Scarlett Peckham's 5 ⭐ treat!!

Alllll the damn stars for Scarlett Peckham's lusty, beautiful, irreverently sinful The Lord I Left!

"She would not ask Henry Evesham to choose her. She would choose herself."

This book is beyond beautiful! Scarlett's words mixed with Alice's bawdy nature, and Henry's piousness is absolutely gorgeous, and simply fascinating. 

Henry is the Lord Lieutenant given a directive to investigate the brothels and whipping houses in London, and give his educated opinion on how they might best be dealt with. In other words, should they be punished further than they already were, or should steps be taken to provide a safer environment both for patrons and sex workers? In the midst Henry finds himself in a reckoning with himself, over his own feelings when faced with a certain young woman.

Alice is a young woman employed as a mistress at a whipping house, giving tours, but holds no actual working position in the house. When she receives a letter from her sister that her mother is dying, Henry offers Alice a ride to her home, even though he knows the temptation he'll be surrounded by.

What follows is the edification of two adults who make a lot of wrong-headed assumptions about each other, and eventually find their way to complete understanding, and maybe the most pure form of love they've ever known. Can they find their way to the answers they each need, or will they both stay completely closed off and willfully ignorant of what the other is feeling?

Absolutely a 5 ⭐ treat, Scarlett Peckham has held me in thrall since publishing her first novel, The Duke I tempted, and I cannot wait for the next in the series!