The last thing the Earl of MacLaren wants is a wife, so when he awakens to discover a fair-haired enchantress at the foot of his bed, he behaves as any man might by taking full advantage of the delicious situation. Then his family bursts in, and the chit brazenly announces that she is his betrothed. So he finds himself well on his way to being legshackled for life

Beautiful, reserved Anne Royle had never done anything so mad in her life. She entered the earl's bedchamber with no intention of seduction. Rather, she hoped to discover a document that could contain the truth about her heritage. But now her world is turned upside down, and while she trembles at the thought of her wedding night, she finds she longs for it in ways she never thought possible.

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Books > Fiction > Romance - Historical

An engagement of convenience

Community standards certainly held sway in the Regency period, the setting for the effervescent How to Engage an Earl by Kathryn Caskie, the second in a charming trilogy about three sisters. Anne Royle believes she is the dullest woman around—why else would she be treated as though she were invisible? Too bad she can't really be invisible, for she's found in a compromising position with the notorious rake the Earl of MacLaren with all of London's best looking on. There's only one solution: an instant betrothal, which Anne assumes they'll nullify once the hubbub dies down. MacLaren has other ideas—one of which is to prove that a rake can be made a gentleman. As the pair begins to genuinely fall in love, the complicated secrets of a generation past threaten to steal away the possibility of happiness. The plot has refreshing twists, and the characters are a fine lot, but it is Caskie's clever writing that makes How to Engage an Earl such a sweet escape.

Barbara Samuel has written more than 30 novels. She blogs regularly about books, food and travel at www.awriterafoot.com.