I picked this book up, eager to discover another new historical author to add to my rotation. It fell way short of my expectations and in the long one was disappointing.

The premise was a bit weak to begin with and required a lot of suspension of belief. Such as a girl being able to conceal a Claymore on her person from her brother and the other visitors to Hyde Park. Such as Prudence being able to hide her true identity from society when she lived with her elderly aunt. That alone made me scoff because even if she wore glasses she only changed her last name. That coupled with living with a known relative means that she was in actuality fooling no one. But I was willing to give it a chance.

There was so much with this book that left me with an unsatisfied feeling. The personalities of Prudence, Robbie, and Mary Elizabeth were inconsistent. Prudence went from being prim to sultry with no reasonable development. One example of this is a chapter that ended with her vowing that Robbie would end up up in her bed one way or the other. She ended up abandoning that promise the very next morning. The reason for Prudence becoming apart of their lives got abandoned. Every now and then Prudence would throw in a 'rule' about society but it seemed forced and not natural. The development of the love was lacking in a severe manner. Robbie went from wanting to make Prudence his mistress to his wife in the turn of the page with no real reason why. They didn't even have much a friendship at the beginning of the story for love to seem possible.

Then, when they got married Robbie turned into a "chest-thumping male". *I read this in another review and couldn't have agreed with it more*. He became brutish and chauvinistic. He was amorous to the point where he wouldn't even let her eat dinner. Some people may interpret that as swoon-worthy. I interpret it as him being selfish. And a horndog. Which is not charming by any stretch of the imagination. Then we got to the ending and the mystery of her brother. Which was lackluster at best. The end read forced and rushed, as a way to get all the loose ends tied together. The showdown in the warehouse was yet another example of Prudence's inconsistent personality.

I read this on my Kindle which tied into what is likely the final nail in the coffin for me. This book ended at 72% with the remaining 28% being a 'preview' of the next book. That ended up roughly twelve chapters which is almost half the book. And if 28% is set aside for a preview, that doesn't say much for the actual story. Since I didn't read the physical copy I don't know if it is the same but it was disappointing to see in the digital one.

I did not enjoy this book. I wanted to and it started off promising. The ending is what killed it for me since I don't like rushed endings. They feel too much like pandering and an insult to the reader and I can't stand that. If the ending had been better fleshed out this book may have gotten a three star rating. I am not inclined to read any more of this series. While I may pick up another one by the author it won't be for awhile.