The Byronic Book Club
2 primary works • 3 total works
Book 2
"Ever since we first met, I've imagined what it would be like to be in your arms, to feel your lips upon mine. I'm twenty-eight years old. A shy and oft-times awkward spinster with singular scientific interests, and I've...I've never been kissed. Not once. In fact, I never thought I would ever want to be kissed. But then I met you and...and I do want this. Very much."
Miss Lucy Bertram is content to spend her days writing scientific articles or curling up with a Gothic romance novel. Indeed, she'd rather stick a hatpin in her eye than attend a ball. But when her father, the eccentric botanist Sir Oswald, insists she accept the suit of a wealthy but stiffer-than-a-poker industrialist to save the family from penury, Lucy decides to act. She's certain her disowned brother, Monty, will take her side. But first she must find him in St. Giles's cutthroat rookeries.
A covert agent for the Crown, William Lockhart, the Earl of Kyle, is on the hunt for a ruthless killer determined to destroy the Linnean Society. Sir Oswald, a botanical poisons expert, is the prime suspect. Posing as a groom in the baronet's household, it shouldn't take Will long to unearth the evidence Scotland Yard needs. If only the beguiling Miss Bertram wasn't so damn distracting...
As an unexpected but undeniable passion flares between Lucy and Will, confidences are exchanged and dark secrets come to light. But will a murderer, determined to stay hidden, destroy their chances of finding a happy-ever-after?
Book 3
This bluestocking would do almost anything to save her reputation and her grandfather's legacy...even marry a scandalous duke.
No-nonsense Jane Delaney divides her time between her grandfather's beloved bookstore and writing newspaper columns, determined to overcome a past that's left her with scars on her face and in her heart. But when the store ends up in unexpected financial jeopardy and Jane's secrets are threatened by a mysterious blackmailer, she finds herself in desperate need of money. All seems lost until a temptation like no other presents itself...
Christopher Marsden is the new rakish Duke of Roxby...and someone wants him dead. The problem is, he has no idea who or why. Following a vicious attack, he's acquired a rare affliction where he can no longer recognize faces. But when he catches Miss Delaney attempting to steal a priceless book from his library, Christopher can tell her apart from the rest. Her scarred beauty stands out like a beacon, and he doesn't want to let her go. So he offers her an outrageous proposal: the money she needs in exchange for a marriage of convenience and her help in catching his would-be killer.
As passion flares between the two unlikely newlyweds, dangerous truths are exposed and hidden enemies poise to strike. Can these two damaged souls survive long enough to find love?
"I can think of the perfect way to keep you occupied and your mind diverted," she murmured. "Come to my room. If you're not too tired..."
Lust flashed in his gaze and then he caught her face between his hands and kissed her. "For you, my beautiful Artemis, I'd stay up all night."
Artemis Jones-"respectable" finishing-school teacher by day and Gothic romance writer by night-has never lost sight of her real dream: to open her own academic ladies' college. When Artemis is unexpectedly called upon by a dear friend, a fellow Byronic Book Club member, to navigate her first London Season, she comes at once. Who knows, perhaps she can court the interest of a wealthy patron for her school. As long as she can avoid her high-handed aunt's schemes to marry her off.
Dominic Winters, the widowed Duke of Dartmoor, needs a wife-someone who will provide him with an heir and help him to manage his spitfire adolescent daughter. The problem is, Society has dubbed him "The Dastardly Duke." Rumors are rife that he murdered his mad wife so his choices for a suitable bride are limited. But then he meets the ravishing and passionate Artemis Jones who might just be everything he needs.