Miss Julia Swifton is proud of being considered a bluestocking by the Ton. She certainly has neither time nor inclination for the fripperies and frivolities of polite society. Indeed, she’d much rather curl up with an improving tome in her library than go to a tedious party where she would have to be forced to make conversation with tiresome gentleman, dissolute rakes and fiery dowagers.
Miss Swifton’s substantial fortune enables her to pursue her own interests and leave all the husband hunting and matrimony to innocent debutantes with stars in their eyes. But unfortunately for Miss Swifton, it looks like her tenure as a bluestocking is coming to an end because her grandmother has decided that the time has come for Julia to become a man’s wife. No sooner has Julia recovered from the shock that her grandmother springs another surprise on her: Julia is to marry one of the Ton’s most infamous rogues: Lionel Blake, the Earl of Thorwynn. Needless to say, Julia is less than pleased. How could her grandmother betray her like this? And more to the point, would a man with a fearsome reputation as a womanizer like Lionel Blake ever consent to marry someone like her?
Every matchmaking mama in the land wants their daughter to marry the Earl of Thorwynn. Rich, charming and as handsome as sin, no woman can resist Lionel’s flirtatious charms. But although the Earl of Thorwynn can seduce any woman he wants, seduction is as far as he’s prepared to go. He doesn’t want to be shackled with marriage and children – not if it interferes with gambling, drinking and womanizing!
When Lionel hears the news that Julia Swifton’s grandmother wants him to marry his granddaughter, Lionel is not amused. Julia is not the sort of woman he usually goes for, and besides, marriage is not – nor ever has been – on his list of priorities. But something about Miss Swifton intrigues him and when he finds himself stealing a kiss from her in a darkened library, the Earl of Thorwynn vows to get to know this seductive bluestocking more intimately…
And when they are plunged into a web of danger and deceit, Lionel and Julia find themselves thrown in delicious proximity together – with plenty of opportunity to get to know each other better!
Regency romances do not get any better than this! Monica Fairview is sure to be a favourite with readers of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer for her writing is crisp and eloquent, her descriptions of Regency society superb and evocative and her ability to tell a powerful romantic story rich in intrigue and emotion absolutely brilliant!