All is not as it seems or rather all are not whom they seem or pretend to be on the surface. Thus, Sebastian appears as a shallow man, caring only about his appearance and caring nothing more than his dress, etc.
Underneath there is that boy that lost so much and tries to protect himself from the harshness of the world and having his heart broken.
Gwynna, is trying to find out who she is and seems to create tales that make it more romantic. On a search for a man she finds has died, she finds Sebastian and they merrily dance around each other trying to find the truth.
An enjoyable story that has great secondary characters and a journey to a happy ever after.

Melt-your-Kindle hot and a great romantic story. Loved this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Overall a good story, but the cheating of marriage vows bothered me a bit. A touch of the Scarlet Pimpernel, and touches of humor helped. Would recommend.

I loved this book!

The title is one more reason we must never judge a book by its cover. Eileen Putman writes a wonderful romance and you see all the intrigue and wonder when you open the book. I absolutely fell in love with the characters and I look forward to reading more of Putman'' books.

A shallow lord, Sebastian, is hiding his true nature as well as a wife. He helps a woman, Gwynna, to find her father. In doing so he finds that many things were not as he thought. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Angelsey Press for my honest review.

Sebastian is a duke with a secret. Gwynna is trying to uncover the secret of her birth. This story had many twists that were quite interesting, but also seemed to complicate the story. I was confused in the beginning, I thought they were possibly siblings. Then to throw in the whole Elizabeth complication. Part of the confusion came from the point of view that the story was told from; there were at least 4 of them!

3.5 Stars
Lord Shallow by Eileen Putman is book Two in the League of Rogues Series. This is the story of Gwynna Owen and Sebastian Traherne. I have read the previous book but felt this could be a standalone book if you wish to do so. Gwynna is looking for answers from the past to help her in the future which leads her to Sebastian. Sebastian has his own secrets that he tries to stay loyal too but along the way Gwynna starts to break down his secrets and feelings. This author did a really good job writing this book but for me personally I wasn't able to connect to the characters life I do.

What I liked about this book: Sebastian and Angus. Eileen Putman was able to create two very strong male characters that didn't sugar coat their thorny personalities, and I still liked at the end. They both had an excellent moral compass and hidden depths that were unexpected. The pacing of the book was a little slow for me, but I found the book enjoyable.

A giant thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Guess what I love almost as much as chocolate? An exquisitely written regency romance. Lord Shallow was an amazing reading experience. It was a start it at 10 PM, wait, it's 2 AM and I'm still reading experience. Because I could not put it down until I finished.

What I loved - literally everything.
1. The character development was robust, multi-faceted and poignant. Both Sebastian and Gwynna evolve in ways they never expected - bringing out each other's strengths and supporting each other's weaknesses.
2. The hero was conflicted and courageous. He slays dragons, empowers the heroine's independence and offers her validation and a soft place to land. And he is eminently swoon-worthy.
3. The heroine is no milksop miss. She is strong and brave and resilient in her own right. She saves him too - from a half-life of duty and obligation.

I am buying every single book I can find by this author!

Warning – this review might be considered spoilerish
After reading and thoroughly enjoying the first book in this series (King of Hearts) I was eager to jump right into this book. The blurb was a bit vague and mentioned a secret marriage, but I didn’t really give it much thought – I should have.

This review is going to be short and I am not going to summarize the plot – such as it is – If you have ever read my reviews you know that I am a hater of cheating/adultery – when I read “secret marriage” I foolishly thought that it would be with the heroine – NOPE – Sebastian is married to his dear friend Elizabeth – HE IS MARRIED. I was surprised and disappointed, but I tried to keep an open mind, because despite being attracted to Gwynna, he does nothing that would be considered “cheating”, in fact at the halfway point he is still committed to Elizabeth and his marriage – it isn’t until the truth of his marriage comes to light that he and Gwynna have any sort of “romance” – so pretty late in the story.

The writing is good, but I just didn’t care for the story. There is some intrigue, a bit of betrayal and A LOT of secondary characters. And just because the main characters don’t have a romantic relationship from the beginning, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any romance – there are other relationships swirling about and because of that sadly, I never felt like Sebastian and Gwynna’s relationship was the primary romance. This is the second book in the series, but they seem to be stand alone titles, so you don’t need to read them in order.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*

This was a different story. It wasn't all about London and parties, but about a woman's search and Wales. I like abook where I can learn, and I learned about Welsh folk lore in this book. It was a story with intrigue and taking sides and fighting for a cause. The heroine was looking for her father. She has been raised by her grandfather, who did not seem very nice or loving. She thinks her father is a duke, so she goes looking for him because she has an enemy now that her grandfather passed away. The heroine is a duke who inherited his title from a cousin. When they meet and the heroine realizes the duke she was looking for had died and the present duke is her possible distant cousin. Then all of the intrigue and vengeance and narcissism shows up for an exciting story. Oh. And there is romance, too!! I really enjoyed reading this book. The heroine is strong and resilient with the maturity of her age. The duke is slightly older than her, so they seem to mesh right away. I like characters are closer in age because I think that makes for a more capatable interaction. And you don't have an 18 year-old with all of the characteristics and attributes of a 30 year-old woman. It makes this story so much better. The hero is strong also, he inherited a dessimated dukedom and he is just taking note of all of his holdings and what needs to be accomplished. He is very organized and detail oriented. I enjoyed reading about their relationship because it wasn't all love. They each learned to respect each other and it was conveyed so well by this author. The villains are pretty dangerous in this book, and not always political. The story was very well written and has a nice, smooth pace. It was consistent and had no dangling plots. The characters were well developed. I heartily recommend this books. It is definitely a 5 star read

This was quite a good story. Sebastian has an interesting chil3and grown up to be a good man...hiding. Gwynn is a little Welsh woman, very capable in so many things. I never write a spoiler. Sufficit to say, the story line keeps your attention and the secondary story line is very heartwarming. Read this story, you'll love it.

3.5 rounded down to 3 : After what I felt was a slow start, this became a rousing tale of a reluctant Duke , Sebastian, and a Welsh young lady, Gwynna, who go questing to find out her true heritage. She believes she is the rightful daughter of the former, now deceased, Duke, and they travel from Cheshire to Wales to see if they can find the paperwork to validate her claim. There is also a side story of Angus, his guardian after his parents died, and Hannah, the governess of his childhood friend and neighbor Elizabeth. It is interesting but Gwynna and Hannah are troubled by men in their past who attempted to force attentions upon them. I enjoyed this book even though I found it at times slow or confusing, but would recommend it to those who love historical romance.

I was provided this book for an honest review from NetGalley and Anglesey Press

Lord Shallow got off to a great start. With the loss of his parents, Sebastian finds friendship with Elizabeth and her family. Fast forward sixteen years later, and Sebastian is considered to be a ‘peacock’, only interest in the latest fashion. Yet, he is hiding a secret marriage but when Gwynna arrives at his castle, his world is thrown into a spin.
Whilst I loved the start of this book, I found the relationship with Gwynna slightly confusing. His love for Gwynna, despite his marriage and her treatment of him, had me at odds. Whilst the plot was interesting and I enjoyed Sebastian’s character and his relationship with Elizabeth, I found Gwynna difficult to like. Her treatment of Sebastian had me wondering how he managed to still have feelings for. So, many of these points just didn’t add up for me, leaving me feeling a bit disappointed by the end.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Will their quest for truth turn their world on its head...

This book was very surprising, I expected a romance, and romance there is, but it was so much more, six individuals collide all together at one time, and because of one of them, everything will unravel until its right conclusion.
So what began as a quest to find one’s true self morphed in a conquest of one’s fears.

The beginning was a bit confusing with both main characters hiding their true self, I also felt like I missed something maybe in the first book I haven’t read, but I checked and no, I missed nothing, so who was this Elizabeth!
Till finally everything felt in its right place.
So while I began my reading in the blind, slowly with some flashbacks, things are explained and revealed, bit by bit.

Sebastian is first introduced on the day of his greatest loss, a young boy having his world turned upside down, then twenty years later, the young boy in now a man presenting himself as a self-conceited frivolous fop, all to hide and protect himself from the world outside those he holds dear in his heart. Sebastian fears to loose again, so he avoided entanglement at all cost. This journey to the inside of his heart will heal him and close the arc opened on his parents’ death day.
Gwynna is on the run, with high hopes to find who she is, finally. Alas, she encounters one more deception as the man she was seeking is now dead. And his heir appears to be man more interested in getting his taylor rich than righting a wrong done, yet once she scratches the surface of Sebastian’s mask, she understands there is so much more behind his supposed bored self.
Gwynna is chaos in Sebastian well ordered world. She came looking for answers but bring out more questions. Yet, while he could have sent her back to her island, he embarks in a journey to help her finding those answers. Where him too will get answers to questions he never asked, answers which force him to look at his reflect in the mirror of his life. As when she embraces who she is, he buried it deeply for fear to be hurt.

Around Gwynna and Sebastian, navigate four other souls, all whose interference in their life will bring them on a new path.
Angus, the man who shaped Sebastian in a good and caring fellow. What a knight he is, one with a beating heart he keeps closely behind his own walls, he embraced his role and was a father figure for Sebastian. Yet, he has decided it is time for him to surrender to his own obsession, if she will have him.
Hannah, what a tragic life she lived, always on the run, yet Angus, she decided to despise is a constancy in her always on the move world. Now in between the summer and autumn of her life, will she agree to let her fears go.
Elizabeth was Sebastian’s buoy when his world was shaken to the core, both believed they were destined in a life together. So much they never questioned the nature of their love.
Drew is the enigma of this book, a true villain or just someone hiding his true self behind a mask of carelessness and manipulation. He is a master puppeteer, bringing people at the right place to do his bidding. I would be very happy to read his own story.

I have no word to really describe this book, it is far greater than a classical romance, a revisit of the lores and legends, a journey to Wales, a road trip to the inside of the heart and soul.
5 stars.

I was granted an advance copy by the publisher Anglesey Press with no obligation of a position review, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

This is my fair and honest review, voluntarily given and in my own words, for this ARC. A warrior princess, a shallow man, Welsh tales of fairies and wars, so many losses to so many people, a trip unexpected, a legacy, learning to live and a love that transcends all. This is the story. Only a small description of everything contained here. Wow, what a story teller! This is a book that will keep you in so deep you won't want to come out of it.

4.5 Stars! A great historical romance romp that's perfect to enjoy with a cup of tea. I love books where the hero and heroine have to work together for a common good, and this one totally delivered. Recommended!