This one popped up on my radar because one of my favorite authors wrote it and I didn’t notice. >.> Look, I had cancer at the time and was a bit preoccupied. I GOT THERE THOUGH.
Lord Nicholas Monterris, the last remaining heir of a crumbling ducal house, must marry to save his family from complete decline. His father chooses Lady Leaf Serral, eldest daughter of his greatest rival, at which point Nic is sure it can’t get any worse. Until he learns the head negotiator is to be Dashiell sa Vare, an old flame he has neither forgiven nor forgotten, a man their rigid class structure forbids him to love.
Locked in the mouldering grandeur of Monterris Court (a house more haunting manifestation of dynastic ambition and ancestral guilt than home), the first dead body is troubling. The second, a warning that someone doesn’t want the contract to go ahead. But while Nic and his wife-to-be team up to banter their way through a secret murder investigation, it’s Dashiell he can’t stop thinking about. What would be worse? To love and have to let go, or to wholly deny the yearning of one’s heart forever?
The titular Gentleman in this case is Lord Nicholas Monterris, the heir to a crumbling dukedom. Seeing as he is the last heir of the family, it is his duty to marry to make sure that the dukedom survives. His father has chosen Lady Leaf Serral, the daughter of a rich family to make this happen. As the two families and all of their guests are locked in Monterris Court while the the marriage contract is written up and agreed on, Nicholas is more than a little aware that the vowsmith performing all of the necessary magical contract bits is his old lover Dashiell sa Vare. Also, people keep dying by mysterious circumstances. Shenanigans ensue!
Y’all, I loved this book from the beginning to the very end. Nic was such an easy character to root for, and Leaf was basically me if I were a Regency Lady. The relationship between Nic and Dash was what I was here for, but the relationship between Nic and Leaf was something I wasn’t expecting to be so invested in.
This world is Regency England if there was magic. There is also no stigma around being gay in this world, with gay marriage not being frowned upon seemingly at all. Leaf is asexual, and while most people don’t really understand that, Nic, at least, completely supports her, and that was nice to see. Great ace rep in this book made me happy.
Nic and Dash’s relationship goes from hot to adorable and hot, and I was here for it. I was also here for the murder mystery (and so was Leaf, so more in the list of reasons that she is just me). I was guessing pretty hard the whole time but I didn’t see that end to the mystery. I always like being surprised with mysteries.
All told, I loved this story and its characters and I really hope for more in this world. 5/5 stars!~
superstardrifter 
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