There's More To This Man Than Satin and Lace.
Perdita Garland is back in society after a serious riding accident sapped her strength and her confidence. The first man who interests her is a popinjay but there is far more under the pampered skin of the enticing Marquis of Petherbridge.
A mistake Perdita makes with the Marquis’s spoiled daughter leads to grave consequences and she finds herself in a strange city alone with his lordship, who is now masquerading as a dock worker. The sheer power under his fine exterior astonishes and delights her. But she has to put right a wrong she caused first.
Newly returned to England from the court of Versailles, English society finds Charles Dalton’s manners and dress astonishing, but they cover a man broken by a disastrous marriage to a faithless wife. Now a widower and determined not to be fooled again, Charles is nevertheless charmed by Lady Perdita Garland and the steely strength of will under the fragile exterior.
When they are plunged into danger, Charles and Perdita have to cope with a dilemma that could ruin the lives of more than one person. Drawn to each other by a desire neither has known before, they are forced to rely on each other’s strengths to win the day.
I was a bit surprised that book 3 was about Perdita and not about Corin, the third brother... but it seems he will have a story soon so all is well…
We knew Perdita in the previous book where she had an important role in bringing about her brother’s happiness. Now, a few months later, she is at the end of another season planning to reject another suitor when her mother introduces her to the Marquess of Petherbridge, a widower looking for a new wife.
Like in the previous book I did like the main characters very much, Perdita a bit more than Charles. I also liked that they were planning to get to know each other slowly and see where that would take them before embarking in a serious relationship. Unfortunately Petherbridge’s sister Millicent get’s involved with a fortune hunter and Perdita feels she should warn him and prevent disaster and the man involved is the one responsible for the accident that left her an invalid in the past.
Her meddling ends up complicating her relationship with Petherbridge as there is some gossip going around about what happened in the previous book and being confronted with it she decides to give him up. But when Millicent elopes with the villain and he takes Petherbridge young daughter as guarantee they both set out to stop them.
During their time together they do give in to their attraction and if there’s one thing I enjoyed was that it didn’t immediately made them decide to marry. They kept thinking if they would deal well with each other, especially Perdita as Charles’s daughter is a very spoiled and annoying little girl and Perdita clearly sees she will be a problem between them.
The villain and Millicent are a bit too bad and I can’t help feeling that they should have had less protagonism, I was quite happy to see Perdita and Charles develop their relationship and I would have been happier just focusing on them.
I am glad to have read the 3 books in a row because book 1 and 2 take place at the same time and book 3 is closely connected to what happened in book 2 so having all the details fresh in my mind was definitely a plus.
Grade: 4/5
Glad you liked the book and series! I have often had to re-read a series because I just could not remember all the details for the next book...so good job on reading them in a row :)
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