Marvellous good story: "Of moths and butterflies"

Not a regency romance but a story of two families with a lot of secrets that haunt them.

A young woman who feels so soiled she cannot imagine herself worthy is just one of them.

Many are gravely hurt.

The secrets will come out though.

The uncle is an intriguing fellow. Is he bad or someone who tried to do his best?

What is shocking is how powerless English women were around 150 years ago. They could still be married off when they were still not of age.

The writer tells us at the end that she was busy writing her first novel when this darker story came up due to her personal experiences. Rape is a recurring theme.

No explicit sex scenes and even the violations are only hinted at in a way that is totally in sinc with the time period.


AMAZON description:

 Archer Hamilton is a collector of rare and beautiful insects. Gina Shaw is a servant in his uncle’s house. Clearly out of place in the position in which she has been discovered, she becomes a source of fascination . . . and curiosity.

A girl with a blighted past and a fortune she deems a curse, Gina has lowered herself in order to find escape from her family and their scheming designs. But when she is found, the stakes suddenly become dire.

All Gina wants is the freedom to live her life as she would wish. All her aunts want is the money that comes with her. But there is more than one way to trap an insect. An arranged marriage might turn out profitable for more parties than one.

Mr. Hamilton is about to make the acquisition of a lifetime. But will the price be worth it? Can a woman captured and acquired learn to love the man who has bought her?