Mary Balogh

For both Lady Annabelle Ashton and Reginald Mason, marriage is inevitable, want it or not. After unsuccessfully trying to elope with her family’s coachman, Annabelle returns home in disgrace, leaving her family scrambling to find someone willing to make her respectable. Reginald is perfectly content to continue living the life of a rake, but his fed-up father finally insists that Reginald marry or he will permanently cut off his allowance. Since Annabelle’s father desperately needs money to pay off some debts, and since Reginald’s father has always wanted a connection to the upper class, the solution seems obvious: Reginald must marry Annabelle. The fact that both families have been bitter enemies for years, and that Reginald is not in love with Annabelle, doesn’t matter one whit. Balogh’s latest elegantly executed tale is rich with her usual subtle humor, deliciously romantic sensuality, and a truly clever twist on a classic Regency plot.