Third in the Historical Romance Series

 The Lady Tempts an Heir by Harper St. George

This was stronger than book 2 and almost as strong as book 1. We are talking: giggling, smiling, kicking my feet. Max is everything you want in a MMC, not just for a historical romance, but for any time period. He was strong, smart, and not afraid to stand up for what was right. Helena was brave and independent and did not care about what society thought about her. Together they were magic. Max's parents were, specifically his father, were meddling, again. This time, Max was to get married or the project that August was working on for the docks was going to lose it's funding. Papa was using August to manipulate Max. He had until the end of the year to get married, or at least engaged. Enter Helena. They agreed to a fake courtship that would lead to a fake engagement, which she would then end when he went back to America, to keep his father happy and to help her secure the funds she needed for her shelter for fallen women. Well, in addition to falling for each other for real, they were both interested in the same property for their respective properties. They came to an agreement: she would get the church for her shelter and he would get everything else for August's project. They got "engaged" and then he had to leave sooner than expected because of a pending strike at the factory. Papa wanted to crush it and all hope from the workers, Max wanted to compromise. He got the board to agree to remove Papa and put him in charge; it helped that Papa was on bed rest from a heart attack. Max was able to compromise and quell the strike. Violet had her baby. Helena ended up going to America to see Max and he told her that he had time to think and while he mourned the idea of never having kids, he would rather be with her. I was convinced that the reason she never had kids with her first husband was going to end up being his fault and was surprised when it turned out that it was actually her that couldn't conceive. Helena and Max reconcile and two years later they return to England for the christening of August's son. This is also the first time they see Papa again, and he has had another small heart attack and learned that he has been too harsh and wants to make amends. Also, Caroline's husband (she's the one who started all of this back in book 1) dies in the bed of his mistress right after Helena and Max get fake engaged, so she's finally free. This was just spectacular. I love this series. I love this author. Anything she writes, I'm going to read.