After losing his parents to illness, the Earl of Maxwell (now known as Malcolm) is kidnapped from an orphanage due to a plot by nefarious relatives who have their sights set on the earldom. Presently, Malcolm has no memory of his previous life and has grown up on the streets of London as a tosher (a scavenger of the sewers of London). He has been quite successful and is shocked when he is approached by a London detective with the news that he is the missing Earl of Maxwell. Verity Lovelace is a by blow of an earl and has been working her way up in a newspaper office since the age of twelve. She has a new boss who wants her gone, so he tasks her with getting the dirt on the mysterious Earl of Maxwell who is unwilling to take his place in society. Verity is responsible for her younger sister and a nursemaid who has been with her family for years. Verity is desperate to succeed, so she heads to the sewers to find Malcolm.

This book had me hooked from the prologue. Malcolm and Verity are both products of their environment. While facing different challenges, their motives have been the same – survival. After growing up under the circumstances he did, Malcolm is uncaring and focused on protecting his territory, but after meeting Verity, one of the only people who dares challenge him, he begins to question his beliefs. Verity is an amazing heroine who is trying to make her way in the world of men. Many of her decisions are driven by desperation to keep a roof over her sisters head, so I always understood the motives for her actions. The challenges she faces in the workplace and the world will resonate with the women who read this book. I felt an instant connection to her character!

My one complaint about this book is that I really don’t feel like we ever got Malcolm’s full story. It’s doled out in bits and pieces and I feel like there were some disconnects along the way. That being said, you don’t need to have a big imagination to know that Malcolm’s life post kidnapping was tragic and horrible! Overall, I loved this book and I can’t wait to read the next in the series.