Love by Numbers Book 1
After my terrible disappointment with the latest from this author, I decided to try some of her older work. This is in the top five of all time for my book club, so it’s got to be good.
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell is on the shelf and tired of being seen as boring. Now her younger sister is betrothed, why should she not have a little fun? She makes a list of all the scandalous things she’s always wanted to try, and is determined to complete them, starting with a passionate kiss from a rake she has always fancied.
Gabriel St John, Marquess of Ralston, is a wicked rake who needs a chaperone for his newly discovered half-sister. When ever so proper Lady Calpurnia turns up on his doorstep in the middle of the night and scandalously requests a kiss, how can he refuse? But, she will need to give him something in return.
In return for a kiss, Callie agrees to be his sister’s chaperone. Then she continues to tick items from her list with the help of Ralston, of course.
We follow the story as Callie and Gabriel get to know one another and it really is heart warming as we see him fall in love with her, but of course, he doesn’t realise what those feelings are straight away.
All the characters are very likeable, from the MCs to the secondary, who I expect have their own stories in the series. Callie is lonely and overlooked by the ton for her plain appearance. She longs for someone to love her for who she is. Gabriel is the consummate rake, avoiding close relationships at all costs, but that just means he’s going to fall extra hard when the time comes and he mucks it all up in spectacular fashion.
This book has a completely different feel to the author’s latest work. The writing flowed nicely, and it was easy to immerse myself in the story. The only downside was the end dragged, and I rushed through bits just to finish it.
This has a good plot, great characters, good feels and plenty of steamy scenes. It’s a good all rounder and it has renewed my interest in this author. I will definitely try the others in this series.
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Feels: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
