Book #2
Book #1 A Sham Engagement. Major Max Aubrey, invalided out of the army, has to marry before he turns thirty in a few months' time-or he'll forfeit the property left to him by his late father. Along with his much older brother, the Earl of Westbury, his mother and sister-in-law are determined he should marry forthwith and receive his inheritance. It's with marked reluctance that he agrees to escort his sister-in-law and niece to London for the season. Serafina Gilbert, the orphaned half-sister of Sir Ogden Gilbert, is very much the poor relation in the Gilbert family. When the parsimonious Ogden takes a small house in London for the season, he and his wife, who hates Serafina, bring her along so she can act as an unpaid companion to their oldest daughter. Being already twenty-two, Serafina has had it drummed into her that she's an unattractive old maid. At her first ball, Serafina bumps into Max. When they both inadvertently end up escaping to the safety of the dark summerhouse, Max offers to escort her to the British Museum. Each acknowledges, without saying anything, that they're attracted to one another. After Serafina accepts Max's almost businesslike proposal of marriage, his mother invites her to visit Bratton Park, the seat of Max's ailing brother. There, they discover the earl has a problem that could cause a terrible scandal: a woman is claiming to be his lawful wife. And now, it seems, she's determined that her adult son is the true heir to the earldom.
