The Dangers of Deceiving a Viscount (Desperate Debutantes, Book 3)

The Dangers of Deceiving a Viscount - Julia London Titled heroine is being blackmailed to work as a seamstress for the sisters of the newly-returned Duke's heir Hero. So she pretends to be a widow during her stay at Hero's estate. Heroine has been making dresses incognito for other society ladies when she & her 2 sisters were impoverished & she fears that being exposed as a working woman will taint the political progress her sisters' new husbands are making. As busy as he is in trying to repair the years of neglect & damage due to his father's illness & his being away from home for years, Hero can't help but be fascinated by heroine's beauty & her outspokenness re: his sibling's poor behaviors. They have an affair even though both know that H is actively interviewing debutantes to become his duchess. What will become of heroine when Hero finds a suitable wife?

Reading this London book went pretty well until the end. For 3/4 of the book, the romance was good. Titillating sexual chemistry & sex scenes added to its excitement. The romance challenge wasn't new but London wrote it well enough to make it interesting.

Where this book stumbled for me was how Hero acted when he found out about heroine's true identity. He acted like a big baby! Even though she explained to him verbally & later in writing why she deceived him, he chose to stay mad & morally offended with her for weeks. It wasn't like she deceived him for no good reason & she didn't owe it to him anyway. Both went into their affair fully cognizant of its temporary nature. They both knew that Hero was looking for another woman to marry & was busy at this task when he & heroine weren't together. So his perseverance in being offended by her deception really irked me. I didn't like heroine groveling over this. I'm glad he did finally wise up but I could have done without his acting like a big baby over her deception. He should have groveled over making her feel second-class while they were having an affair.

Recommended with limits.