Abigail, a widow, husband dies at a young age. After years of being beaten and abused by him she vowed never to marry again. Lord Hatfield met Wang at an early age when he defended Colin from bullies. Afterward they got together and formed a successful business. Wang through ancient ways helped Colin eased the pain from his twisted spine. To save Abigail from being forced to marry and to perform his duty to have a heir, they we'd. He promises her full freedom if she provides him an heir. It is a love story in the making which I read as an ARC and highly recommend to others.

First, thank you Lavinia Glen for writing a story that represents how past $exual experiences and trauma can impact a woman. While I don’t have the exact experience of the heroine, I have struggled with my own past experiences and the mental toll that it takes on a relationship in an intimate way. I’ve seen many stories where women have had their share of past trauma, but this one was explained so well and was so real. It is something hard to work through - even with an understanding partner. This was refreshing!

Colin was a wonderful hero. He had his own past trauma from a physical deformity and all the bullying that came from it. While he appeared brooding and hard, he was kind and generous. He lacked confidence to believe a pretty and good woman would truly want to choose him, but he had the heart of a Lion.

Abigail was a complex character too. She fit well with Colin as she was also kind and generous.

My only qualm with the story was the lack of communication the couple had. They both had a ton of past trauma, but neither of them ever had an inkling of “maybe I should discuss this with the other” until the very end. I understand lack of communication helps build some of the angst of the story, but I found myself frustrated that they didn’t even show any internal dialogue of considering to share their hard past. I can understand people being scared to be vulnerable, and that would have been fine. I just would have liked to see that they had an internal struggle to share.

Overall, a great book and I enjoyed it.

I loved this book from the beginning to the end!!

Two characters who are flawed not only marry for convenience but they both have their own difficulties in trusting people because of bullies..

This story shows just because someone may seem tough and brave on the outside doesn't mean they aren't going through something on the inside...

I definitely enjoyed seeing how the two characters were able to end up understanding each others and loving each other..

I can't wait to read the next book in this series

I was pulled in by the story line: An emotionally broken, estranged Peer returns to claim his title and fix the mess of the estate he inherited from his disapproving father. He meets his stepmother and half sister and their companion. He is a decent chap - a doctor of some renown in America - and treats them all well. He even falls for the companion and marries her.

Somewhere along the way, the story goes off the rails. The hero hardly uses his doctoring even though his stepmother is in need of medical expertise. Near the end, he gets the chance to show off his skills, but his being a doctor is not important to the plot, which is a pity.

The heroine is estranged from her father and brother - no background given. She has so much angst regarding her past marriage, it gets in the way of her new marriage. That goes double for the hero who is thoroughly demoralized by an event that happened to him in his teens. Both the H and h can be annoying, as they wallow in their heads.

There are two villains, both very one-dimensional. The main villain just bursts into the plot line near the end with a sensational but strangely boring backstory.

The former countess runs off with the hero’s mentor without a word to anyone, leaving her debuting daughter with the H and h. The young woman has to be at least 17 given her come-out, but she acts 11.

The hero’s friendship with Gabriel who he knew for a day when he was a teenager seems contrived and awkward. As does the heroine’s friendship with a Duke, who, by the way, after supplying a jealousy plot point, disappears completely.

There were a number of places in the book where the story jumped as if a page or two was missing. Overall, it was rather a disjointed tale with lots of loose ends. The writing was decent, but the plot execution needed work.

I was happy to read a romance novel that did not dwell on the drama too much, nor made the female characters lacking in foresight, or reason.

Colin and Abigail’s story is so touching Amazing that the pain and trauma of the past shapes our futures. This is a beautiful love story of two broken hearts coming together to find redemption and healing.

I was almost embarrassed by the details of the couplings described. However, I enjoyed the story despite all the salacious details

It's rare to get a good historical romance with a deformity involved that wasn't just glossed over. This was a great read of Colin and Abigail and their path to learning to communicate in order to trust and truly love.

A quick read easily finished in an hour. It was fine, but not really for me.

Both Abigail and Colin had traumatic pasts, hers due to the abuse suffered at the hands of her previous husband and his due to a deformed back. When he inherited the earldom Colin returned from abroad to take up his new responsibilities. Abigail was his stepmother's companion but soon Colin wanted her to be much more.

Abigail agreed to a marriage of convenience as there were mutual benefits but gradually their love blossomed which caused complications as each of them thought the other didn't love them.

I enjoyed the story and the characters were all great although I felt frustrated with and Abigail because of their lack of communication. This carried on for far too long until near the end of the story. There was some dangerous episodes in the story but they were very brief, the last one resolved too quickly.

There was great chemistry between Colin and Abigail and several steamy sessions. I loved the little sayings that Wang, Colin's friend, used when giving him advice.

My first read by this author, but I enjoyed it. I really liked both characters and how even though their backgrounds were different, they each ended up scared in very similar ways. As another reviewer commented, they are of the time when people didn't communicate and this provides a lot of the angst once they marry. I must admit, it's the first time I've read a HR where the h as this particular issue (I don't want to give away anything). However, I'm not sure why she assumes that all men would think the same as her husband, who was an arse by all accounts, when obviously once she and Colin become intimate, his reaction seems totally different to me. And yet, she's stuck on hearing her husband's voice in her head. I guess part of the problem too, is that women didn't even really speak to each other about the "marital act" so how would they know what was or was not considered "normal".

I was surprised Colin didn't use his doctoring skills more - maybe it's because he was a surgeon? As there is another doctor who attends Abigail when she's pregnant. But I feel like that was a waste - to not have his skills show up I mean.

Unlike some other books, a fair amount of time passes in this story, so there is no rush to the development of their relationship. But I have to say I did find it a little jarring a the end when Ester shows back up from America married! She was an important part of the book early on and I would have liked it if we had been able to follow her journey back to walking and the trip to America! I think an extra few pages here and there with her progress, would have made the ending more complete.