Verity Beaumont has suffered domineering men most of her life, first with her father and then with her husband. Free from both men, she has finally found peace. Even meeting a kind and hard-working gentleman who just might be the perfect father her young son so desperately needs. But as she dares look to the future, her carefully ordered world is shattered when her dead husband returns.

Imprisoned in America during the war, Rufus Beaumont, Duke of Blackburn, wants nothing more than to return to his native England. He longs for comfort and safety away from the horrors of battle, only the life he returns to is not the life he left. He must convince his wife that their marriage is worth fighting for, that he’s not the man he was. But when the truth about what happened to him leaks out, he must prove that not everything about him, especially his love for her, is a lie.

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

It’s been six and a half years since the Rufus Beaumont, the Duke of Blackburn disappeared.  Verity Beaumont, the Duchess of Blackburn, is incredibly grateful that the man has been absent in her life. While Rufus courted Verity he was all that was kind and caring.  The minute they were married she found that it was all a façade. He was a mean, vicious, cruel man and she was happy to have him gone.  He left just three months after they married to go to London and then was never heard from again.  Verity had gotten pregnant during those three months but the duke never knew of the boy, Beau.

Verity is moving on with her life and taking charge when suddenly Rufus reappears.  Verity is terrified but when she talks to the duke he seems like a completely different person.  He’s kind, polite, gracious – and he looks different than before – bigger.  Rufus says that it’s because he gained muscle on the ship that he was conscripted to, but that doesn’t explain why he’s taller and his feet grew.  Verity feels attraction for this man but fears that his kindness will disappear, just as it did before.  She suspects that this isn’t really Rufus but does she care?  If this man who looks so much like Rufus wants to be the duke and take care of her family she’s more than happy to have him.

Christopher “Kit” Powell is the bastard son of the previous duke, Rufus’s uncle.  He was once at Blackburn so he knew enough about it to play it off like he was the duke.  He didn’t plan on pretending to be the duke but when he took a room at the local inn they thought he was Blackburn so he decided to give it a go.  He was actually a privateer whose ship had burned.  He was planning on heading to Blackburn to get money from his father but then found out he was dead.  After that revelation he decided to just steal something so that he could buy another ship.  Of course he didn’t expect to fall in love with Verity or her son Beau so he’s stuck.  What does he do?  Move on with his plan to buy a new ship and disappear or stay and pretend to be the duke for the rest of his life?

This book nine in The Untouchables series and though I had only read book one in the series a couple of years ago, I didn’t need to read the other seven books to really enjoy this one.  There is a couple of characters from previous books (I’m not sure which books) that are in this story, but their inclusion in the book was minor.  This story was easily read as a standalone.

Rufus was the bastard husband and I have to say that I so wanted this new, friendly and kind man to be him – changed.  I knew in my heart though that it couldn’t be him because anyone that cruel wouldn’t change that much, no matter what.  If he actually had been conscripted he probably would have come out meaner than before, not nicer.  So it’s Kit that is the duke and I loved him.  He was just such a good man!  He loved learning new things, helping people, playing with Beau…the list is endless.  I was very happy that Kit and Verity fell in love and that she didn’t give a rat’s ass that he was illegitimate.  It was completely a non-issue and I loved that she didn’t care at all.

Verity had lived a hard life.  Supposedly her father was cruel as well but the book doesn’t really get into that – we’re just told.  He does come on page, however, and he was an ass – I can verify. Lol  After having to deal with Rufus when they married I was extremely happy that she found Kit.  She deserved happiness and love and I was thrilled when she received it.

The suspense portion of the story, I thought, was well done.  I liked how Burke unfolded the story little by little, giving us only bits to keep us interested and reading further.  I really enjoyed reading this story and recommend it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Untouchables

Spinster Miss Eleanor Lockhart is suddenly homeless and employment is her only option. Ruined after succumbing to a scoundrel’s excessive charm nearly a decade ago, she’s lucky to obtain a position as a paid companion and committed to behaving with the utmost propriety. She definitely shouldn’t be in the arms of a man capable of utterly destroying what little remains of her reputation...

Titus St. John, Duke of Kendal, is known as the Forbidden Duke, a mysterious, intimidating figure who enters Society just once each year at his stepmother’s ball. A decade ago, he was a devil-may-care rake until his idle roguery brought about the ruin of Eleanor Lockhart—and his resulting self-imposed isolation. Now she’s back, and she needs his help. But by “saving” her, he may just ruin her life all over again.

Eleanor’s father isn’t good with money and constantly makes “investments” that never pan out. He finally goes one investment too far and breaks the bank. He now has to move to a relative’s sheep farm and Eleanor is stuck. She was part of a scandal 10 years earlier after she kissed a man she thought she was in love with. Of course the cad had no intention of marrying her and her ship was sunk. She went off to the countryside and was never heard from again in London society. She knows that none of her family will take her in because of the black cloud over her head. Her sister would love to but since she’s married to a vicar and he won’t let her stay that’s out too. Eleanor writes to an agency in London to try to become a companion. Just 10 days later she’s interviewing for a position and she gets the job.

Eleanor isn’t a companion too long as Lady Satterfield, her employer, decides that Eleanor is too young, too pretty, and too enchanting to be a companion and decides to sponsor another season for her. Eleanor is thrilled but then she meets Lady Satterfield’s step-son from a previous marriage. He is a Duke who is happier to be on his own than in society but appears just once a year at his step-mother’s ball. He was also the unofficial head of a group of rakes ten years earlier. He knows Eleanor by sight because one of “his” rakes was the one who scandalized Eleanor. He felt horrible about her scandal back then and has been living a quiet life ever since. When he sees Eleanor again he is fascinated by her. The more he gets to know her he knows that his life is, once again, going to change.

This was a sweet story. I felt horrible for Eleanor and her situation with the scandal. After one kiss she shouldn’t have been ostracized but I understand that’s how it was back then. She made the best of a bad situation and when her father screwed up she once again made a bad situation good again. I really admired her inner strength after having put up with so much in her life. Even though I thought that Lady Satterfield’s offer to sponsor her kind of came out of the blue it was nice to see her being accepted by the ton.

Titus was a quiet but interesting man. I loved that he came out of his shell for Eleanor but didn’t recognize that he was falling in love with her. The story was pretty angst free and that was refreshing. Though he had a hand in the scandal from 10 years earlier it became a non-issue and that, too, was refreshing.

The story overall was a good one and it was an enjoyable was to spend an afternoon. If you like a simple historical romance with very little heartache this would be a good one to read.

Rating: 4 out of 5