seriously romantic: a perfect gentleman by candace camp

graeme parr, earl of montclair, has always been a perfect gentleman, at least until his wedding night where he behaves like a total jerk to his young bride. he is upset and angry because her father has forced him into this marriage, and when he tells abby that he intends to never consume their marriage, that he has no respect for her or her father's way of capturing husbands, he doesn't realize how he is shattering her illusions. because his truth is that he is in love with someone else, but for his family's sake, he has been forced to marry for money. so abby and her father can keep the title they've paid for, but they can't take anything else from him. he has nothing left to give.

abigail thought he was her knight in shining armor. saving her from a life with an overbearing, tyrannical dad. she had no idea what machinations her father employed behind her back. and when she realizes that her husband isn't the man she thought he was, she runs away, first to the continent, and then to new york, and ten years pass before they see each other again.

when abby returns to london, she knows she's going to have to get graeme's attention somehow. he's too proud to just seek her just out of curiosity. it takes a while to get graeme to come round, but once they are able to have a private conversation and lay their cards out on the table, it's clear that there is an attraction between them that sparks wildly out of control when they are in the same room together. and that indulging in that attraction will fulfill graeme's need for an heir and abby's longing for a child. they cling to those excuses, even as they find that they don't wish to be apart from one another.

when abby's life is endangered on more than one occasion, graeme brings her into his home. they also start working together on figuring out whether or not his father really was guilty of robbing his charity. that particular piece of intelligence is what abby's father used to blackmail graeme into the marriage. watching graeme and abby's relationship deepen over their desire for each other and to solve the mystery is a delight. these two characters are so clearly in love with each other, that the fact that it takes them so long to realize, verbalize their love to each other is a little frustrating. but they get there, and it's so worth it.

also, i am so excited for the next book in this series, both helen and james are great secondary characters in a perfect gentleman. and it makes perfect sense that they'd be paired together and i can't wait.

**a perfect gentleman will publish on march 28, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/gallery, threshold, pocket books in exchange for my honest review.