Lizzie is rather desperately lonely. The only thing she's ever really wanted from life is to have a family and children of her own, and when she lost her husband after a scant year of marriage, she promptly turns her sights to getting a new one.
Unfortunately, the man who sets his eyes on her is most definitely not marriage material.
Rupert is a wealthy, handsome rake with the firm opinion that widows make excellent mistresses and no desire to marry - ever. Lizzie's charm and her honest innocence could soften even the hardest heart, though, and eventually he succumbs - though not until after managing to weaken Lizzie's resolve not to have any dalliances before she remarries.
I rather enjoyed this story; Regency romance readers don't often get shown the point of view from the rake in the throes of reforming, and Rupert really did have good reasons for his actions, even if he hurt Lizzie in doing some of the things he did.
I haven't read the previous books in the series and it wasn't necessary to follow the plot; this novella stands well on its own. I did think that it was a little short and could have benefited from some more editing; the language choice was at times a little stilted and there were a few punctuation issues that threw me off occasionally. Still, I'm happy to give it four stars and say that I'd gladly read more books by this author.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through The Romance Reviews.