Lady Catherine Winters vive en un pequeñ,o pueblo rural, donde todos la conocen como una joven y atractiva viuda y donde siente que puede, por fin, escapar de su terrible pasado. Hasta que, en una fiesta, le dedica una sonrisa inocente a Rex Adams, vizconde Rawleigh, confundié,ndolo con su hermano Claude. De inmediato, Rex intenta por todos los medios seducir a esa misteriosa mujer, aunque debe enfrentarse a su cuñ,ada, quien planeaba desposarlo con su hermana menor. Mientras crecen las intrigas y se desatan las pasiones, una intensa y difí,cil atracció,n surge entre Catherine y Rex, aunque ella sabe que el vizconde es un canalla poco dispuesto al compromiso. Lo que no sabe es que quizá, la joven viuda ha despertado algo dormido en el duro corazó,n del visconde, y que é,l está, dispuesto a todo para conquistarla, incluso dejar su secreto al descubierto.

This is one of Ms. Balogh's older series and one of her best in my opinion. Catherine Winters is living as a young widow in a small village when Viscount Rawleigh comes to visit. He's determined to seduce her, but she wants no part of it despite his persistence.
In the "Me Too" era, this story feels a little dated, but it still has some lessons for today. Rex respects a 'no' but also keeps asking which feels uncomfortable. Yet, the attraction between them is real. It's the gossipy neighbors who bring the situation to a head despite only a few kisses actually happening.
As always, Ms. Balogh writes beautifully with characters who come across as real people. I'm happy that her older books are now becoming available as the Horsemen Trilogy is one I've wanted to read for a while. ( )

Such a great romance! which follows a back-to-front path.

I didn't know what to write so I reversed my usual process and read the reviews below. Everyone makes good points, like the miscommunication by intelligent forthright heroes seems overdone as a plot ploy.

And the contemporary feel of it - her rebellion against being treated as a possession, and he didn't seem to have the ability to fathom this! ( )

I generally enjoy Balogh's writing. This one relied extremely heavily on poor character communication though. At every turn the characters have an opportunity to hit it off and live HEA, but then one will say something that could be misconstrued to be insulting or something and the other one will choose to hide their feelings and say the opposite of what they really feel. On repeat.
Throughout the entire book. It makes me want to shake my fist in the air and scream 'could you not just have one conversation where you just lay your cards on the table? Or ask the other to clarify the thing they said before you take offense?' *Sigh* I'll read the next in the series and hopefully they'll have a better hurdle to overcome! ( )

Wow this was a harder read than I thought it was going to be, and I’m not sure if the hero redeemed himself for being pretty wretched to the heroine. It’s fascinating that Balogh wrote this over twenty years ago, yet it’s especially relevant today in the time of #metoo and rape culture. I loved Catherine though as well as her dog Toby (my dog is Toby too!), and I hope that Rex gives her the HEA she so deserves. ( )