Francesca Greentree comes upon a man trapped in the
treacherous mire that's claimed many a victim. Pulling him
from the bog, Francesca finds she's saved a very handsome
and very desirable man. Terrified of her unfavorable
heritage, Francesca buries herself upon the moors to quash
her need for adventure. However, believing she will never
see him after this night, Francesca joins him in
confronting the villains who tricked him into the
quicksand.
The famous courtesan Aphrodite hires investigator Sebastian
Thorne to find the mastermind who had her young daughters
kidnapped years ago. When the trail leaves London and
seemingly ends in Yorkshire, Sebastian is lured into the
bog. Luck intervenes and Francesca rescues him from death.
He immediately feels a bond with the young woman who so
desperately tries to suppress her free spirit. He tries to
keep his own wild nature concealed.
Unable to deny her passionate desire for Sebastian,
Francesca enters into a dangerous affair with him. He makes
her feel alive and free for the first time. Sebastian's
flings have always been insignificant until now. His affair
with Francesca makes him reevaluate his own painful past
that he's tried to ignore.
Ms. Bennett has kept the best for last in the third
Greentree sister trilogy. It's wickedly sensual as danger
steadily increases and Francesca and Sebastian's affair
heats up. The villain is not obvious even though Ms.
Bennett provides tantalizing hints to the mastermind's
identity.
Proper, reserved Francesca detests chaotic London and one
of its most infamous inhabitants: her birth mother, the
notorious courtesan Madame Aphrodite. Lovingly raised by
the devoted Lady Greentree, she's content to remain in
Yorkshire, far from the scandalous parent whose life and
profession shock . . . yet intrigue her. But a dark,
dangerous stranger she rescues on the moors is awakening a
most improper desire — causing Francesca to question
whether she is more her mother's daughter than she ever
wished to be.
When Sebastian Thorne agrees to protect Aphrodite's
estranged daughter from a dire threat emerging from her
past, the fallen lord is unexpectedly seduced by
Francesca's beauty. But a vigilante living on the shadowy
edge of society has little hope to own such a prize — and
unless he reclaims his abandoned title and lost honor,
Sebastian will never get close enough to the bewitching
lady to save her life . . . or win her passion.
Excerpt
Yorkshire
1849
"You said this was an adventure," she murmured, her eyes
growing heavy. "I don't think I've ever had such an--an
interesting time. I don't want it to end, either." The
coverlet slipped, and she saw his gaze go to her bare, rosy
skin and the soft curve of her shoulder. He was looking at
her, and she liked it. "This doesn't seem real," she said
dreamily. "I feel like I can do whatever I wish."
"What is it you wish to do?" The firelight was behind him.
Francesca was feeling very peculiar. There was something
about his eyes and his voice, she felt like a silly rabbit
held by the eye of a snake, except this was a far more
pleasurable experience. Pleasure, that was the word.
Sebastian Thorne was a man who could give her unlimited
pleasure, and he fascinated her and frightened her at the
same time. Or perhaps she was more frightened of herself.
What was it like to kiss a man like this? In her life she
had kissed, of course she had, but usually bumbling boys
who slobbered on her cheek before she pushed them away.
She'd never let herself imagine how it must feel to kiss a
real man, an attractive man, and one she was attracted to.
She had been too afraid she might not be able to stop.
But now here he was, the man of her dreams, and suddenly
desire overweighed fear. Impulsively she threw her arms
about his neck and placed her lips on his.
Surprise gave way to passion. He grasped her roughly in
his arms, and he was strong. Lovely. She felt caught up
in something she mightn't be able to stop and she was
afraid, but only for a moment, before his mouth proceeded
to plunder hers.
An explosion of sensation. Her sense of touch and taste
and smell were all focused on him. There was not escaping
this, and she didn't want to.
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