Rosalie Hughes, has spent the last ten years at the Harwich
School for Young Ladies. Rosalie was sent there by her
mother and then quickly forgotten, while her mother
gallivanted around the Continent with younger men.
The
school's headmistress has no choice to return Rosalie to
her stepbrother, Declan, the Duke of Banbury, since
Rosalie's mother seems to have disappeared from the face of
the earth.
Rosalie has fond memories of her Declan, being 5
years apart in age, they were good friends, but it was a
long time ago, and when she is dumped in his lap, he is
none too happy; he dislikes Melisande, Rosalie's mother,
intensely.
The Duke is a rather dissolute personage, but
still he has some sense of propriety and even though he
despises Rosalie's mother, he will see that his stepsister
is provided a large dowry and he will make sure that by the
end of her first Season, she is married off to just about
anyone to get her off his hands.
Rosalie will be living
with her stepbrother, since she has nowhere else to go,
Declan asks his aunt and his cousin Aurelia to come live
with him during the Season, and luckily, Aurelia and
Rosalie quickly become fast friends. In fact, Rosalie
realises she has been pining for Declan all these years,
but he's changed; he seems to deeply resent her now, and
she doesn't know why.
As the title suggests, A GOOD
DEBUTANTE'S GUIDE TO RUIN, Rosalie is
to make her debut, rather reluctantly. So the Season
starts, and when a certain Lord Strickland, 20 years her
senior, and a rather revolting chap at that, asks Declan
for Rosalie's hand in marriage, her stepbrother agrees
without a second thought, without asking her opinion. She
is aghast; she will not marry without having been properly
kissed by a gentleman of her choice at least once. Her
cousin Aurelia suggests they should go incognito to a club
where no respectable gentlewoman should be seen: Sodom.
Rosalie knows that's a place of sin where Declan goes and
secretly she hopes he will be the one to give her that
first kiss she so desperately craves. In truth, Declan has
feelings for Rosalie, but he cannot face them, since she is
her mother's daughter; or is she?
A GOOD DEBUTANTE'S GUIDE
TO RUIN is the first in a new series by the wildly talented
Sophie Jordan, and this story has quite a few unusual
twists and turns, the likes of which are not often seen in
historical romances. Ms. Jordan has written yet another
wonderful romance, a perfect summer read.
The last woman on earth he would ever touch . . . Declan, the Duke of Banbury, has no interest in ushering Rosalie Hughes, his stepsister, into society. Dumped on him with nowhere else to go, he's determined to rid himself of the headstrong debutante by bestowing on her an obscenely large dowry . . . making her the most sought-after heiress of the Season. . . . is about to become the only one he wants But Rosalie isn't about to go along with Declan's plans. Surrounded by fortune hunters, how is she supposed to find a man who truly wants her? Taking control of her fate, Rosalie dons a disguise and sneaks into Sodom, a private club host to all manner of illicit activity—and frequented by her infuriatingly handsome stepbrother. In a shadowed alcove, Declan can't resist the masked temptress who sets his blood afire . . . any more than Rosalie can deny her longing for a man who will send her into ruin.