In KJ Charles's How to Fake It in Society, a widower suddenly made wealthy through inheritance strikes up an unlikely relationship with the French aristocrat who had planned to marry his late wife.
Titus Pilcrow is making his living as a shopkeeper until an older customer, Miss Whitecross, dying from injuries sustained in a fall, marries him to spite her greedy nephew. Titus must now find his feet in the moneyed world; he's beset by fundraisers, con artists, and families with marriageable daughters. Then Comte Nicolas-Marc appears, claiming that Miss Whitecross had come to him first, but he wasn't reachable when she was dying. When Nico takes him under his wing and teaches him how to dress for his station, Titus understands that the cash-poor aristocrat is probably directing Titus's business to creditors Nico needs to placate. He just has no idea that Nico and his cousin are in debt to people much more dangerous than tailors.
KJ Charles (All of Us Murderers) weaves an intricate web of deceit while maintaining honesty in the private emotions between Titus and Nico as they start to fall in love. Titus is recovering from an emotionally abusive relationship, and Nico's tenderness and support help him to find a healthier way to navigate relationships. Readers learn early on that Nico is running a scam, but the fact that he quickly decides not to target Titus directly makes it easy to root for their happiness once the considerable obstacles caused by the subterfuge resolve. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library