First published 2012
Lady Penelope Marbury has watched one engagement crumble and countless suitors disappoint her with their tepid proposals. The Marquess of Bourne owns part of London's most infamous gambling den and needs a respectable wife to restore his standing after society stripped away everything but his title ten years ago. He chooses Penelope for this calculated arrangement. She accepts, hungry for something more substantial than the safe marriages other men offer. Marriage to Bourne plunges her into a world she never imagined existed. Her husband rules London's criminal underworld while trying to keep its dangers away from her. But Penelope awakens to her own fierce desires and refuses to stay safely sheltered. She discovers she will risk everything, including her heart, to seize what she wants.
Genres: romance, adult, adult-fiction, historical-romance, 19th-century
Vibes: darkly-romantic, emotionally-charged, intense, passionate, sensual
Tropes: arranged-marriage, awakening, forced-proximity, slow-burn
Setting: London
Period: 19th-century
386 pages · Paperback · GARDNERS VI BOOKS AMS006
Content warnings: sexual-content