The Lady He Lost by Faye Delacour

Tracy

March 30

Series: The Lucky Ladies of London, #1

Release Date: April 2, 2024

Upon the death of her parents, Jane Bishop and her brother Edmund were taken in by her widowed uncle Bertie and his young daughter Cecily. One summer while visiting with another uncle, Jane met Eleazar "Eli" Willams and fell in love, but at only sixteen, she kept her feelings to herself. A couple of years later, Eli broke her heart when he proposed to her cousin Cecily and then again when he was lost at sea and presumed dead. Jane decided that love was not for her and set out to find a way to support herself without a husband and along with her dearest friend Della, form a Lady's Only Gambling Club. The hope is that they make enough money to support themselves independently yet ensuring that no one is gambling so much they ruin themselves. It seems like she finally has her life on track when the impossible happens – Eli returns for the dead, with secrets and seems intent on rekindling their friendship. There is no way Jane can risk her heart again, and hardens her resolve to ignore him, but when Eli offers to help her make her dream of a gambling club come true, everything changes. But will all her dreams come true, or will Eli's secrets break her heart all over again?

Eli made a huge mistake when he followed Jane's cousin Cecily into the garden and it cost him his freedom, as he was honor-bound to offer for her when they were discovered kissing by her father. Their engagement was announced, and Eli joined the navy to earn a living. Three years later, he is a Lieutenant in Her Majesty's Navy when his ship is destroyed, and he is lost at sea and presumed dead. In reality, he was saved and taken prisoner by pirates, and it took almost a year and a half to escape. He returned to England to find he had been declared dead, his savings given to his younger brother, his fiancée married to another and Jane hostile. He tries to make amends with Jane, but without disclosing the entire truth, which could put him and others in danger, she refuses to soften. But all that changes with a rain-soaked kiss, giving him hope that he will finally be with the woman he has always loved. But when has the path to HEA ever been easy?

This was a new to me author and I thought it was a good debut effort. I liked the writing style, but I did find it a bit wordy and the first two-thirds of the book dragged for me. However, the final third of the book was paced nicely and wrapped everything up quite neatly. I wasn't a big fan of Jane until about halfway through the book when she finally fell off her high horse and pulled the stick out of her – well, you know. I loved Eli and found the majority of the secondary characters to be completely delightful – I am seriously hoping for Della's story – she is a piece of work that is sure to lead some hapless man on a merry chase. Overall, the book was good, it was original, the idea fresh, and the story was filled with wonderful characters, secrets, betrayal, heartache, some laugh out loud moments, warm love scenes, big plans, disappointment, hope and a satisfying ending but sadly no epilogue, although, the last chapter does set them on the road to HEA, so it's all good. This is billed as the first book in a new series, and I am definitely looking forward to the next book.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*