Every prince has his secrets. And she’s determined to unravel his…

Every young man in London’s ton is vying for Lady Caroline Hawke’s hand—except one. Handsome roué Prince Leopold of Alucia can’t quite remember Caroline’s name, and the insult is not to be tolerated. So Caroline does what any clever, resourceful lady of means would do to make sure Leo never again forgets: sees that scandalous morsels about his reputation are printed in a ladies’ gossip gazette…all while secretly setting her cap for the rakish royal.

Someone has been painting Leo as a blackguard, but who? Socially, it is ruining him. More important, it jeopardizes his investigation into a contemptible scheme that reaches the highest levels of British government. Leo needs Lady Caroline’s help to regain access to society. But this charming prince is about to discover that enlisting the deceptively sweet and sexy Lady Caroline might just cost him his heart, his soul and both their reputations…

This is the second book in the series but the first book by this author I have read and I am very impressed!  So much so that I made it a point to find and add the first book in the series to the top of my TBR list.   I read this book in one sitting and was completely captivated from the first page.  It has fashion, danger, scandal, romance, betrayal, and heroism from an unexpected source.   The author did such a great job building the characters that I felt like I knew them and I could see them vividly in my mind as their story played out.  I really appreciate that this author wasn’t afraid to include political corruption, human trafficking, and sexual slavery (all of which may be considered taboo topics) in this book to add an edge to this story that goes well beyond the typical historical romance scandal.  I find this change from the norm to be both exciting and refreshing, and honestly has made me a big fan.

               The very fashionable Lady Caroline Hawke, has no short supply of potential suitors.  That is when she is at home in London, but she isn’t in London, in fact she isn’t even in England.  She is in Helenamar, Alucia with her brother Beck, to attend the grand wedding of her dearest friend Eliza Tricklebank to Prince Sebastian Chartier.  Who says she can’t do her best to catch the eye of the Prince’s younger brother while she is there?  Sadly Prince Leopold seems to be not only immune to her attention and flirting but to be completely put off by it.  Well just wait until she crosses paths with him again on her own turf!   She will see to it that he isn’t received in any home or invited to any society events!

               Prince Leopold Chartier of Alucia, is a second son who relishes holding that place in the world.   His title opens all the doors of society both at home in Alucia and in London while his birth order allows him to live a life free of any real responsibility.   He fills his days in London with friends, fun, and little worry until his father decides to use him to form a political alliance by arranging for him to marry Lady Eulalie Gaspar, daughter of the Prime Minister of Wesloria, without consulting him first.  Add to that some disturbing information that was dropped in his lap at the same time and that life of luxury is over.  His return to London to tie up loose ends and investigate the validity of the accusations of human trafficking made against his future father in-law turns into a chaotic mess when all of his invitations dry up and he is no longer received in the homes of society after his name is associated with a scandal involving servants.   The last thing he needs is the distracting sister of his only remaining friend, Beck Hawke getting in the way.

               I really enjoyed this book and love the heroine so much! I hope I get to share more books from this author with all of you in the future.

Danielle