cover image A Gentleman Undone

A Gentleman Undone

Cecilia Grant. Bantam, $7.99 mass market (368p) ISBN 978-0-553-59384-6

A charmingly risqué protagonist rescues this otherwise predictable Regency romance. Lydia Slaughter is tired of being a man’s mistress. She would much prefer a life of independence, but that requires a considerable amount of money for a single woman. Luckily, Lydia has a knack for cards and has been slowly stockpiling her fortune. When she takes retired soldier Will Blackshear for a tidy sum at the tables, she’s surprised to find that not only does he want his money back, but he wants to learn her tricks so that he can start building a future of his own. Both have feelings for one another, but their focus is on the cards and the money to be made. While working their way through the gaming hells of London, mutual desire and wounds of the past threaten their success. Grant provides a self-reliant and unconventional heroine in Lydia, and her character almost begs the reader to turn the page. Agent: Emmanuelle Morgen, Judith Ehrlich Literary Management. (June)