A maimed woman, Harriet, is forced to finally make her debut with her twin sister and her cousin. While they are off dancing, Harriet spends her time with the wallflowers trying to avoid the men that think she is desperate to marry just anyone. Running into her brother’s scandalous friend Jasper they reconnect their friendship. Jasper sees Harriet as a brave and compassionate woman and would pursue her hand in marriage if only he did not have a big scandal about to break about himself. I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Harlequin for my honest review.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was a pleasant read, with likeable characters and flashes of humour, although there wasn't really much of a plot - there didn't seem to be much keeping Hattie and Jasper apart from about the half-way mark. There were numerous anachronisms which took me out of the story: Hattie addressing a footman incorrectly and being put right by him, 'reporters' besieging a house, phrases like 'What's not to like?'

I wanted to review this because I’ve never read a harlequin. I know. All the regency romance and not one harlequin. But I liked this author’s Merriwell sisters series, so I figured this was a safe bet.

Jasper, the Earl of Beaufort, hasn’t seen Lady Harriet Fitzroy, his friend’s sister, since before her life-changing riding accident. Hattie is now disabled and walks with pain and with a limp. Most people disapprove of Jasper’s scandalous past and his Reprobate’s Club, even though he’s clawed his way out of his family’s debt with his business. He’s recently found himself the guardian of his former mistress’s child.

Hattie knows she has a life to live after her accident, but her justifiable feelings of exclusion were well represented. She’s a fully fledged character. Jasper is struggling between his old ways and his new path and how people view him. He’s not as well developed but that’s only by comparison to Hattie.

It’s nice seeing disability rep in a historical, especially with a female character. It’s usually the male MC who’s injured in a war and now disabled. Hattie used humor to deflect pity and is honest about her good and bad moments.

The language is not regency accurate and the period’s social setting isn’t any better. The pacing was a little slow, even for a slow burn. There’s a lot of telling in certain sections—including a supposedly romantic letter at the end that we never see—and the misunderstanding too drawn out for two people who had talked out everything else so well.