Maddie is the daughter of a wealthy man who uses her to gain a foothold in society. On the night her engagement is to be announced to one duke, her attempt to escape her fate winds up with her engaged to a different one. To her abusive father, one duke is as good as another, and he has no intention of listening to her objections.

Though he extolled the virtues of marriage to his stepbrother, Alex, Evan has no intention of marrying anytime soon. He is not pleased when his attempt to assure himself of Maddie's welfare goes hideously wrong.

I enjoyed this story of how two very different people found that they were perfect for each other. It was not an easy journey. Evan was raised by his father to follow strict rules regarding his conduct and his father's somewhat skewed vision of marriage. Evan is very confident, except in one area - anything to do with mathematics or numbers. He describes it as looking at a row of numbers and seeing them dance over the page. Evan suffers from Dyscalculia, dyslexia of numbers, and t has left him unable to handle the finances of his estate. He is in financial trouble and unable to find his way out. Marriage to Maddie will bring some much-needed cash to his life.

Maddie has been living under the thumb of her emotionally and physically abusive father. She is accustomed to staying in the background as much as possible and doing whatever is necessary to keep out of her father's way. Because of him, she buries her true nature and adapts her actions to his demands. She is quiet but very intelligent, with a fascination for anything related to numbers.

When Evan and Maddie marry, she has high hopes of finally being able to be herself. Unfortunately, she finds herself at the mercy of Evan's views of women and marriage. His idea that all women are the same and spend their lives shopping, painting, and embroidering frustrated Maddie (and me). She hates traditional female pursuits and would much rather spend her time studying math books and solving puzzles, but she tries to force herself into Evan's mold to make him happy. When she stumbles on the estate's account books and sees their mess, she attempts to fix them before being shut down by Evan and his estate manager, Ramsey.

I spent a good part of the book wanting to shake Evan. He knows he has problems with numbers and that the estate is in trouble. However, his pride won't allow him to admit the problem to anyone, so it keeps worsening. Seeing Maddie's talent with numbers should have been a wake-up call for him, giving him someone who would be on his side in straightening out the mess, but instead, he keeps trying to shove her into the box created by his father's training.

The only thing that brings Evan and Maddie together is their undeniable attraction for each other. I liked Evan's patience and willingness to wait until they knew each other better before consummating their marriage. Their passion is evident when they do, but they still don't TALK to each other. It becomes increasingly apparent that each has trust issues, and I wondered how they would get past them. Matters become more complicated when Maddie makes a discovery in the account books, and Evan refuses to listen to her about it.

Evan makes a boneheaded mistake in trying to send Maddie to the country, while Maddie finds her backbone and makes alternate arrangements. I loved watching her come into her own with other women of like minds. Meanwhile, Evan has some serious soul-searching to do. The catalyst for his awakening was a surprise, and I loved seeing Evan break free of the past. I loved his big moment at the end and finally seeing him and Maddie accept their differences and embrace the love they share.

#netgalley ( )