The best books combine humor and depth to create an entertaining and engaging story. Rogue In My Arms by Celeste Bradley tries to do this, but instead of merging flawlessly, the two tones butt against each other awkwardly to create an uneven storytelling.

When Melody, a precocious (and adorable) three-year-old is left on the steps of a Gentleman’s Club in London, meant to go into the care of her unnamed father, several men wonder if she is their daughter. In this second installment of the Runaway Brides trilogy, Sir Colin Lambert sets out to see if Melody is the daughter of his beloved actress mistress who broke his heart three years ago. Along the way, he hires Prudence Filby to help him care for Melody. Pru has her own motivations; she is the former seamstress for this particular actress, and is owed several weeks of wages.

Pru isn’t all that she seems, though: A rather Dickensian series of events following her parents’ deaths have led her and her brother to live a life of service until her brother inherits. Despite her membership in the lower class, Colin is drawn to her feisty personality. But as he learns more and more about the woman he thought he loved, he faces a heartbreaking dilemma: Marry the woman he truly loves, or marry the woman he believes to be the mother of his child and protect his daughter from the life of a bastard.

The first part of this story is almost farcical; flamboyant acting troupes and stage kisses put the relationship between Colin and Pru in motion, and Melody’s three-year-old antics add a whole lot of cuteness. But as the story progresses, the tone shifts, and the conflict gains a lot of emotional depth. The problem is that the shift felt awkward to me. I enjoyed the second half’s emotional complexity far more than the first half’s attempts at humor. The latter portion of the book showed a strong tie between the characters that felt real and authentic. But it just didn’t match neatly up to the beginning.

Unfortunately, the physical aspect of their relationship started earlier than the emotional one—while Colin was still supposedly in love with his actress. It didn’t reflect well on his character to be dreaming about reuniting with his lost love, then making out with Pru, then returning to his daydreaming. I didn’t care that he didn’t truly love the actress. He still started a physical relationship with Pru while his feelings were directed at another woman. Not cool.

The book, all in all, was decent. I was actually sort of fascinated by the way Pru’s speech patterns played into her characterization, and it really highlighted the differences in class. But my reservations about Colin’s change of affections, and the book’s clashing tones, kept me from enjoying it.