Sisters, Alice and Lisa, suddenly lose their mother to illness. Overnight. Alice find outs her mother was married to a powerful Duke, her mother ran from their father after he broke a promise, and raised her daughters in secret. Alice's father spent a great deal of time working at his various estates, and was not home very often, Her mother was afraid he would become like his best friend, a womanizer, who also spent a great deal of his time away from home. The promise? Alice's father has betrothed her to his friend's son, Seral, while they are young children,
Seral, himself a powerful Duke, has known about the betrothal since he was young, and has been waiting for Alice to come back home to claim her as his bride. As a result, he overwhelms Alice as soon as they meet, by telling her she belongs to him, and she is his. Seral is rarely denied anything, so he is shocked when Alice denies she belongs to him, and has no plans to marry him. While her younger sister Lisa is excited by the prospect of their new lives, Alice remains shocked at the sudden changes.
She also finds out she also has an aunt, who was also her mother's best friend. Aunt Maxie is the anchor Alice needs to help her understand all the changes, and what to expect in her new life. Almost as soon as they arrive, they have a formal dinner, and one of the guests is Paul Bernard, a man who is cruel to women, and is determined to have Alice. He asks her to take a walk in the garden. Seral finds out, and rushes to protect Alice. He realizes he did not need to since he sees Alice has slapped the man, She has also created an enemy, and Paul is now out to ruin her, and make her pay.
Her father and aunt decide to take Alice and her sister to London. Seral is uneasy because he feels she will have a hard time in society since she has never experienced anything like that. However, her father has told him to stop chasing her away, and Seral decides to give her time in London before he comes to marry her. He feels more secure about her safety since her father will be there. However, her father is called away to another estate, and Alice goes with Aunt Maxie. What follows is an eye-opening experience when introduced to people who are jealous, vindictive, and do not have her best interests at heart She also has Paul Bernard out to destroy her.
I enjoyed the novel, and did not want Alice and Seral's story to end. As the reader, I knew why Seral acted the way he did with Alice, even though she thought he was controlling and possessive. Aunt Maxie was great as Alice's confidante and her protectiveness. I did not understand Alice at times. She kept pushing Seral away because she has never heard of him, and does not feel she belongs to him or anyone else. However, shortly after she arrives in London, and not having even seen him, she realizes she is in love with him. I was not sure when or how that all of a sudden happened. I can also understand why Alice's mother was afraid Richard would become like his best friend since he was hardly in the novel because he was away at another estate instead of helping his daughters, or even spending time with them.
I had an issue with the grammar and spelling mistakes. That made it confusing to read at times because I had to go back to figure out what was happening because it would go from past tense to present tense at the same time. I did not lower my rating for the errors since it was an error in editing and not the author's fault.
While the HEA happened oddly, the epilogue was very sweet, and showed how Seral's and Alice's personalities made for a wonderful relationship as a couple. It also gives a good idea of how the next novel, about her sister Lisa, will unfold. The plot isn't revealed, it is obvious her road to happiness will definitely be different and still fun.
There is one intimate scene which is written is detail. There is also an attempted assault. This novel is for a mature audience.
I plan to purchase this novel, and read it again.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is my first book by Kim Anderson. I enjoyed reading this story and I was grateful to receive a copy from Netgalley, though I’d had prefer one with less type errors.
Sometimes it’s hard to review a book without spoilers. Even though, I tend to read the las few pages to then enjoy the slow pace of the story, I need to respect that not everyone is the same.
If you are one of those readers that reads a story from a real point of view you may not like the main characters because they are quite ambiguous and tend to be frustrating. I’d have liked to have more information about the past of the main characters to help me put them more in context with the plot, that is my only advice to the author.

Nice easy read with lots of heart. Its written well and find the world and word building a great easy way to spend a few hours reading.

Dear author, sorry but I swear I tried to like it!
The reason for the duchess to have fled was futile and honestly, the way she raised her daughters does not match anyone who had an aristocratic title.
Calling Alice clueless is an understatement! She just knows how to jump to conclusions and go around judging everyone else. The first meeting with the father is something from another world.
Seral, the groom... Bah! "she's my fiancée bla bla bla... I've waited too long for her bla bla bla..." waited so long with other women warming your bed, huh, idiot?!
The only one with a working brain is Lisa, Alice's younger sister. I hope her book is better.
And that was just the first 14 chapters. Total DNF for me!
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