The Vanishing of Lord Vale by Chastity Bowlin

 The first half of this book was great! But then it quickly got weird. And not good weird, but WTF are you doing weird. 

Benedict was the son of a wealthy family until he was kidnapped by a bunch of sinister men who ran in the debauched circles of his father. Years later, Benedict resurfaces as the owner of a gambling hell who is searching for his missing foster sister, Mary, who was kidnapped just as he was almost fifteen years ago.

The heroine, Elizabeth, is a paid companion to Benedict's mother, Lady Vale. Vale has gone mad with grief and her brother in law has sought someone out to keep an eye on her so she doesn't keep looking for her missing son in the faces of strangers. But when she and Elizabeth are rescued outside a shady fortune teller's parlor by a man who looks exactly like her missing son, Lady Vale is sure it's him.

Every book in this series is about a nobleman who's had his legacy ripped forcibly away and must fight for its return. It has the same gothic-adjacent vibes as Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series, which I really enjoyed, so I was excited to find another book series that has the same vibes. 

I loved book one in this series: it was passionate, the characters had great chemistry, and the pacing was excellent. This book, on the other hand, felt way less polished. The weird quasi-supernatural element, the constant filler of the fortune teller and her boy toy, the lack of chemistry between Benedict and Elizabeth, the lack of a satisfying showdown, and a very rushed and ultimately inconclusive and dissatisfying ending, all made this a very disappointing installment.

The next book in this series sounds REALLY good so I'll be checking that one out before I decide to call it quits, but I really was not a fan of the ending of this book at all. :/

2.5 out of 5 stars