They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. Hoover’s ( November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.Īt first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. Edward’s attempts to avoid cuckolding his brother are tantalizing for both Julia and the reader, and their conflicted love is well-drawn and compelling.Ī steamy romance that uses the strict rules of Regency Britain to excellent effect. In the Regency era, it was illegal for a man to marry his dead brother’s wife, a legal quirk that takes the stakes of this book to delicious heights. Whether their love can survive past the birth of Lady Alberta and Edward’s admission, however, is complicated. Julia, meanwhile, has fallen more deeply for her husband, enchanted by the ways he’s changed since his return. Edward obliges and is a convincing replacement-but in the course of pretending to be his brother, he falls in love with Julia. Edward becomes a globe-trotting rake, but just before Albert dies unexpectedly while the brothers are traveling in Africa together, he begs Edward to impersonate him to protect his wife, Julia, from miscarrying their child. If you’ve loved a man, can you also love his brother?Įdward and Albert Alcott are identical twins, but because Albert is older by an hour, he inherits the title and lands of the Earl of Greyling.

The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath