By Alexandra Vasti
The Halifax Hellions Book 3
Star Review: ★★★★★
Blurb
In 1811, Winifred Wallace told one tiny lie. To secure her future as an independent sheep farmer, she invented an estranged husband named Mr. Spencer Halifax and forged their marriage record. Ten years later, her deception catches up with her: in the form of the disturbingly real, distressingly attractive earl on her doorstep.
Spencer Halifax wants to set a good example for his beloved hellion sisters. Ever since their father’s death, he’s tried to play the role of steady, sensible earl—and involving himself with a moderately felonious sheep farmer is decidedly not sensible. But Winnie’s unfettered passion and fierce self-reliance draw him in, even as her closely guarded secrets keep him out.
When Spencer asks Winnie to travel with him to London to disentangle their semi-legal union, she’s horrified. London, after all, is where her infamous mother pilfered several lavish necklaces from besotted noblemen. But she cannot pass up the chance to return the stolen jewelry—so she agrees to travel with Spencer and give back the gems on the sly.
Returning the jewelry, however, is more difficult than Winnie imagined. Monkeys commit theft. Footmen tryst in inconvenient locales. And Winnie realizes that the only way forward is to trust Spencer with the truth of her past—even if doing so threatens their pretend marriage and the all-too-real feelings between them.
Genre: Historical Romance
Read if you like: 🧵Earl and a Sheep Farmer 🧵 Reverse Theft 🧵 Autism Representation 🧵 Fake Marriage 🧵 Wonderful Steamy Scenes
My Thoughts: Was anyone wondering why I haven't raved about this book yet? The answer is that I have been saving it because I didn't want the series to be over. However, my friend whom I forced to read the series read it so I had to. Obviously, my expectations were high but this book also lived up to them! The plot of this one is incredibly fun and creative! Had you asked me before I read this one if you could fit a love story, sheep theft, monkey who steals, a fake marriage, and diamonds that need to be returned into one full-length book I would have said probably not. Had you asked me if you could fit it into a novella I would have said definitely not. However, Alexandra Vasti did and beyond that, it worked! It was also really interesting to see a representation of a woman on the autism spectrum in 19th-century England. I thought the description of Winnie learning to put on a character to socialize was really interesting and also accurate to what I have heard from people describing what it can be like to have high-functioning autism as a woman. I loved that Spencer didn't mind that she sometimes didn't get everything white right and loved her for her honesty and morals.
This whole series is beautifully written, incredibly funny, and has great steamy scenes and well-developed characters. I cannot recommend it highly enough! I encourage everyone to do yourself a favor and read this series and then preorder Ne're Duke Well which comes out in the summer!
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