Another satisfying story from Ms. Kleypas. This is actually a "prequel" to the Wallflowers series, which I loved. This is the story of Lord Westcliff's sisters, Alene and Olivia. Alene had been in love with the stable boy growing up, but their father found out about their relationship and shipped McKenna off the estate. Olivia had been engaged (and pregnant) when her betrothed was killed five years ago. And because she was already pregnant (but lost the baby), it was a big scandal among the ton and she hasn't been involved with another man since. Twelve years after he left, McKenna is back for some sort of revenge against Alene. Alene who never married, was never even involved with anyone, partly due to her love for McKenna and party due to an incident just after he left that made her feel less worthy. McKenna arrives with his business partner, Gideon Shaw. Gideon has a drinking problem. He's technically the second Shaw son, but when the eldest son was killed, Gideon was expected to take up the patriarchal role for the family, and he didn't do so well with the pressure. Sure, he was successful, but his father and the rest of the family had never made him feel like he'd ever live up to his brother's success... he was second fiddle and everyone knew it. So he drinks. But he's ultimately captivated by Olivia who sort of gives his life purpose.
It was a really sweet story of reunited love as well as new love. I wanted to smack Alene (as McKenna probably wanted to) for her reasons for keeping him at a distance. Every time she'd bring up her place in society as the reason they couldn't be together, I wanted to vomit. Sure, it sounds like a good reason, but as the reader, we know it's bunk. And yet it sliced at McKenna every single time. :-( But they (as well as Olivia and Gideon) worked out their issues and an HEA was had by all.
