This was such a fun little read! I loved the first book (The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen) and it was so nice to be back in Romney Marsh again, this time following the story of Luke (Goldie from TSLOCG) who is now all grown up!

Rufus is the new Earl of Oxney, but he is beset by issues, mainly his family who are trying to dispute his legitimacy in any way possible. They have been lead to believe they will inherit, whereas due to some goings-on in the family tree, this is not the case. Luke is brought in by the family as another possible contender to the Earldom, but ends up working as Oxney’s secretary instead.

The romance between Rufus and Luke is so sweet; you can tell that they are absolutely crazy about each other. There is quite a lot of deception from Luke’s POV, which make the misunderstandings in the book really smart, but it also made it feel amazing when everything was resolved.

The book has a fun gothic-backdrop with a hint of a cult, lots of gothic architecture, Romney Marsh’s bleak weather and of course a whole lot of romance books.

I thought the twist in the epilogue was pretty unnecessary and actually threw the relationship into question somewhat? I may have read it incorrectly, but I almost wish I hadn’t read the epilogue at all.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own!