Series:
Lyon's Den (Book 86)
A marriage contract, a life debt, and a love worth
defying fate for..
Lord Samuel Clark, Earl of Alston, woke from the brink of
death to a new life he didn't recognize. To save him, his sister made a deal
with the Widow of Whitehall, trapping Sam in a marriage contract with a total
stranger. But Sam refuses to accept such a cold fate and schemes to free
himself in secret.
When Miss Daisy Blakewood is unscrupulously ousted from
her traveling party, she takes shelter with her brother in the residence of the
recovering Earl of Alston. Free of her strict chaperones for the first time,
Daisy takes the chance to find her voice and forge a new future.
A chance meeting brings Sam and Daisy together, and their
unexpected connection sparks an easy friendship and a secret alliance to help
each other achieve their goals. But the embers of their bond catch fire, and
friendship turns into a forbidden love that could shatter their carefully
constructed worlds..
Will Sam and Daisy find their happily ever after or will
the shackles of fate prove unbreakable?
Fun follow-on to
Pretending to Love a Lyon. In that book,
Lord Samuel Clark suffered a life-threatening injury that put him at death's
door. His best friend Graham Blakewood moved into Sam's house to help Sam's
twin sister, Amelia, care for him. Desperate to save Sam's life, Amelia made a
bargain with Mrs. Dove-Lyon - a top-notch surgeon to care for Sam in exchange
for Sam marrying a woman of the widow's choice. The twists and turns of that
book were fascinating.
As this book opens, Sam finally regains consciousness to
find his life permanently altered. His sister is married to his best friend,
much of society believes he is dead, and he is engaged to an unknown woman. Sam
has no intention of carrying through with the marriage, as he wants a woman he
can love.
In the meantime, Graham's younger sister, Daisy, has been
promised to an earl since childhood. When rumors about her brother's marriage
reach her chaperone, Daisy finds herself summarily exiled from her current
situation. She takes refuge with her brother at Sam's house, where she renews
her acquaintance with him.
I enjoyed the development of Sam and Daisy's
relationship. It begins as a simple friendship, with Daisy keeping Sam company
as he recovers. She witnesses his frustration with his sister's
overprotectiveness and helps him with his secret attempts at rehabilitation. It
doesn't take long for stronger feelings to grow between them, but neither is
truly free to pursue those feelings. Sam must find a way to win his freedom
that will satisfy Mrs. Dove-Lyon, and Daisy must overcome her ingrained need to
please everyone else before attending to her own needs.
The resolution is well done as the Black Widow weaves her
web and pulls the strings to gain her desired outcome. There were some tense
moments as Sam and Daisy each carried out their tasks. Secondary characters
Tristan Chase and Miss Smith provide a couple of twists in the plot. I suspect
we will see them in a subsequent book.
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