Compromising the Marquess by Wendy Soliman

Leah Elliot is devastated by her fathers untimely death and the destruction of their source of income, his rare bookshop.  With her mother dying shortly later of a broken heart, Leah and her sister have to turn to the mercy of her estranged uncle and Leah strives to make ends meet by selling tidbits of gossip.  Knowing something is going on at the local pub, she dons her male disguise only to run into the man she suspects is behind the mysterious doings, the Marquess of Denby, Hal Forster.  Leah becomes privy to some knowledge she wants to share but knows she can not, especially with her budding friendship with Hal's sister...and her budding attraction to Hal.  Instead, Hal grows to trust Leah and shares the truth and just when they think they have the mystery solved, it takes a dangerous turn. . .

This was a very action packed adventurous romance!  It was a bit slow in the beginning for me and did not really grab my attention but the second half really picked up and I loved the twists as I was not expecting them and thought they were really well done!  I really adored Hal and his family and am eagerly awaiting their stories.  Hal was polite, protective and passionate and he was instantly intrigued by the bold, smart, curious Leah and together they found a unique way to explore the passions of marriage without actually compromising Leah.  His spy past comes back in a large way in the end and his love and devotion to Leah became very clear as he is forced to protect her....or does Leah protect him?  Together, they were a great couple who had no big misunderstandings and moved past Leah's earlier gossip posts since Hal talks with her about it and Leah actually admits to her reasons behind what she is doing, which was a refreshing and welcome!  Recommended for fans of adventurous romance with a strong sense of family and a nice dose of heat.  3 1/2 stars

eARC provided by Carina Press via netgalley

The Forsters series
Three more titles to come!