Part of The London Trilogy by Sherry Thomas
First published 2010
Elissande Edgerton has one goal: escape her uncle's house. He controls her movements, her money, her future. Marriage is the only door out, and she intends to walk through it. When Lord Vere arrives as a houseguest, he looks like the answer. He plays the fool brilliantly, all vacant smiles and Society gossip, and Elissande engineers a scandal that forces him to the altar. What she does not know is that Vere is no idiot. He is a government agent who has spent years hunting criminals behind that carefully constructed mask of stupidity. He came to her uncle's estate on a case. Now he is a husband, and his cover is in danger. Trapped together, each one hiding something real, Elissande and Vere circle each other with suspicion and desire in equal measure. She wants freedom. He wants answers. A secret buried in the past threatens both of them before they can decide whether the person beside them is an ally or one more obstacle. The question underneath everything is simple and hard: can two people built from deception learn to trust?
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, adult, adult-fiction, historical-romance, mystery-thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, emotionally-complex, intimate, suspenseful, tension-filled
Tropes: deception, enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating, forced-proximity, slow-burn-romance
Setting: Uncle's estate
Period: 19th-century
417 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Bantam
Content warnings: abuse, emotional-abuse