a woman dressed as a boy that he takes under his wing. Clean romance and well written.
This was my favorite book in the series. I love books about ladies disguised as a boy/man and the trouble they get into trying to keep their secret. And boy, does Pen get into trouble! Fortunately, the first man she meets is a dandy who helps her for his own amusement. Of course, he knows right away she’s a woman but he doesn’t let on for a while. The Viscount reminded me of another book, These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer, in that he he calls her child, infant, etc. and affects this rather dissipated air about him like the Duke in that book, who also finds a woman dressed as a boy that he takes under his wing. Clean romance and well written.
August 4, 2022
Being in love with your guardian is not uncommon. Especially when he saved your life when you had been a child. Parents killed in a earthquake in India. He brings you to England and enrolls you in a ladies finishing school. You never heard from him again. All your expenses were met, but you were abandoned.
Penelope knows men move through society much easier than ladies. Dressing as a lad, she heads to London to find her guardian. She encountered a brash young nobleman who helps her navigate London society.
Penelope knows men move through society much easier than ladies. Dressing as a lad, she heads to London to find her guardian. She encountered a brash young nobleman who helps her navigate London society.
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