Heidi Hart

I really enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy, but I couldn't get into this one at all. All three have the same core conflict, which gossip rags have dubbed the "Durham Dilemma": the sons of the deceased Duke of Durham must expose a blackmailer and find proof that their father wasn't a bigamist, else they will be rendered illegitimate and lose their inheritance. The two younger brothers settled down in the first two installments. This last book focuses on the oldest son, Charles, who is heir to the dukedom and thus has the most to lose. Having liked the first two books a lot, I was invested in the mystery of the bigamy scandal and blackmail, but this last book moved so slowly that, had I not been so invested in the trilogy, I would have given up. The first half is unbearably slow moving and has little to do with the Durham Dilemma. Instead, it's all about investments and canals (snore).The action picks up in the second half when Charles and Tessa become involved, but their romance feels hasty and inauthentic, and the resolution of the Durham Dilemma is anticlimactic in the extreme.