Love With a Scandalous Lord

Starred review from June 1, 2003
Grayson Rhodes, bastard son of a duke and an actress, was first introduced in " A Rogue in Texas " (1999). Fourteen years have passed since his exile to Fortune, Texas, and now he's been called back to his father's ancestral home to be at his deathbed. With the duke's oldest legitimate son dead, Rhys, the second son, stands to inherit the title. Grayson's 20-year-old stepdaughter, Lydia, is quite taken with Rhys. She's pretty sure she can snag him, too, because she's brought her trusted guidebook, " Blunders in Behavior Corrected," to help her deal with the many rules of London society. Rhys is stunned by the wit and beauty of his brother's stepdaughter, but the former "Gentleman Seducer" feels as though his lurid, scandalous past holds too many terrible secrets for him to pursue a relationship with her. He selflessly sponsors Lydia for a season on London's marriage market, but she keeps her sights on the man she loves. In Heath's exceptionally written novel of nineteenth-century England, a very stubborn American pursues a nobleman who's much better than he thinks he is. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)