Book #4

Start with A Sham Engagement. One night, Verity Farrington's father, an inveterate gambler down on his luck, stakes the only thing he has left to wager on a last hand of cards, and loses. What he's lost is far more valuable than mere money - it's his daughter. He's lost her to one of the worst rakes in London, a man known as the Black Earl for his dissipate soul. But Verity, the veteran of a life spent roaming Europe with some dangerous escapes from angry creditors, is made of stern stuff. Mindful of debtors' prison threatening her dear papa, on the morning after that fateful card game, she turns up on the doorstep of Jonathan Wintringham, Earl of Dunster. He's more than a little taken aback: he was so drunk, he's forgotten all about winning that final wager. Things only get worse when his best friend, Walter, turns up and recognizes Verity as his longlost cousin. Jonnie Wintringham is tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome. He's been Earl of Dunster since he was only sixteen, and from an early age has led the sort of life of indulgence Verity can only imagine. Until he realizes he's compromised Walter's cousin, he's harbored no intention to get leg shackled in the near future. Thanks to Walter's horror-stricken reaction, Jonnie decides marrying her could be quite fun, and if it gets him an heir, it will shut up his bothersome family for good. They agree to a marriage in name only, and he sends Verity to his country estate, Luxborough. Once there, she discovers he has an estranged mother, an illegitimate half-sister, and a very dark secret he's shared with no one. Not an auspicious start to a marriage. But when Jonnie is attacked by supposed random footpads and is taken to Luxborough to recuperate, things could well take a turn for the better when Verity has to nurse him back to health.