He Would Risk Everything to Gain Revenge . . . But He Never Planned On Losing His Heart
Driven to uncover the truth about the mysterious death of his ladylove, the Duke of Hawkscliffe will go to any lengths to unmask a murderer. Even if it means jeopardizing his reputation by engaging in a scandalous affair with London's most provocative courtesan—the desirable but aloof Belinda Hamilton.
Bel has used her intelligence and wit to charm the city's titled gentlemen, while struggling to put the pieces of her life back together. She needs a protector, so she accepts Hawk's invitation to become his mistress in name only. He asks nothing of her body, but seeks her help in snaring the same man who shattered her virtue. Together they tempt the unforgiving wrath of society—until their risky charade turns into a dangerous attraction, and Bel must make a devastating decision that could ruin her last chance at love. . . .
One of the biggest thrills for me during the writing of this story was when I found out afterwards that my editor had given the manuscript to “the” Mary Jo Putney to read. If you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, Mary Jo Putney is one of the greatest historical romance writers, well, ever. Back when I was unpublished, she’s one of the authors who made me want to write historical romance, in other words, one of my “idols.” Her “Fallen Angel” series is legendary.
So, I was in shock when my editor told me that not only had Putney read my manuscript—she liked it! She had given a longer quote on the book which Ballantine clipped to “Sizzling and sexy.”
I wrote to thank Mary Jo for the endorsement, and she was kind enough to point out to me a few errors I had made in some of my historical terminology, and thank goodness, it was still early enough in the production process to fix them.
Mary Jo Putney has been an inspiration, in some ways a role model, to a whole slew of us “next generation” historical romance authors. It’s not just her deeply emotional writing and her delicious heroes that I admire, but her integrity and her grace.
I got to meet Mary Jo in person at a Ballantine party the following year. Along with my best writing pal and fellow Ballantine newbie at the time, Tina St. John, the two of us gave Mary Jo the Wayne and Garth bow: “We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!” It cracked her up.
