Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: 2024 Summer Release
Disclaimer! This was an ARC from the author. This has not affected my opinions or my review. I have also paid actual money for my own copy of the book because Courtney Milan is on “my pre-order immediately when she announces a new book” list.
Andrew Uchida works very hard to collect and cultivate seeds, plants, and vegetables, and every time he learns of a plant or vegetable that one of the diverse residents of the little town of Wedgeford misses from their homeland (Wedgeford has inhabitants who have ended up there from all sorts of corners of the globe, many of them from Asia), he does his best to figure out a way to grow it, to allow said resident to feel a bit more at home in their new homeland. He also helps run the inn that his mother, aunt and uncle own.
Andrew has also hidden a secret for most of his life. He is, in fact, the eldest legitimate son of the Earl of Arsell, and his mother is technically a countess. Now his father (who he has never met) is dying, and Andrew is very determined not to have to become an earl. So when Lily Bei, the woman he has loved for most of his life, returns from China after seven years away, and excitedly confides in him that she has proof that he is next in line to the earldom, he isn’t exactly thrilled. While he hates having to lie to and dissemble with Lily, he also can’t have her “help” him by securing him a noble title he desperately doesn’t want. Complicating things further, Andrew is very aware, from stories his mother told him, that the relatives of the Earl of Arsell are extremely ruthless, and are not going to accept a half-Asian man as the heir to the title. If they discover that his mother is still alive, and has a son, they are likely to try to do away with both of them.
Fear for the safety of himself, but mostly his mother, is also the reason why Andrew never told Lily how he felt about her before she was sent off to China by her grandfather. Before she left, they shared one night together (because Lily wanted to make sure she wasn’t married off to anyone and made sure to ask her best friend to help divest her of her pesky virginity). Now Lily is back, and more irresistible than ever, but Andrew just cannot bear anything happening to her or any potential children they might have.
Full review on my blog.