⭐⭐⭐⭐ Was I hooked by that book? For sure. The charming and flirty dialogue effectively offsets the tension created by the potentially devastating secrets and self-doubt.

Eliza Pierce and her two sisters built Elegant Occasions from the ground up after Eliza’s husband died in the war and left her with nothing. Nathaniel Stanton, Earl of Foxstead and her husband’s best friend, wants to hire the trio to help a war widow under Nathaniel’s care find a husband. Jocelyn makes googly-eyes at Nathaniel and her young son adores him, leaving Eliza to wonder what the truth about their relationship is. Nathaniel can’t keep his eyes (and hands) off Eliza and Eliza is ready to explore this attraction, but there may be too many secrets that could upset everything.

MY THOUGHTS

Nathaniel had some skeletons in his own closet and he was also keeping secrets surrounding Jocelyn and her son. So while his feelings for Eliza were very real, their interactions were always clouded by the things he refused to share with her. Eliza realized that he was being cagey, and she didn’t put up with that for long. I loved how she consistently stood up for herself, against her father as well, despite the fact that her late husband had planted a bunch of doubts about herself in her mind. Nathaniel was very self-aware about his faults and he felt that he didn’t deserve Eliza. His playful nature brought Eliza out of her serious shell. I loved the moments when they gave in to their attraction. Their flirting positively sizzled.

Both characters went through growth and changes and had to learn to be more open with each other. The mystery about Jocelyn had me in knots too and I devoured the book fairly quickly. I was eager to know everything and to see Eliza and Nathaniel together.

This book is part of a series about the three sisters, but it stands well on its own too. The first book does an excellent job of explaining the start-up of Elegant Occasions and you don’t want to miss that. I can highly recommend this book if you like steamy historical romance with a strong female lead.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Were you hooked by that book? Let me know in the comments below.

Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Warm
Series: Designing Debutantes
Other books in the series: A Duke for Diana