About the Book:

Court a beautiful debutante… Or fulfill his quest for vengeance?

When Sam Robertson returns to London after making his fortune in Australia, he has one mission—revenge on the earl who’d had him wrongly convicted and sent away years before.

But upon meeting Lady Georgina, the earl’s daughter, Sam’s plan is thrown into disarray. Their admiration is mutual, but is his hunger for her stronger than his thirst for retribution?

Scandalous Australian Bachelors 

Click on title below for direct Amazon buy link:                                      Courting the Forbidden Debutante

My Review:

Sam Robertson is returning to England for the first time in eighteen years.  When he was only ten, he was falsely accused of theft, and transported to Australia.  While serving his sentence, he saved another young man’s life, and his grateful father began to treat Sam more like an adopted son, and eventually provided him with a stake of land.  Now one of the wealthiest men in Australia, Sam has another goal he has to accomplish.  He’s going to find and ruin the man who falsely accused him, the Earl of Westchester.  Sam is able to take part in society events due to his friend’s connection to Lady Winston.  Now he just has to find a way to get close to the earl.  Then he meets Lady Georgina, the earl’s daughter.

Georgina is surrounded by suitors, as usual.  While she is polite, and does all that’s proper, she is bored, and doesn’t feel anything more than a mild liking for any of the gentlemen.  In her three seasons, she’s turned down numerous proposals.  While her father has indulged her thus far, she knows that soon she’ll have to marry.  When Sam boldly enters her circle and makes a lame excuse to take her away from the group, Georgina is intrigued enough to allow herself to be led away.

Sam’s intention is to find out all the information he can about Georgina’s father.  He has no intention of seducing or ruining the young lady, but he’s not above fostering a friendship with her, hoping to somehow gain access to her father.  Surprisingly, Sam and Georgina feel an immediate kinship, and contrive to spend time with each other when they can.  The mystery surrounding Sam’s past makes him unsuitable company for Georgina, and her mother does her best to keep them apart, soon calling the earl home so that he can encourage Georgina to settle down and choose a husband.

Georgina has always been an obedient daughter, resigned to making a good marriage to please her parents.  I think she even surprised herself by continuing to meet up with Sam despite her mother’s disapproval.  There’s just something about him, he’s so different from all the insipid society gentlemen who court her.  When the earl returns, Sam finagles an invitation to their upcoming house party.  Being under the same roof only causes Sam’s and Georgina’s feelings for each other to escalate.

The friendship between Georgina and Sam deepens and turns passionate.  Sam is truly an honorable man, and he feels guilty for hiding the truth from Georgina, especially since he’s beginning to feel hope that he may have a future with her.  Georgina hides an adventurous spirit beneath her proper exterior, and begins to fantasize about being Sam’s wife and living in Australia with him.  Before Sam can tell Georgina the truth, she overhears it, and is hurt, devastated, and feeling used.  She rejects Sam and accepts the proposal of a man from her class.  Will Sam now go ahead with his plan for revenge?

I love both Sam and Georgina and sympathized with their situations.  Sam lost his family and many years of his life due to the selfish scheming of another, yet, he’s compassionate enough not to want to harm Georgina.  While not a rebel, Georgina secretly longs for genuine love and adventure, rather than a boring, arranged ton marriage.  COURTING THE FORBIDDEN DEBUTANTE is an enjoyable read with a warm and satisfying romance, as well as a smileworthy conclusion that was so vivid, I was picturing it in my mind like a movie.  (Oh, and there is a certain jilted duke who caused some fluttering in my heart – I’m hoping to see him get his own happy ever after in a future book.)    ~Rose