If You Give a Rake a Ruby

Galen’s dark sequel to When You Give a Duke a Diamond mixes London’s seamy underside with the world of the social elite. Warrick Fitzhugh, a spy for the Foreign Office, has a price on his head. To save his life, he must track down a traitor. The path leads to a violent crime lord with ties to famed courtesan Fallon, so Warrick seeks Fallon’s aid by sneaking into her bedroom and blackmailing her for information. Her hidden history makes her the perfect person to help him, and her cooperation is more valuable than he could ever have guessed. Fallon and Warrick are a well-matched couple with good chemistry, and their frank mutual seduction is sensual and sexy. A few plot points are underdeveloped and too easily resolved, but the strong writing and unusually scrappy heroine will sweep readers to the finish line. Agent: Joanna MacKenzie, Browne & Miller Literary Associates. (Mar.)