*Book source ~ Picked up for free on Amazon

Lady Malvina Brackney is in a pickle. She’s being blackmailed to do some dirty work for a nasty man in exchange for his not revealing her husband’s private journal. Gideon Mallory de Witt, otherwise known as Lord Holt, is sent by the Home Office to suss out if the widow is guilty of the same treason they suspect of her dead husband and to find proof if she is or isn’t. To complicate matters, Malvina has a 16-yr-old son Beowulf who is in danger of being harmed if she doesn’t cooperate with the blackmailer. Can Gideon get to the bottom of things and keep everyone safe? Will Malvina trust him to do what he does best?

This historical romance is well-written with great characters, but I found the romance hard to believe. Gideon and Malvina don’t trust each other yet suddenly Gideon is offering to marry her to keep her and her son safe and preserve her reputation and she is agreeing. Well, I can see why she’d agree. She’s stuck between a rock and a hard place and to keep them safe she would marry Gideon who has many secrets yet seems to be an ok guy. Still…I just couldn’t buy into it. I needed more than what was given. The ending left me a bit bewildered because I saw no reason for what happened.

All-in-all this is a solid historical romance if you can buy into Gideon’s insta-love. ( )