You Were Made to Be Mine

Long brings the goods in her fifth Palace of Rogues Regency romance (after After Dark with the Duke). Newly released from a French prison, British spy Christian Hawkes is hired by the Earl of Brundage to find Brundage’s runaway fiancée, Lady Aurelie Capet, a Frenchwoman whose family were killed during the French Revolution. Hawkes agrees—he needs the money—but he suspects Brundage of treason and intends to simultaneously investigate any connection between the earl and his own arrest. Hawkes’s search for Aurelie takes him to the Grand Palace on the Thames, an upscale London boardinghouse with a host of colorful residents. After being stabbed on the way there, Hawkes collapses in the foyer of the Grand Palace, where he is mistaken for vicar Mr. Bellingham, who was expected. Aurelie, herself disguised as one Mrs. Mary Gallagher, helps care for him while he recovers. As the pair fall in love, Hawkes must choose between completing his mission or following his heart. Long enhances her complex narrative—loaded with wit, mystery, and sizzling romance—with attention to historical detail and the emotional depths of her characters. This may be the author’s best yet. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency. (July)