There he meets his heroine, Ellen Markham, a young widow, a nice soul who lives all alone in the woods. In this one he wins an estate and goes to fix it up, and to rest since his hand is red and swollen (poor Val, all he wants to do is play). He just sat by his piano all day long and played.

Read moreĮver since I read about Val in book 1 I wanted to read his book, he just felt so different than other heroes. Valentine starts to find relief for his hand via her treatments and becomes close to her, however he will have to untangle the past to help Ellen overcome her grief as well as her fear, and to help him deal with the death of his older brothers. Ellen is haunted by the past, as well as the villainous Freddy. She scratches out a living by raising plants and flowers and selling her wares at the nearby town. Widowed Ellen FitzEngle lives in solitude and near poverty in a cottage on the estate. The estate is in a tumbledown condition and he begins its restoration, however his efforts are beset by sabotage. Devastated by the loss of his only outlet, he escapes to the countryside and the Markham Estate he has won in a game of cards.

Eventually the pain and swelling in his left hand prompts him to seek help and he is advised to stop playing the piano or risk losing the use of his hand completely. Valentine Windham is the youngest son of the Duke of Moreland, and a gifted pianist. Now I'm caught up on the Duke's sons, and now it's onto resume the series (I started with the daughters first) with the rest of the daughters. Instead she puts a halt to their affair and sends him away, which I really didn't understand why, for I felt it was unnecessary, but I still really liked it. Val suspects that something has happened to Ellen in her past and he asks her to tell him, but she won't for fear he'll never want to see her again. As they begin to fall for one another, we have the usual trope, I can't marry you because I'm not good enough for you, but it was all done very well, and somewhat heart breaking. He and his friend, Darius go to his new, crumbling estate and start fixing it up (though he appears to be doing more damage to his hands this way than playing the piano!) There he meets Ellen, who has her own crushing secrets that need to remain hidden. Usually it's been a housekeeper, but here it's a helpful neighbor who is a widow and the former resident of the estate he has just won in a card game (convenient.) Val, a musical protege with the piano has found he's losing the ability to use his hands and he must stop playing the piano to avoid losing them altogether. Burrowes always has a way in this series of having her leads fall in love with someone who takes care of them in some way. Finally we get Val's story and I really enjoyed it.

The Virtuoso by Grace Burrowes