“Lord Proper comes undone,”

Can two persons from both sides of the fences find a love together when forces are at stake to trash them.

First I would say I preordered this book because of the cover, the gaze of the model was scorchingly calling, one to not cower.
After I had my doubts about the heroine, I might be prudish but in too many books prostitutes are painted as being beyond redemption, with their jaded soul so shattered it is impossible to mend the pieces back together, or they turned resentful harpies, filled by venom.
I have only read the Bluestocking in this series as I am a newbies to Mrs Christi Caldwell work, so I did know nothing about Clara and how she appeared first.
But I might say Mrs Caldwell got me wrong, by crafting a searing masterpiece of salvation, with the redeeming of the too prim and proper hero while the heroine keeps her head held high.

Clara has always wanted to rely only on herself and always herself, why she is so adamant against accepting help.
She has a past and at time she was robbed of her future by a cunning man. And now she has a way out of her former profession, she is devoted to it as who’s better to understand why these women called fallen need protection and a goal than a woman who lived among them.

« Everything in the world came down to survival, and where women were given little power and even less influence, she’d employ whatever tactics she could to survive. »

Henry has taken the mantle left by her father and became the ruthless peer and very involved MP expected for a man of his position. Driven by guilt, he will do anything to ensure his project receives the right audience.
But when found a breath away from death by a very secret woman, his view of the world in her short contact begins to move on.
During the few days she nursed him back to life, she left a deep imprint in his soul.
But when they meet again, will their society’s station make a difference?
It was such a moving tale, about a woman finding a love that sees past her scars and values her for whom she is really from the inside and a man who really began to live once he meets the one who shatters everything he thought the norm.

« you speak of yourself as if you’re somehow second to anyone, when not even the damned sun could compare with you in brightness. »

The fact the heroes were older added to the thoroughness of this magnificent story of second chance, Henry always so organized and predictable while Clara is figurative boldness. I do fell in love with Henry as never at any moment did he thought of Clara as deserving any less than him. He made mistakes and lied to her but never did he saw her for her former profession, only for the strong woman life has shaped her.

« “Loving someone isn’t about controlling them. It is about loving them and supporting them.” »

A big fat 5 stars for this emotional story which immersed me in some unknown historical events from me and the way of the political world.

I was granted an advance copy through Netgalley by the author but also ordered my own copy. Here is my true and unbiased opinion.

Where does one begin?! Clara is a former courtesan who is opening a music hall. Henry is
Lord Waterson, an MP in Parlaiment, stodgy and stuffy. Clara rescues Henry when he is beaten and about to be killed. She nurses him back,all the while showing him another side to humanity. Henry’s main focus is establishing a police force in England after his sister was injured in an uprising. But through Clara, Henry discovers that Love, and teasing, and listening are more important than control. Watching Henry’s transformation from stuffy to passionate is truly a wonder. Once again, Christi Caldwell writes a tale of imperfect characters finding their way to love. Highly recommend.
I received an ARC of this book.