Miss Alice Bursnell is determined to wreak revenge on Nathaniel Eastwood, Viscount Abingdon, for the seduction, ruin, and death of her beloved twin sister Adelaide after being given Adelaide’s locket which had a portrait & the initials NE. As she gets closer to Nathaniel, she finds she is in serious danger of following in her sister’s much-too-tempted footsteps. The man is nothing like the heartless rake she expected and his kisses are truly divine.
Everything is not as it seems & once Alice realises the truth she also realises how attracted she is to Nate. Nate is lovely as far removed from a rakes as can be, he thinks someone is trying to kill him which would play out the family’s history, he’s attracted to Alice but can’t understand why she looks at him with such venom. An easy reading, well written debut novel. The characters are well portrayed & the plot is of an even good pace. I hope some of the secondary characters especially Wessex have their story. The only downside was we don’t have chipmunks in England nor do we use kilometres far better to have been squirrels & miles!

Publisher's Description:

Miss Alice Bursnell is determined to wreak revenge on Nathaniel Eastwood, Viscount Abingdon, for the seduction, ruin, and death of her beloved twin sister. But how to expose a seducer without falling prey herself? As she gets closer to Nathaniel, she finds she is in serious danger of following in her sister’s much-too-tempted footsteps. The man is nothing like the heartless rake she expected...and his kisses are truly divine. Could she be wrong about him?

When a mysterious and gorgeous woman confronts Nathaniel at a fancy ball, he suspects she has murder on her mind—his own. But the more he tries to determine who the deceptively innocent beauty is—and what she’s up to—the deeper he falls under her alluring spell. Nathaniel fears he’s in imminent danger of losing his life...or worse, his heart.

My Thoughts:
This is a well written and surprising debut novel.
Alice has been grief stricken by the death of her twin whom she lost in childbirth. Her sister was unmarried and had been ruined by an unknown gentleman. Alice suddenly is presented with a clue to the man's identity when she is given her sister's locket which once contained a miniature of her likeness. That is no longer the case. It now contains a miniature of a man, her sister's lover and the cause of her death.
Determined to make the man pay, she sets her course to find him. Now, a year later she spies that face across a crowded ballroom.
Nathaniel is a shy and often clumsy gentleman. When a beauty seems to set her sites on him at his friends ball he is in shock. Then she saves his life and he in turn saves certain scaring of her. When he sees the look in her eyes though, he is certain she dislikes him for reasons unknown to him.
This convoluted and often comical tale is a winner.
I gave this book 4.5 of 5.0 stars for storyline and character development and a sensual rating of 3.5 of 5.0 flames. The intimacy is quite mild in this story.
I received a complimentary digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley to read.
This in no way affected my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

What a great read. I was hooked right from the beginning. Alice was easy to relate to right from the beginning. Had me laughing and crying.

A whole lot happened in that prologue.

Someone actually tried to poison him?

She wants to kill him, but she saves him from a rogue chandelier? Is it a case of "If I don't kill him, no one else can"?

Wait a minute. He thinks his own brother is trying to kill him?

I would have loved to have seen the inside of Westminster Abbey. It was closed when I went to London.

Huh. Lady Claire might actually be the culprit.

Nicholas is decidedly less evil-sounding than I expected.

It's so much easier for a woman to undress nowadays.

Life would be so much easier if women made all the decisions.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Alice is a twin, her sister was sent away, when she became pregnant and they both died.. Alice was out for revenge. She was going to make him suffer greatly. Lord Nathaniel Eastwood, Viscount Abingdon, was a twin also. But for the past six generations, only second sons became earls. So his twin was sent away so he could not hurt Nate.
This was an amazing story, so much intrigue. The descriptions put you into the scene, like the fields of Daffodils, with their yellow heads bouncing in the breeze. The characters seemed authentic and the dialogue fit the action. The plot had a few twists that the author did a great job of presenting them, It made it an easy read. I really loved this story, there were so many feelings being shown, revenge, loneliness, fear and eventually love. There are some sexy scenes. So it gets a little hot. I read this book in one sitting, I wanted to know who was trying to kill Nate and if it was for the earldom.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I started this book because I have not read a revenge story in quite some time and wanted something a little darker. While this book wasn't the tale I was expecting I ended up still being swept up in its plot. I liked the characters (especially Nathaniel in an odd case where I like the hero more than the heroine) and found the writing to be strong. The end was a little convoluted but it did not detract from my enjoyment. I will be looking for the next in the series.

This is a new author for me and I have to say that really enjoyed this book! Nate and Alice have a steamy romance that is mixed in with some mystery. As a character, Nate grew on me. He seemed like a hapless, awkward man to start off but after a few interactions with Alice, I could see how kind, shy, and self-conscious he was. These characteristics made me sympathize with him more. The possible romances between some side characters makes me hopeful that there will be a sequel. This was. a read I'd recommend!

This novel was a nice read. It involves romance and revenge. However, one needs to have all the facts otherwise their choices can have disastrous consequences. Nothing is ever as it seems.
Miss Alice Bursnell blames Nathaniel Eastwood, Viscount Abingdon for the death of her twin sister, who died in childbirth. Alice sent one year gathering information for revenge only to find out there was more she did not know. Nathaniel is a shy man and does not always appear comfortable in his position. When Alice saves his life, he does not trust the look in her eyes. Alice is stubborn and goes ahead with her plans, even when she learns the truth about Nathaniel's twin brother. She still wants revenge and Nathaniel wants to stop her, which creates much conflict between the two, since they have developed an attraction and fondness for the other. Nathaniel has been dodging death traps, since the second born son in his family ends up inheriting the earldom. I felt like the novel did not fully explain the attempts on Nathaniel's life well or the true reason behind the attempts.
Nathaniel falls in love with Alice, but is frustrated she cannot get past her revenge. However, he still needs to resolve certain issues with his brother. As Alice realizes she is falling in love with Nathaniel, she needs to make a choice between revenge and the man she loves.