Blake Edison, textile importer, and one of the richest men in London, has no title, but he swore an oath to destroy Duke of Somerset. The heartless bastard, eager to protect his own reputation, allowed Blake's mother to suffer and die by deliberately refusing to help, and Blake ended up an orphan on the streets. But circumstances have changed. Blake had been buying up Duke's debt slowly, and he will destroy Duke's latest plan... To have his son (Blake's half-brother) marry Lady Willow Gilchrist for her dowry left by her grandmother, in exchange for two estates... // Lady Willow understood duty to family. She loves to design clothing, but that is scandalous in itself, so it's only in secret. She met Blake, and they share a common passion: textiles. The attraction is immediate, but neither can act on it. Lady Willow knew she was promised to the son of Duke of Somerset, in order to secure two estates to help her family's future, as the two younger brothers have no estates to support themselves. And Duke of Somerset is eager to get her dowry to fulfill his debts. Yet her heart already belongs to Blake...
Ah, taboo and forbidden love, good setting, nice intrigue, and good amount of angst. Yet the story just feels... full of logical holes. Being one of the richest men, Blake had no guards or attendants. And why the Duke ordered an attack on him also made no sense. Duke doesn't know Blake was his "bastard son", yet instead of attempting to negotiate for his debt, he simply went ahead and ordered the attack on Blake for POSSIBLY interfering with Lady Willow's plan to marry his son. There was also Blake doing a totally virtuous thing... when he could have seduced Lady Willow just as the Duke feared. And Lady Willow TOTALLY did NOT react when she finally learned WHY. The end also felt a bit deus ex machina, when it was finally revealed that Duke actually doesn't own the estates in question. He sold them off long ago to fund his ill-fated investments. How can Lady Willow's family not insist on some verification before committing their daughter's dowry and future? Feels TSTL.
4/5
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