One Good Turn by Carla Kelly

Ah, Nez. He's the kind of man heroes are made of and I was so delighted to be able to read his story right after finishing LIBBY'S. While I loved the ending of the first book, I was definitely craving a happy ending for Nez, too, a man who clearly had a lot of healing and growing up to do when I left him last.

Here, the Duke of Knare, Benedict Nesbitt, meets his match in Liria, a Spanish woman he finds in a rainstorm, destitute and alone with her young son. Nez is working very hard at being a good person, but almost doesn't do this "one good turn" for Liria. However, he has a niece with the chicken pox and realizes that hiring Liria to keep Sophie company would give him some much-needed relief from the sick child. Before he knows it, he's brought Liria into his house to serve as housekeeper.

But something about this woman tells him she's much more than a housekeeper. She's got a regal bearing that defies her humble appearance. She also makes him question himself and forces him to strive harder to be the man we all know he can be. Liria's story is a tragic one, filled with the brutality of war (not for the faint of heart) but one that left me in tears at the end. I read LIBBY'S, MISS CHARTLEY'S and then ONE GOOD TURN in one weekend and had one of the best reading weekends of my life. Work your way through Kelly's Regencies and you'll find yourself rediscovering the joy of reading romance.