Even though both the protagonists are only in their late twenties, this is a second-chance romance. Both eighteen when they first met and fell in love, Lord Hawkridge was talked out of marrying penniless Miss Faith Digby for the good of his failing estate.
Now ten years older and wiser, still desperately trying to bring his bankrupt marquesate back into profit, Hawk is startled to run across Faith again. Still unmarried, still the only woman he’s ever loved, she’s now a considerable heiress. How will she ever believe, though, that he wants her for herself and not her money, when money was the reason he left her all those years ago? When he discovers the secret she’s been desperately trying to hide, though, all bets are off.
Though this is the fourth in Erica Ridley’s Rags To Riches series, I haven’t read any of the others and that didn’t matter in the slightest. The story stands perfectly well alone. Hawk and Faith were absolutely charming together, both of them willing to recognize past mistakes and move on. Hawk’s determination to offer an apology to Faith even though he understood he might not receive her forgiveness, just because it was the right thing to do, made me fall utterly in love with him.
This was such a delightful read. As soon as I finished it, I wanted more. A perfectly crafted gem of a Regency romance, I highly recommend this one to lovers of the genre. Five stars.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through NetGalley.