SEASON OF TEMPTATION
James, Viscount Matheson, must protect his family from the scandal he inherited along with his title. The solution is obvious: it is a truth universally acknowledged – at least, among the Regency ton – that a respectable match between persons of quality can solve virtually any difficulty.
So James chooses a suitable bride, and all of his problems seem well on their way to disappearing. Almost.
Unfortunately, James’s quiet fiancée would rather hide in the country than assume the role of a viscountess. And that family scandal? It’s not going away unless he can restore his ancestral estate. Which has been neglected for decades.
Julia Herington – the stepsister of James’s fiancée – has never encountered a situation she can’t brazen or babble her way through. And poor James clearly needs her aid. He has far too many burdens for one person to carry alone: a reluctant bride, dependent family members, a crumbling estate. Besides all this, his life is shockingly devoid of simple joys, such as plum pudding and clandestine masquerades.
Julia makes it her selfless mission to help James regain the missing pieces of his life. Once again, though, nothing goes as planned. Julia begins to develop rather…selfish motivations, and James adds a scandalous temptation to his pile of troubles.
As the bindings of propriety grow uncomfortably tight, they must both acknowledge a new truth: love is the greatest trouble of all.
Coming October 2011 from Kensington Zebra
AWARDS
WINNER, Historical category, Lone Star Writing Competition 2009, Northwest Houston RWA
Second Place, Historical category, Heart of the West Writer’s Contest 2009, Utah RWA