A Delicate Deception
Ratings5
Average rating4.6
When Amelia Allenby escaped a stifling London ballroom for the quiet solitude of the Derbyshire countryside, the very last thing she wanted was an extremely large, if--she grudgingly admits--passably attractive man disturbing her daily walks. Lecturing the surveyor about property rights doesn't work and, somehow, he has soon charmed his way into lemon cakes, long walks, and dangerously heady kisses. The very last place Sydney wished to be was in the shadow of the ruins of Pelham Hall, the inherited property that stole everything from him. But as he awaits his old friend, the Duke of Hereford, he finds himself increasingly captivated by the maddeningly lovely and exceptionally odd Amelia. He quickly finds that keeping his ownership of Pelham Hall a secret is as impossible as keeping himself from falling in love with her. But when the Duke of Hereford arrives, Sydney's ruse is revealed and what started out as a delicate deception has become a love too powerful to ignore. Will they let a lifetime of hurt come between them or can these two lost souls find love and peace in each other?
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Featured Series
3 primary books#3 in Regency Imposters
Regency Imposters is a 3-book series with 3 released primary works first released in 2018 with contributions by Cat Sebastian.
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I actually really, really loved this book. Which is a relief considering my feelings on the previous two in the series. This rating is probably a little higher than the book truly deserves - but it gets that rating because I relate to Amelia so much. I see so much of myself in her anxiety - and even a little in the way she handles it. Because of this, around the halfway point, I hated her a little. I think I'm harsher than I should be on people who share personality traits with me that I don't consider positive.
That being said, I do like both Amelia and Sydney and I like them together. Their romance is built on light things. Yes, neither of their lives are perfect or simple, but they bring out the best in each other and do it with jokes and laughter. It's nice.
I'm also very glad that all that rubbish from the first two books with the heroine not wanting to marry but the hero wanting to so of course they do wasn't in this book. So very, very glad.
I would like to add that with everything that is going on in my life right now, this book was not as much escapism and much more wish fulfillment than expected. Or wanted. Truly, I wish I could escape to the country and spend my days writing inaccurate historical novels and taking solo walks. God, I'd jump at that chance.
Finally, this book is very, very queer. Both leads are bi, there is a gay secondary character and an aro/ace secondary character. (And likely another gay secondary character, but at the very least one that is attracted to the same gender.)
