Ara's husband was killed and now her life is in danger and the crown sends an agent to protect her, only she gets the shock of her life, it is her long lost love Clay the man who betrayed her. Clay was livid that his brother who is also kind of his boss has him protecting the woman that had betrayed him and he hates her and does not want to do the job. They are at each others throats and I have to say that I almost stopped reading because they started to annoy me but then I was happy to have continued. When they both find out what really happened and how they were both played with and lost so much time together, now Clay is going to hold on to Ara and protect her and his family and no one is going to hurt them. My only issue was how come they didn't confront the person or persons that committed this travesty to them..I want justice..

Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) Voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions. ( )

Past betrayals underscore the present!

Betrayed lovers eons ago, Araminta (Ara), Duchess of Burghl the daughter of the Earl of Wickham and Clayton Ludlow, the bastard son of the Duke of Carlisle, are forced into each others company after an eight year rift.
Of course each has a viewpoint about what happened to cause their parting, but they only have half the truth.
Ara's husband has been assassinated and Clayton, a British agent is to be her bodyguard. Neither are happy about this turn of events.
Danger and past mysteries collide as these two battle their feelings for each other.
A good premise for this Victorian romantic intrigue.

A Weaponary Co-Op. ARC via NetGalley ( )

This is an absolutely lovely second chance romance. Two wonderful young people who were very much in love and were torn apart by a nasty fiend. Eight years later, they get their chance to find love with each other again. The story is well written and excellently delivered. I loved both of the main characters and could absolutely feel the love they had for each other even after all that was done to them. Great read.

The story jumps back and forth in time – part of it telling the events of eight years earlier and part of it telling their current story. The main setting is London in 1882 – during the time the Irish Finians are using terrorism to gain home rule for Ireland. Many of their tactics are the same as terrorists use today.

Clayton Ludlow is the illegitimate son of the Duke of Carlisle. The duke raised Clay alongside his legitimate son. The Duke loved Clay’s mother and they all lived together as a family – leaving the Duke’s cold and unfeeling wife on her own. I didn’t understand the little I saw of Clay’s brother, Leo. He was raised in a very loving home with a woman who loved him and treated him as if he were her own. However, he appears to be very aloof and unfeeling in this book. I guess we’ll learn more about him in the next book.

Lady Araminta (Ara) Winters is the youngest child of the Earl of Wickham. She’s bright, funny, loving, and unspoiled. It is kind of hard to imagine her being so sweet given the parents she has. She had two seasons but just hasn’t found anyone who curled her toes.

When she’s out riding one day Araminta sees the most gorgeous young man running down the path. She conceals herself so she can admire him without being seen. She returns the next day and the next and the next before he finally confronts her. They spend more and more time together and fall in love with each other. They finally make plans to marry without her father’s consent and agreed to meet at dawn to leave. Dastardly deeds intervene and each thinks the other has betrayed them.

Eight years later, Clay works for an elite organization in the Home Office and Ara has just become the widow of a duke who was killed by the Finians. The Finians are now threatening Ara’s life as well and the Home Office assigns Clay to her protection. He fights the assignment, but in the end, he has no choice but to accept.

It was a wonderful time watching these two very lovely people find that their love had never died. They slowly come to realize what happened to them all those years ago and they realize that they can now have all they lost.

I definitely recommend this book!

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