Niki (mustreadalltheromance)'s Reviews > The Counterfeit Scoundrel

Despite being the daughter of an earl’s younger son, Marguerite “Daisy” Townsend longs to make a name for herself outside of polite society and establish herself as an inquiry agent. Her latest case, finding proof of a wife’s infidelity, necessitates obtaining a position as a servant in the household of her lover, but Marguerite never expected to find herself attracted to the blackguard.

David Blackwood, more routinely called simply by the name Bishop, is as well known for his handsome face as for his rakish reputation. It doesn’t take him long to realize the new maid isn’t what she seems, but tempted as he is by her alluring beauty, he can’t allow her to get close enough to learn the truth that his many supposed affairs are faked. Having witnessed his mother’s trials at the hands of his abusive father, Bishop has made it his life’s work to help wives obtain divorces to escape unhappy marriages.

When the husband of one of his fake lovers turns up murdered, Bishop is accused of committing the crime and seeks Daisy’s assistance to exonerate himself. As they search for the truth together, they unearth a web of deceits and find themselves unable to deny the attraction broiling between them. But when secrets are revealed, the biggest question is whether Bishop will give up the games he hasn’t even realized he was playing to entrust Daisy with his heart permanently.

Bishop’s story was a fresh twist on both the fake rake and reformed rake tropes, and I found it to be very well done. His only purpose in life was to thwart his father and help women obtain divorces and up until meeting Marguerite and being subsequently bowled over by his newfound feelings for her, he’d only seen one way to go about achieving this goal. She helped him realize that he was still allowing himself to be controlled and his actions dictated by his awful father, and to break free of that to at last seek some happiness for himself. Marguerite showed him that not only was this possible, but that it was what he deserved to find in life. Bishop helped Marguerite establish and maintain the independence she longed for while simultaneously demonstrating that it was also okay for her to accept the help of a partner. I especially loved that, in the end, it is Marguerite comforting and assuring Bishop of the permanence of her feelings for him and solidifying their relationship and shoring up his confidence when he is still a bit uncertain of himself, his worthiness, and the depth of her feelings for him. There were quite a lot of ups and downs in this story and no small amount of emotional upheaval and reflection, which kept me invested in the story. Bishop and Marguerite established a truly lovely partnership after facing quite a few challenges together, both from outside sources and within themselves, and I found both characters to be very endearing. The only thing I missed in this story was Bishop spending more time with the other Chessmen, but based on the interactions they did have, I’m very excited for the rest of this series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Blog link: https://mustreadalltheromance.blogspo...