Series: Rokesbys #2
Published by Avon Publication Date: May 30th 2017
Pages: 384
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While you were sleeping...
With her brother Thomas injured on the battlefront in the Colonies, orphaned Cecilia Harcourt has two unbearable choices: move in with a maiden aunt or marry a scheming cousin. Instead, she chooses option three and travels across the Atlantic, determined to nurse her brother back to health. But after a week of searching, she finds not her brother but his best friend, the handsome officer Edward Rokesby. He's unconscious and in desperate need of her care, and Cecilia vows that she will save this soldier's life, even if staying by his side means telling one little lie...
I told everyone I was your wife
When Edward comes to, he's more than a little confused. The blow to his head knocked out six months of his memory, but surely he would recall getting married. He knows who Cecilia Harcourt isβeven if he does not recall her faceβand with everyone calling her his wife, he decides it must be true, even though he'd always assumed he'd marry his neighbor back in England.
If only it were true...
Cecilia risks her entire future by giving herselfβcompletelyβto the man she loves. But when the truth comes out, Edward may have a few surprises of his own for the new Mrs. Rokesby.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
Cecilia Harcourt loved her brother Thomas. They were all each other had. They had a father but he wasn’t there for them in the way they were there for each other. Cecilia wrote to her brother who was in the army constantly. In writing to her brother she got to know her brother’s best friend and roommate Edward Rokesby.
So when she finds herself in Manhattan Island looking for her brother, she doesn’t hesitate to come to the aid of Edward. Cecilia learns Edward is in the hospital and poses as his wife. When Edward wakes up and can’t remember anything from the last four months Cecilia lets him believe they are married. Β Cecilia and Edward both are trying to find out what happened to Thomas who is missing. Edward is also trying to recover his memories.
Although the book is a bit predictable, it is a good story that is thoroughly entertaining. Cecilia has a great personality and courage that is sometimes lacking in some classic heroines. Edward is predictably overprotective. He is immediately upset when he learns of the housing arrangements for Cecilia and demands she be placed somewhere better. I love how they both love each other despite having never met in person before. I really enjoyed it and the slight plot twists made the story different and kept me engaged. Cecilia and Edward fall in love and inevitably Edward regains his memory and the mystery is solved. However this brings about new challenges for them both.Β
Excerpt
July 1779
His head hurt.
Correction, his head really hurt.
It was hard to tell, though, just what sort of pain it was. He might have been shot through the head with a musket ball. That seemed plausible, given his current location in New York (or was it Connecticut?) and his current occupation as a captain in His Majestyβs army.
There was a war going on, in case one hadnβt noticed.
But this particular poundingβthe one that felt more like someone was bashing his skull with a cannon (not a cannonball, mind you, but an actual cannon) seemed to indicate that he had been attacked with a blunter instrument than a bullet.
An anvil, perhaps. Dropped from a second-story window.
But if one cared to look on the bright side, a pain such as this did seem to indicate that he wasnβt dead, which was also a plausible fate, given all the same facts that had led him to believe he might have been shot.
That war heβd mentioned… people did die.
With alarming regularity.
So he wasnβt dead. That was good. But he also wasnβt sure where he was, precisely. The obvious next step would be to open his eyes, but his eyelids were translucent enough for him to realize that it was the middle of the day, and while he did like to look on the metaphorical bright side, he was fairly certain that the literal one would prove blinding.
So he kept his eyes closed.
But he listened.
He wasnβt alone. He couldnβt make out any actual conversation, but a low buzz of words and activity filtered through the air. People were moving about, setting objects on tables, maybe pulling a chair across the floor.
Someone was moaning in pain.
Most of the voices were male, but there was at least one lady nearby. She was close enough that he could hear her breathing. She made little noises as she went about her business, which he soon realized included tucking blankets around him and touching his forehead with the back of her hand.
He liked these little noises, the tiny little mmms and sighs she probably had no idea she was making. And she smelled nice, a bit like lemons, a bit like soap.
And a bit like hard work.
He knew that smell. Heβd worn it himself, albeit usually only briefly until it turned into a full-fledged stink.
On her, though, it was more than pleasant. Perhaps a little earthy. And he wondered who she was, to be tending to him so diligently.
βHow is he today?β
Edward held himself still. This male voice was new, and he wasnβt sure he wanted anyone to know he was awake yet.
Although he wasnβt sure why he felt this hesitancy.
βThe same,β came the womanβs reply.
βI am concerned. If he doesnβt wake up soon…β
βI know,β the woman said. There was a touch of irritation in her voice, which Edward found curious.
βHave you been able to get him to take broth?β
βJust a few spoonfuls. I was afraid he would choke if I attempted any more than that.β
The man made a vague noise of approval. βRemind me how long he has been like this?β
βA week, sir. Four days before I arrived, and three since.β
A week. Edward thought about this. A week meant it must be… March? April?
No, maybe it was only February. And this was probably New York, not Connecticut.
But that still didnβt explain why his head hurt so bloody much. Clearly heβd been in some sort of an accident. Or had he been attacked?
βThere has been no change at all?β the man asked, even though the lady had just said as much.
But she must have had far more patience than Edward, because she replied in a quiet, clear voice, βNo, sir. None.β
The man made a noise that wasnβt quite a grunt. Edward found it impossible to interpret.
βEr…β The woman cleared her throat. βHave you any news of my brother?β
Her brother? Who was her brother?
βI am afraid not, Mrs. Rokesby.β
Mrs. Rokesby?
βIt has been nearly two months,β she said quietly.
Mrs. Rokesby? Edward really wanted them to get back to that point. There was only one Rokesby in North America as far as he knew, and that was him. So if she was Mrs. Rokesby…
βI think,β the male voice said, βthat your energies would be better spent tending to your husband.β
Husband?
βI assure you,β she said, and there was that touch of irritation again, βthat I have been caring for him most faithfully.β
Husband? They were calling him her husband? Was he married? He couldnβt be married. How could he be married and not remember it?
Who was this woman?
Edwardβs heart began to pound. What the devil was happening to him?
βDid he just make a noise?β the man asked.
βI… I donβt think so.β
She moved then, quickly. Hands touched him, his cheek, then his chest, and even through her obvious concern, there was something soothing in her motions, something undeniably right.
βEdward?β she asked, taking his hand. She stroked it several times, her fingers brushing lightly over his skin. βCan you hear me?β
He ought to respond. She was worried. What kind of gentleman did not act to relieve a ladyβs distress?
βI fear he may be lost to us,β the man said, with far less gentleness than Edward thought appropriate.
βHe still breathes,β the woman said in a steely voice.
The man said nothing, but his expression must have been one of pity, because she said it again, more loudly this time.
βHe still breathes.β
βMrs. Rokesby…β
Edward felt her hand tighten around his. Then she placed her other on top, her fingers resting lightly on his knuckles. It was the smallest sort of embrace, but Edward felt it down to his soul.
βHe still breathes, Colonel,β she said with quiet resolve. βAnd while he does, I will be here. I may not be able to help Thomas, butββ
Thomas. Thomas Harcourt. That was the connection. This must be his sister. Cecilia. He knew her well.
Or not. Heβd never actually met the lady, he felt like he knew her. She wrote to her brother with a diligence that was unmatched in the regiment. Thomas received twice as much mail as Edward, and Edward had four siblings to Thomasβs one.
Cecilia Harcourt. What on earth was she doing in North America? She was supposed to be in Derbyshire, in that little town Thomas had been so eager to leave. The one with the hot springs. Matlock. No, Matlock Bath.
Edward had never been, but he thought it sounded charming. Not the way Thomas described it, of course; he liked the bustle of city life and couldnβt wait to take a commission and depart his village. But Cecilia was different. In her letters, the small Derbyshire town came alive, and Edward almost felt that he would recognize her neighbors if he ever went to visit.
She was witty. Lord, she was witty. Thomas used to laugh so much at her missives that Edward finally made him read them out loud.
Then one day, when Thomas was penning his response, Edward interrupted so many times that Thomas finally shoved out his chair and held forth his quill.
βYou write to her,β heβd said.
So he did.
Not on his own, of course. Edward could never have written to her directly. It would have been the worst sort of impropriety, and he would not have insulted her in such a manner. But he took to scribbling a few lines at the end of Thomasβs letters, and whenever she replied, she had a few lines for him.
Thomas carried a miniature of her, and even though he said it was several years old, Edward had found himself staring at it, studying the small portrait of the young woman, wondering if her hair really was that remarkable golden color, or if she really did smile that way, lips closed and mysterious.
Somehow he thought not. She did not strike him as a woman with secrets. Her smile would be sunny and free. Edward had even thought heβd like to meet her once this godforsaken war was over. Heβd never said anything to Thomas, though.
That would have been strange.
Now Cecilia was here. In the colonies. Which made absolutely no sense, but then again, what did? Edwardβs head was injured, and Thomas seemed to be missing, and…
Edward thought hard.
…and he seemed to have married Cecilia Harcourt.
He opened his eyes and tried to focus on the green-eyed woman peering down at him.
βCecilia?β
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