Viscount Christopher Spencer's family is pushing him to find a woman to marry. Lady Sarah has spent the past couple of years in hiding after

sleeping with a man before marriage, getting pregnant, and then having a miscarriage

. Spencer and Sarah meet at Thorncliff Manor and their attraction is immediate. Spencer thinks that Sarah is trying to trick him into marrying her, but she insists that she has no interest in marrying him. Sarah's parents are looking forward to marrying her to the awful Mr. Denison. Although Spencer is a more advantageous match, Sarah's stepmother insists that her marriage to Denison will protect the reputation of her stepsisters. When Spencer begins courting Sarah, she struggles to tell him the truth about her past.

Sarah's storyline is supposed to be similar to Cinderella, but I did not think it was a good comparison. Sarah's father was terrible to her. I did not like Sarah's personality, she was very negative and critical of herself. The constant reminders of how Sarah is no longer "pure" and is thus not worthy of love was really annoying and took me out of the book. Fans of historical romance can skip this book.

I read this book to complete the “title includes a name” square of the Ripped Bodice’s 2024 Summer Bingo.

A whole book about how women are tarnished goods if they’re not virgins… awesome 😒

I understand it’s “the times” but that doesn’t make this book any more enjoyable. Slow, drawn out. The two MCs get together and resolve their feelings but there was still over an hour left in the audiobook… like why? 

And the male MC was super cringe when he found out the heroine’s “secret”.