A Notorious Vow: The Four Hundred, Book 3

Shupe’s third Four Hundred historical (after A Scandalous Deal) craftily combines details of New York’s Gilded Age with enchanting romance. Lady Christina Barclay and her parents, the Earl and Countess of Pennington, left their home in England to visit her cousin in New York City, planning to marry Christina off to the highest bidder and restore their family fortunes. When her parents threaten to force her to marry elderly and sinister Mr. Van Peet, she flees to the home of her cousin’s neighbor, Oliver Hawkes, a reclusive, wealthy inventor who has shunned the snobs of high society because of their cruelty about his deafness. Christina and Oliver have become friends; he is enchanted by her beauty, and she is attracted to his kindness and intelligence. Oliver offers to marry Christina to save her from marriage to Van Peet, provide the funds her family needs, and give her an annulment in a year, but as their friendship develops into mutual desire, their arrangement is impeded, leaving them wondering whether to keep their agreement or dare to explore a genuine marriage. Scintillating romance is at the heart of this tale of affable protagonists overcoming the wounds of their pasts. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary. (Sept.)