Decisions, decisions, decisions…

Synopsis

Luke, Viscount Enstone’s, resolve to avoid a love match is tested to its limit when he accepts responsibility for the Davenport family.

Luke has found it hard to sort out his late father’s affairs. A dishonest secretary and ailing land agent have left the family estates in disorder. With new people in place, he sets off to one of his smaller properties to discover the extent of an obligation that seems out of keeping with the cold-hearted father he remembers. Who is the young woman living at Shepley Hall and what was her connection to his father?

Miss Kitty Davenport has waited for a long time to find out if the new Viscount Enstone will continue the support his father gave to her family and her patience is wearing thin. Will he carry on paying for her young brother’s education and even assist him in finding a career? For herself, all she needs is help to find a suitable position as a companion and to escape from the unwanted attentions of a persistent suitor.

My review

Luke, also known as Viscount Enstone, is having a hard time sorting out his late father’s affairs. Not only has he discovered that his father had a dishonest secretary, also his land agent has left the family estates in disorder.
And on top of it all, he finds out that his father had agreed to let Miss Kitty Davenport stay at Shepley Hall, his property.  This is totally out of character for the cold – hearted man. So now Luke wants to know what Kitty’s connection was to his father.

Kitty on the meantime hopes that the new Viscount will continue the support. Because it’s not only her future at stake, but also her brother’s… All she truly cares about is that her brother can finish his education, while for herself she only wants to find a position as a companion, as an escape from the unwanted attention of a suitor who doesn’t understand the meaning of “no”.

Will Luke and Kitty be able to get on the same page?

Okay, I know that the readers will know how the story will end, so you may think that it’s not worth it starting reading it.
But I assure you it’s absolutely worth it! There are several twists in it that will surprise you!

Immediately from the start I pitied Kitty. She wants to be a strong independent woman, but she doesn’t have the options. Especially when it’s explained how she got into this situation, it was truly a sad moment… Yet I found it also a bit suspicious. On one hand, it sounded like a reasonable explanation, but on the other hand, the more I got to know about Kitty and her past and her father, the more it seemed just so out of character. It was all too convenient when her father lost everything on a game…

But I have to say, Kitty is also a smart woman. She is absolutely not waiting for her Knight in Shining Armour, but she wants to make her own decisions. She is also a very caring woman. She does not treat the housekeeping as just servants, but she truly cares about them. And it’s lovely to see how the feelings are mutual.
But the epitome of her caring is that how she puts her brother before everything. Even if this means she has to start working herself, nothing is too much asked as long as it helps her brother.

Luke is a man that gave me mixed feelings. He is determined to find out the truth about his father and his agreement concerning the Davenports, but when he starts thinking in a certain way, I thought he was being too prejudiced and quickly with his beliefs. And that irked me. Instead of asking for the truth, he just made assumptions.
But during the story it becomes clear he has his own demons to chase away, and that actually he is a nice man and also a very caring brother.
He may seem like a very cold and distant character, afraid of commitment, but when he make an impulsive decision, for Kitty’s sake, it’s just so obvious there is more to him than I thought. And that I had to see him in a different light.

I loved reading how Kitty and Luke were getting closer, but I got so frustrated reading how Luke sometimes behaved. I got angry at some characters, for their horrendous behaviour, admired Kitty’s courage and swooned over the sweet, tender moments (not only between Luke and Kitty, but also how Kitty was easily accepted in the family).

This story was fun to read, with the sweet moments, the action (yes, actual action!) and the ability to put it all perfectly together without having the idea it didn’t match in the bigger picture.