This is the third in the Mayhem in Mayfair series and I actually liked it a lot. Although no book in the series has been great so far, they all were interesting and entertaining and I don't regret reading them. It's just that there's not something special about them.

This is the story of Lady Julianne, daughter of an earl, and the most beautiful of the four heroines. Julianne is under pressure from her cold parents to marry a titled and rich gentleman. They found the perfect candidate in the face of Duke of Earling, a widower in his early forties. However, there have been some murders and thefts lately between the ladies of the ton and Julianne seems to be a likely candidate herself. Her father has no other choice but to assign the duty of her protection to the best Bow Street Runner, Gideon Mayne. Julianne though has been attracted to Gideon -and vice versa- ever since their first meeting, 2 months ago. So now that they are able to spend time with each other, they get to know each other better and their passion evolves to something more. But she is betrothed to marry to the duke in less than two weeks and besides her parents would never accept a poor commoner.

I'm a fan of forbidden love themes, and this one had enough depth and emotion to be truly enjoyable. Their desperation and attraction to each other was obvious, as was Gideon's effort to cling to his pride and not take another man's fiance. Julianne started as a pawn under her mother's finger but developed some spine by the end of the book that made her much more likable and interesting. And Gideon was great from start anyway: a strong, honorable, steady man. A great man for Julianne to lean on and give her the passion she craved.

I really enjoyed reading this and should perhaps rate it with 4 stars rather than 3. Only I don't think I will remember much of this by month's end; there was just nothing to make it stand apart. If you already have it in your TBR or read the first two of the series, you won't regret reading this.

Update: ok, I finally upgraded it to 4 stars. Apparently I can still remember enough things -and rather fondly- after two months:)