4 stars I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. I chose it because I like Sophie Barnes’ stories. This one is a bit of a Cinderella story with a twist. Calista is an American who came to London to marry, but discovered her future husband had died in the time it took her to travel to him. She finds herself destitute and unable to return home so she seeks employment. Unfortunately, no one is willing to hire her because she has no references. She finally gets a job at the Hotel Imperial, owned by a Mr. Steven Donahue. When she comes to Mr. Donahue’s attention, he realizes that despite her scullery maid uniform, she is actually a “lady” of refinement so he determines to learn her story. He rescues her from the kitchen and promises to find a chaperone for her and pay for her fare back home. Of course, during the time it takes to find said chaperone, the two of them start to fall in love. But Mr. Donahue is known for his deliberate way of making decisions and will not make a spontaneous decision to marry Calista. The solution he finds is a surprise, but it works well. It’s a good story and its similarity to other stories is balanced by the personality of Mr. Donahue, who will not allow himself to make decisions based entirely on emotions. March 14, 2022
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September 2022
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