First published 2021
At a London ball, Diana, Lady Templeton and Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham do what they always do: trade barbs and flirt in equal measure. This time the sparring produces a wager. Jeremy must marry within the year or Diana loses a hundred pounds. Diana likes her odds. Then Jeremy shows up at her door before his fortnight house party at Elderwild and upends her calculations entirely. His most recent mistress delivered a cutting verdict on his bedroom performance, and Jeremy wants an honest assessment from the one woman he trusts to tell him the truth. He proposes a temporary affair during the party. Diana sees an angle: sleeping with Jeremy will send a signal to other men that she is open to taking a lover, and Jeremy's marriage-minded grandmother, the formidable Dowager Marchioness of Willingham, will be busy steering eligible women his way at Elderwild. Diana figures she wins on both fronts. Jeremy figures the same. Neither one figures on what two weeks in the same country house will actually cost them.
Genres: fiction, romance, adult, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance
Vibes: flirtatious, humorous, intimate, romantic-tension, witty
Tropes: banter, enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating, forced-proximity
Setting: London, Elderwild
Period: 19th-century
345 pages · Paperback · Atria Books
Content warnings: sexual-content