This must be book 3 or 4 that I read by this author. None of the other was a complete winner (although they did tempt me to continue reading her but this one was the one I had higher expectations and that ended disappointing me the most. Evie and Lucas seemed like the perfect fit in the previous books I read. They also seemed like usual type of couple we find in these books that end with the rake saved by the love of a good woman. I do like that type of plot when it is well done so I was looking forward to it.The thing is that the story I got was a bit different. First there is more to Evie than what I had known (I haven't read all the books in this series so people who have may have known more about her) and Lucas, despite still being a like able character is involved in something that I didn't like. I did like that they joined forces and decide to strike their deal to avoid marriage, it was obvious things would turn out the way they did but I still liked it.My problem was that what kept Evie from marriage was something that Deene would never blame her for. I kept thinking that if she would just confide in him everything would be better. She ended up being a very tortured character when, in my opinion, there was no need for that. I also wasn't very enthusiastic with all that talk about horses...Regarding Deene he was a regular nice guy and I had a hard time understanding him wanting to have guardianship of his niece. It is never really explained what happened in the past to make him feel so and just a paragraph about his sisters marriage to that man. I could see a mile away who the bad guy was and even wondered if he didn't have some bad deeds in his past regarding Deene's sister but that is never really explored. I suppose that in the end I felt that they were two nice characters but there wasn't a reasonable plot to show them in the best light. The angles that were developed didn't appeal to me and those that I thought could be developed weren't. Oh and I find book covers with half naked man completely boring and unattractive, I wish publishers would stop this trend!Grade: 2/5 4.50 Stars. I was happy to come back to the Windham's and at times they remind me of Kleypas's Hathaways, which makes me love it even more. GB's writing is different then LK's, but there are similarities. 7 years ago Lady Eve made a bad decision, one that not only effected her physically, but emotionally as well. She knows that she must marry, but knows that due to her past, that nothing other than a white marriage will do for her. So for sure Lucas Denning is out of the running. But once Lucas is gets it in his head that Evie is the only woman that will do for him, then Katie bar the door. I loved Lucas on one hand, but wanted to hit upside the head with the other. He was so blind where Dolan and Anthony was concerned. I wish that we would have got more ending where him and Dolan could have talked further about Lucas's sister and how Dolan truly felt about her. We read it in Dolan's head, but not where he and Lucas talked about it. I also at least wanted to see Lucas confront Anthony for what he had done. Anthony got off way to easy for that. Lucas was good for Evie though, in that he knew what she was capable of and never let her back down from her fences as it were. I love visiting this family and can't wait for the next book in the series. It was still an awesome read and my niggles are minor in comparison to the overall goodness in the book. Might we have a short coming with Dolan and his pretty governess? I hope so! If you haven't read this series, I suggest that you start with the Heir, not because you would be lost if you read this book instead, just because this is such a great series.
