Series: Society of Wicked Gentlemen (Book 3)
Claiming the courtesan's child…
It's been more than three months, but Oliver Gregory still remembers the exquisite night he shared with a beautiful woman in Paris. Discovering her working at the discreet London gentlemen's club he owns comes as a shock…even more so when he realizes she's pregnant!
Oliver knows the pain of being an outcast and will do all in his power to ensure his child is not born illegitimate. Cecilia will return to his bed…as his wife!
Good book about two lonely people with difficult lives who are brought together by chance. Cecilia is an Englishwoman left penniless in Paris after the war when her soldier husband dies in a duel. To support herself, she goes to work as a courtesan, but one with an unusual way of conducting business. Knowing what it's like to be hungry, she uses some of her wages to feed the street children, which brings her to the attention of Oliver.
Oliver is part owner of a gentlemen's club in London. He has come to Paris to get ideas to take back home. Wandering along the banks of the river, he finds himself reflecting on his life. The bastard son of a nobleman and his Indian mistress, he was taken to England with his father. He was raised by his indifferent father and an unpleasant stepmother who lost no opportunity to put him down. School was no better until he made a few good friends, with whom he later opened the club. But he's grown tired of the club's activities and wonders what it would be like to have a normal life. It's at this point when he meets Cecilia and is captivated by her combination of strength, beauty, and vulnerability. They spend a lovely day together just seeing the sights and go on to have a passionate night together. But that is all they can have, and Oliver returns to London, where he can't forget her.
Fate isn't done with them yet. Cecilia finds herself pregnant and without a job. She returns to England, hoping to reconcile with her family. When that doesn't happen, she has no choice but to find work and is hired as a hostess by one of Oliver's partners, unbeknownst to him. To find the woman he can't forget working in his own club comes as quite a shock, but not as big as the one he's about to get. Oliver had never seen himself as a husband and father, but he refuses to let a child of his suffer as he has done. The problem is getting Cecilia to agree.
I enjoyed the development of Cecilia and Oliver's relationship. Both of them have major trust issues that need to be overcome. Cecilia was badly abused by her husband and refuses to put herself under the control of another man. Oliver may seem nice now, but her husband had been nice at first, too. I ached for Cecilia and her fears, as she keeps a wary eye on Oliver. His bouts of temper do not help his cause. I really liked Oliver. He is an honorable man who wants to do right by Cecilia. I loved seeing his protectiveness, even though he has his doubts about the truth of her claim. The more time they spend together, the closer they grow, but it is still a roller coaster of a relationship. They must fight their own doubts and fears, as well as interference from outside forces. I liked how it was Oliver who first understood his feelings and tried to make Cecilia see. I ached for him when she let her fears win. His feelings of loss were so intense I cried for him. I loved the ending, as Cecilia finally believed the truth about Oliver and his feelings for her. The epilogue was great.
As with the previous books, Oliver and the others still wonder what happened to their friend and partner, Nicholas. In this book, I got the feeling that one particularly obnoxious character may have had something to do with Nicholas's disappearance. I am looking forward to the final book to see if I am right.
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