Review: A Debt of Dishonor

A Debt of Dishonor by Lillian Marek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At first, when her mother died, Kate Russell was pleased that her older brother came to Yorkshire to bring her back to London with him, little did she know that he was as dissolute as their father and had effectively sold her to the Earl of Farnsworth to wipe out his debts. Luckily Kate gets wind of the plot and runs away, knowing the two men will chase her, she avoids Yorkshire and instead throws herself on the mercy of her aunt Franny Darling in Sussex, who was ostracised from the family when she married a merchant.

Kate first meets Peter, Duke of Ashleigh, when he visits her aunt, he mistakes her for a servant and she mistakes him for a farmer. When told Kate is Franny's niece he miscalls her Miss Darling and Kate accepts it, as further disguise in case her brother comes looking for her.

Peter is a very caring brother and landlord, he cares for his tenants and actively seeks new business opportunities to employ those that live on his lands. However, he is also very aware of his status in society and tends to take an overly-paternalistic approach to women. When aunt Franny and Kate come to dinner (to dilute the effects of his irritating cousins who have descended upon them), Peter is angered when Kate gives his cousin a set down (even though she was right and he was wrong) and initially suspects she is pretending to a better education than she has.

This has a very Pride and Prejudice vibe, Peter quickly falls for Kate, and vice versa, but he feels marriage to her is out of the question, her family having been in trade etc. On her part, Kate knows Peter would never want to be associated with people as disreputable as her late father and brother, men who haunted brothels and gaming hells.

There is also a sweet side story between Peter's sister, the widowed Lady Talmadge, and his steward (and remote cousin) Mr Bancroft.

If I have one criticism, it is that Lillian Merk writes her villains very villainous, there's no shade just out-and-out villains.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

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