Book Blurb:
A Regency Romance with Forbidden Love, Secret Identity, and Bodyguard Protection.
By day, Janelle Caddick is the perfect baron's daughter—elegant, demure, and newly engaged to the powerful Lord Benedict. By night, she becomes Betty Gill, a skilled midwife slipping through London's tenements to deliver babies in places where no respectable lady would go. She's kept her dangerous double life hidden for years, until Major Gabriel Vance is assigned as her bodyguard.
Gabriel is Lord Benedict's right-hand man. When he discovers Janelle sneaking around, he expects scandal. What he finds instead is a woman risking everything to save lives that society has deemed unworthy.
Now Gabriel must choose: destroy Janelle by exposing her secret or protect her from dangers she can’t even see. Worse, the more time he spends guarding her, the harder it becomes to remember she belongs to his closest friend.
As Janelle fights to save mothers and babies, Gabriel fights his growing feelings for a woman he can never have. And Lord Benedict watches them both, hiding secrets of his own—secrets that could either shatter their world or forge something far more extraordinary than any of them dared to imagine.
In Regency London, a lady's reputation is everything. But some secrets are worth protecting... and some loves are worth every risk.
Tropes:
*High Gravity Audio Books ALC *Historical Romance *Fierce/Independant FMC *Body Guard MMC
*Marriage of Convenience *Arranged Marriage *Secret Identity *Forbidden Love *Forced Proximity
*Class Difference *Love Triangle *spice *multiple POV's
Trigger warnings involved check prior to reading
Thoughts:
Janelle (FMC) from a young age learned to obey her father (the Baron)... all while continuing to do what she wanted in her spare time, as long as she was present and proper at the right times her father never took notice to what she was doing outside of this time and so began her secret work learning as much as she could on how to take care of those in labor first with animals then delivering human babies, her work means the world to her and it's incredibly important that whatever happens she be able to continue her role as Betty Gill the midwife.
Out of the blue Janelle arrives home late from a long night out caring for mother's and finds that her father has arranged a marriage for her with Lord Benedict a man she doesn't even know she is then told that she has to accept as her father already has agreed... at first against this idea since this is a stranger she then learns that her soon to be husband is frequently out of the country for work and can provide her with enough income to continue her work, she'll have time to get to know him prior to their wedding and she might grow to at least like him as a friend during that time.
Unfortunately Janelle has very little time with Lord Benedict but in his place he has sent his best friend and most trusted ally to escort her to events --> Gabriel is incredibly handsome, strong, and protective he is also annoying and far too nosy he has been looking into her life and doesn't approve he knows she's hiding something and he's going to find out what it is and stop this wedding before it's too late!
Naturally tempers flare over the course of Janelle and Gabriel's time together and passion ignites, though time spent together was very unwanted at first... it becomes hard to stay away from each other before too long especially once Gabriel finds out what Janelle's after hours activities are and begins to show up to see how he can help.
Janelle and Gabriel were easy to like and I found myself wanting them to find a way to be together throughout the whole book just when one of them found a way to make things work something would fall thru making it seem unobtainable again.
My heart truly went out to our three lead characters in this story all struggling with their own battles:
First we have Janelle who is an aristocrats daughter and because of that is forced to abide by society rules and regulations if word got out she was helping the under class/under priveledged members of the town it would be a true scandal... and that shouldn't be the case, proper medical care should be available to all not just the upper class that can afford it.
2nd --> Gabriel is the son of a Duke and while you would think that would leave him in a better position than most... it doesn't because his mother worked in a brothel and he was born out of wed lock, this of course is not his fault but he was treated unfairly by everyone including his parents and still to this day his mother talks down to him. He has gone out of his way to prove to himself and society that he is a man of honor and has shown his skills time and time again in battle and after for the crown.
Then we have Lord Benedict he never believed that he would be in his current situation forced to marry someone he doesn't want to marry and produce an heir... his older brother passed away and the weight of his family's stress fell onto him. He knows that he is playing with fire having his employee and closest friend escort his soon to be wife around town but he is a busy and powerful man and he knows that they will get through this together. He has his own secrets but knows that Janelle has a big secret she doesn't want getting out and this is why she is the only woman that he can marry.
While I did see where the book was going prior to the end of the book I was hoping for a different outcome or at least a better conversation between everyone involved before things went too far, the ending is not your usual historical romance HEA. This wasn't my favorite in the series but it was heartfelt and different from my usual historical romance choices which made for an interesting read.
I received this ALC from High Gravity Audio books and the narrators were awesome! I've loved them throughout the previous 2 books in this series that I listened to as well, I did go from the 2nd book to this 4th book but it can be read as a stand alone so I don't feel I missed out by not getting to the 3rd book in the series quite yet and plan to listen to the 3rd book soon.
Trigger warnings include multiple physical assaults on Janelle (by her father) on page and mentioned that happened in the past. Gabriel's mother is very emotionally abusive and allows her workers to treat him poorly as well.
Have you read this book?/ Series? What did you think?
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