This is my favorite historical romance I’ve read this year. This is the first book in the Accidental Brides series with a viscount who has suddenly become a guardian to twins. He is shocked when his fiancé elopes with another Lord leaving him in need of a bride/nanny for his new wards. I adored both the heroine and the hero in the story, despite his flaws and the romance was hot.

Viscount Dominic Kelbourne’s sister and her husband passed away in a carriage accident leaving him with their eccentric eleven-year-old twins, Florence and Vincent. He asks his fiancé, Leonora, if she is ready to help him manage their care and she suggests her sister Victoria (Torie) could retire to the country and be a nanny to them and paint. (Torie loves to paint.) Torie tells them she is holding out for a love match. Leonora and Torie meet the twins and that’s a funny scene. Florence is writing horrid, gruesome stories and they have been neglected in the country so they don’t have proper manners. Leonora ends up eloping with an older lord and running off to Scotland to avoid marriage to Dominic. Torie really likes the twins and visits them every day. She and Dominic get to know each other when she visits the twins.

Dominic has his faults but I really liked his character. I like that he owns up to his mistakes He’ll say the wrong thing and accidentally insult someone but realizes it immediately, apologizes and it can be funny. I liked that he isn’t perfect. He is known for his temper (he bellows in the House of Lords). He appreciates how good Torie is with the twins and also finds himself attracted to her.  He visits her father, Sir William, to ask for her hand. Everyone knows that Torie can’t read (she is dyslexic) and this has prevented her from making a match. Sir William is awful but entertaining. He is a drinker and gambler but his comments hold rings of truth that let us see what is really going on in all their lives.

Torie is one of my favorite heroines. All of society dismissed her because she couldn’t read but Dominic is surprised when he realizes how smart she really is and how joyful she is, no matter how much the world knocks her down. The twins admire her and her paintings and I enjoyed reading about their different adventures with Torie and Dominic. Once they are married, we see how much Torie desires him (she likes big, burly men) and Dominic thinks she is the most beautiful woman in London. Ms. James can write love scenes and there are some spicy ones in this story. I loved when Dominic tells their staff that they are not to make her feel ashamed because she can’t read.

There are a few twists in the story that I can’t reveal but I enjoyed them both. Dominic bungles a few things along the way but he is good at groveling and there’s a wonderful ending. I loved this book and recommend it to anyone who loves historical romance and a good love story.