[The Penwich School For Virtuous Girls 03] • Wicked Night With a Lover

From Publishers WeeklyJordan (In Scandal They Wed) craftily combines sensuous romance with 19th-century holiday cheer as fate unites an unlikely couple. Nurse Marguerite Laurent never believed in fortune tellers until Madame Foster's dire predictions for Marguerite's latest employer came true. Now Marguerite fears Foster's assertion that Marguerite will die before the year's end. Never one to avoid a challenge, Marguerite answers her estranged father's missive and travels to London to meet her half-sisters. Her father's business partner, Ash Courtland, decides to abduct Marguerite for his own personal gain, but is surprised by and attracted to her unyielding nature. Both Ash and Marguerite would rather avoid the pain of heartbreak than admit their mutual attraction, and the ever-present romantic angst is punctuated by Marguerite's desperate quest to avoid her dire fate. Engaging characters and a swift-moving plot make this perfect holiday escapist fare. (Dec.) 

Product Description

What should a proper lady do when she believes her days are numbered?

Step One: Take a Lover . . .

After being told she will not survive beyond the year's end, prim and lovely Marguerite Laurent intends to live what remains of her life to the very fullest. Though she may never know love, she will know passion—and she agrees to a whirlwind romance with a former admirer. But hours before embarking upon her grand adventure, Marguerite is abducted—by an unscrupulous rogue who boldly announces his intentions to bed and wed her before the week is out!

Step Two: Live With No Regrets . . .

Ash Courtland pulled himself up from the gutter to become a successful man of business, and now he wants revenge on his one-time partner for betraying him. Still, his enemy's bewitching daughter is most certainly not about to surrender her innocence to the infuriating—if shockingly attractive—cad who took her captive. Yet with no more than a touch, Ash makes her tremble with desire . . . and resisting the heat of his passion could cost Marguerite her last, best chance for ecstasy.