Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath

First line:  When I was five years old, my mum sold me.

This is a tough story, full of emotional highs and lows, including the disturbing subject of child abuse, overcome.

The heroine’’s husband, the Duke of Lovingdon, died unexpectedly.  The death appears suspicious, and she is a suspect.  But the reading of the will in the opening of the story shows a hero who is not a smooth talker.  A hero who lives his life for money.  So when the duke bequeaths his entire unentailed fortune to this man who grew up in the stews of London as a pickpocket – a good one, no less  - no one is more surprised than he.  Or happier.  He’s richer than he’d ever thought possible.

The heroine is devastated, furious, blindsided.  Who wouldn’’t be when a stranger has invaded her life?  Follow a man who goes through her home evaluating the value of each and every object?  Her five-year-old son is now the ward of a man who abhors society and authority and good manners.  As London’’s most virtuous duchess, she may find she is all too human.

For:  Readers who want the satisfaction of circle completion.  A good read. -   Kathy Wheeler

Get it at Amazon.