Feeling like a cliché, Lady Marian Lawrence sets out to snare a rich husband to save her family from ruin. Except with her biting wit and lack of beauty, the task is practically Sisyphean. Hiding her true self, she sets her cap for wealthy, amiable Lord Darley—until Darley’s best friend blocks their path to the altar. A man who has vowed never to marry, Reginald Montague is as determined to prevent a fortune hunter from snaring Darley as Marian is to have a wealthy husband. Far from rich but possessed of an aristocratic lineage, Montague is prepared to do anything to stop Marian, including seduce her. With dazzling skill and subtle stratagem, he sets out to change Marian’s dislike for him into desire—as Marian struggles to keep the lie she’s living from being revealed by a truly disastrous love… “A deliciously light-hearted traditional Regency." —Mary Jo Putney, author of No Longer A Gentleman
From NYT bestselling author Patricia Rice: “...a rousing good tale that is alternately merry, mischievous” Ann McGuire, Romance Reader A soldier who despises women and a woman who despises soldiers must depend on each other to survive. Scarred in a duel over a feckless female, Gavin Lawrence leaves America to take up his new duty as Marquess of Effingham, vowing never to care about others again. But he does care about protecting his crumbling new home—the secret passages apparently conceal an intruder he’s determined to root out. Dillian Whitnell guards her injured cousin in isolated Arinmede manor after an attempt on both their lives. Having followed her father’s troops for years, Dillian is adept at camouflage. She just hadn’t expected the stubborn new marquess to refuse to believe in ghosts. Her game of hide-and-seek taunts his irritation into intrigue, and intrigue into a forbidden passion, until Gavin realizes the exceedingly annoying but courageous young woman he chases is in terrible danger.Once more, the marquess is faced with the prospect of a fight for his life over a woman—unless Dillian leaves him and all she loves behind. Regency Nobles series: Book #1: Genuine Article Book #2: The Marquess Book #3: English Heiress Book #4: Irish Duchess REVIEWS “This fast-paced, witty novel will definitely delight on a cold winter’s night.” Margaret Devilbiss, Gothic Journal “Ms. Rice brings two marvelous characters together. With her mastery of subtle humor, The Marquess will please the taste of the most discriminating readers.” Joan Hammond, Romantic Times
An Irish rogue and a duke’s daughter should have nothing in common except trouble... Though enchanted by the selfless beauty of a duke’s granddaughter, Michael—a man of many names but none his own—has wisely kept his distance. But two years after the disastrous fire that brought Lady Blanche Perceval into his life, he is saddled with a lost, lying Irish waif and needs a woman’s understanding aid. To his dismay, the generous lady he remembers now despises him for deserting her when she needed him most. Blanche has inherited all the wealth and responsibility of a dukedom, even if it is her cousin who wears the title. Forced to rely on her men of business to help her make decisions since she has no experience or knowledge of her own, she is at constant odds with the new duke who wishes to marry her for the sake of the estate. When the irresistible and unreliable Michael O’Toole materializes in her life to enlist her care for another of the abandoned orphans he’s rescued—as he once did for her—Blanche doesn’t know whether to kill him or kiss him. After terrorists blow up her carriage, it becomes apparent that running away might be the best choice of all—but can they survive the pitfalls of their impossible attraction?“Finally, Michael O’Toole! I’ve been waiting for his story ever since I read Patricia Rice’s The Marquess years ago. Michael and his delicious duke’s granddaughter demonstrate why bad boys are best!”Mary Jo Putney Regency Nobles series: Book #1: Genuine Article Book #2: The Marquess Book #3: English Heiress Book #4: Irish Duchess "Finally, Michael O'Toole! I've been waiting for his story ever since I read Patricia Rice's The Marquess years ago. Michael and his delicious duke's granddaughter demonstrate why bad boys are best!"Mary Jo Putney, author of No Longer a Gentleman
Duke meets shrew. Taming doesn’t happen. Neville Perceval, the bankrupt Duke of Anglesey, has been burdened since youth with more responsibility than one man should handle. He has finally accepted that he needs to marry a wealthy, gracious lady who will ease his burdens and smooth his political path.Fiona MacDermot, the rebellious, untamed cousin of an Irish earl, has the freedom and independence Neville has never known. Like the duke, she needs cash to help starving villagers and orphans. Unfortunately, she’d rather earn a living than have anything to do with useless men, and the politicians she knows all belong at the wrong end of a rope.But when the duke is nearly beaten to death, and Fiona’s looms are lost to a murdering thief, their lives are entangled in ways that threaten their futures. Lust shouldn’t factor into their destinies, but it does, and now they have to find their dreams together, or die trying. Regency Nobles series: Book #1: Genuine Article Book #2: The Marquess Book #3: English Heiress Book #4: Irish Duchess