London's ballrooms and bedrooms thrive on scandal and
decadent pleasure and the summer of 1814 will be no
exception for the Distinguished Rogues in Heather Boyd's
latest Regency romance.
Widowed beauty, Arabella Lawson, Lady Farnsworth, knows the
value of independence after being trapped in a marriage that
left her unfulfilled. Although she longs for a lover at
last, she's expected to chaperone her flirtatious niece
during her first season. However, given the way the girl
keeps disappearing every chance she gets, there is little
hope of a good or speedy result. While searching for her
charge yet again, she blunders into one of Lord Rothwell's
scandalous assignations. This time it's Arabella's turn to
be on the receiving end of his hungry kisses, and she's far
from prepared to make the most of the opportunity.
Gossip may paint Merrick Bishop, the Earl of Rothwell, as a
notorious scoundrel when it comes to women, but this season
his intentions are honorable. Duty bound to marry, he's
determined to discreetly court an open-minded bride and
prove the gossipmongers wrong by being on his very best
behavior... until in his frustration, he mistakenly kisses
the wrong lady and discovers that everything about the
encounter feels so very right. Merrick never once believed
he had a chance with shy Arabella, and when the unthinkable
happens, she turns to him not for an affair or hopes of
marriage but for his friendship and protection from her own
family.
Can a rogue with a reputation for breaking hearts convince a
widow who only hopes for an affair that their feelings are
not only the stirrings of desire but the beginnings of the
deepest and truest love?