“Love is a state in which a man sees things most decidedly as they are not.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Oscar Woodhaven may be the loneliest man in all of London in spite of the fact that he’s young, excessively wealthy, a member of the London ton, and has a small but loyal group of friends with whom he associates. One would assume that Oscar’s life was both filled and fulfilling but one would be wrong because despite the fact that Oscar’s social calendar is indeed full, he is still an incredibly lonely man who is rarely appreciated for who he is but for what he has.
The death of his parents saw Oscar taken in by an aunt and uncle who did little more than tolerate his presence and milk his insecurities because it bought them a comfortable life. They didn’t want Oscar himself but they certainly did want the inheritance and all the property and prestige that accompanied him when they claimed him. Yes, Oscar has trust issues because for most of his life, people have seen him not for the priceless gifts he can give of himself—kindness and loyalty and friendship—but for the material objects and status by association his wealth can provide.
Julian Parker, a black sheep by virtue of being born into the wrong flock of Lord Benjamin Parker’s family, returns to London from America, penniless, saddled with his father’s poor reputation, without social prospects, and in search of a wealthy woman to marry in order to secure his financial future. Marriages of convenience were more the rule than the exception in London society, after all, so not being at all attracted to, let alone in love with the woman he settles on isn’t much of an excuse for Julian not to blindly pursue his objective, and meeting Oscar proves to be a most fortunate advantage for this poorest of the Parker clan.
Who better than the wealthy and connected Oscar to help Julian gain entrance to the social circles he must infiltrate in order to accomplish his goals? And it’s with the best of intentions that Oscar opens his home and purse in friendship to Julian. But, of course, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the road to love is paved with broken hearts, and some of the most painful lies aren’t the ones you tell but the ones you purposefully omit. When Oscar quickly becomes so much more than a benefactor to Julian, it’s those lies by omission that prove to Oscar he has been seeing things most decidedly as they are not, which leaves Julian with nothing else to do but to prove to Oscar that love is not a deception and that the Julian who was is not the Julian who will be—a man in whom Oscar can place his trust and the man who will love Oscar for who he is and not for what he can buy.
Brook Street: Fortune Hunter is the story of the worth of a man and the weight of his integrity. It is the story of a man who gambles away love and friendship along with his self respect, and loses far more than he’s prepared to pay. Julian Parker must determine the value of his character, the cost of his convictions, and determine what he’s willing to forfeit in order to gain, not the least of which is his own honor and the respect of the man whose worth is immeasurable.
There’s a definite blueprint to each book in this blueblood series, a design I’ve been more than happy to follow to each happy ending that Ava March has constructed from the conflicts her characters navigate. Redemption and second chances are won only after the men suffer for the love of the other, each reward coming at a price but one each man is willing to pay in defiance of what society demands, for the sake of his own happiness.
Buy Brook Street: Fortune Hunter HERE.