Guileless: Less is More: “Season One”, Volume Three by V.R. Christensen

Antonia Gibson has been educated in the manner of most young women of the 19th century—to be good, obedient wives and not much else. When Antonia’s family takes the time to notice her, they only see what they expect: a silly, trivial girl, unpossessed of a mind of her own. These qualities are what keep her silent when her father and equally overbearing brothers contrive to manipulate her into an engagement with a gentleman for whom she can summon no sufficiently warm feelings. Meanwhile, brother Tom, having been expelled from Cambridge, has hired Mr. Gregory Hale, a young lawyer striving to help Tom in his efforts to contest the accusations laid against him and salvage his character. It is this stranger to the family who discovers that Antonia is not entirely incapable of intelligent thought and helps her feel truly seen for the first time in her life. He encourages Antonia to fight for her own happiness, but at what cost? Mr. Hale, after all, is no stranger to scandal, for a dark history looms behind his otherwise charming demeanor and threatens to destroy the happiness of all with whom he comes in contact—perhaps none more so than Antonia herself.