Thank you to Booksprout for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third book in the Perdition Club series but the first ever from Vale that I've read. I'm impressed with her writing here and now plan to look at her past books because of this.

Jonas is a bit uptight and very self-isolating because of his shame towards his sexuality. During his school days, he started a relationship with Derek Dryden, a fellow student that was a bit more free in his nature, but ended it suddenly after escaping a police raid. Since then, he's been out of London at his family's country seat in hiding. However, Derek doesn't know the whole story and, in order to get Jonas to finally make contact with him again, has paired up with Jonas' sister in a marriage scheme. Jonas storms into the Perdition Club to find Derek and both make a bet that if Jonas can best Derek in a series of games, Derek will "leave" Jonas' sister. As the game is played, Jonas can no longer hide that he never stopped loving Derek and reveals the real reason he ran that night 7 years previous.

For a shorter novel, there is a lot stuffed into the story. While Jonas and Derek aren't my favourite couple, you get a real feel for them as characters and their situation. This doesn't take place in the club as much as the other two books in the series I read but it's still a catalyst for Derek and Jones reigniting their relationship. I really enjoyed this and, like I said, will look more into Vale's other books if they're anything like this.