Cassandra is engaged and in a passionate relationship with Geoffrey. A horrible accident causes Cassandra to get severe burns on her legs. She feels that God is punishing her for her behavior and vows to leave that relationship alone. She's hoping eventually her father will turn over her dowry money to her, because she knows no one will marry her with her ugly scars. She has her balloons and her scholarly interests. That's all she needs, right?
Geoffrey was a second son until his brother died. Now he has the position of earl, but he never really wanted it. After Cassandra's accident, he feels horrible guilt. When she pushes him away, he leaves, but when she starts to get better, she ends up at his family home. He wants to convince her he still loves her, but now he's being blackmailed into discovering things about the mill uprisings that affect his mill and others in the area. Keeping an eye on Cassandra and fulfilling his obligations to the blackmailer put his life and hers in danger.
I was surprised how much I liked this book. Not because I expected it to be bad, but just because I liked the unique aspects of the story line. I'm not sure if I've ever read a book with ballooning in it before, but it was a neat idea and well done. The plight of the mill worker reminded me of one of my favorite movies, North and South (not the Civil War movie). Sometimes I didn't understand Cassandra's thought process, but it didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the book. In fact, I probably enjoyed this one more than the first.
The series finishes up with the third book, A Reluctant Courtship. Poor Honore is really a horrible judge of character and I'll be reading her story soon, I hope. There are mentions of the people from book 1, but you can read these two out of order with no issues at all. Good Book!
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