Spring 1783 ... Jemma, Duchess of Beaumont, has just returned from Paris and is planning to shock all of London high society - not to mention horrify her husband - with scandalous soirees and a debauched Grand Ball. When her country cousin Lady Roberta St Giles asks for help seducing the Duke of Villiers into marriage, Jemma transforms Roberta into the most delicious and desirable woman in town. Then she lures Villiers to the house, ostensibly to play chess, but he, ignoring both Roberta and Jemma's husband, offers Jemma a match - the third game to be played blindfold. And in bed.
Lady Roberta St Giles is a woman who has lived with the fact that her family isn't in any way normal or ordinary. Her father is a poet who lives with women openly in a way that makes people ask questions about his family. She calls on a relative to try to get herself on the market. When she sees the Duke of Villiers, a notorious rakehell, she decides he is to be hers.
Damon Reeve, the Earl of Gryffyn thinks differently, but can he win?
It's fun, full of complicated relationships, chess and duels. It was a fun, light read.
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20 August, 2009:
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