To Wed a Wild Lord

The lively fourth Hellions of Halstead Hall Regency romance (after How to Woo a Reluctant Lady) will delight readers with mystery, passion, and laugh-out-loud dialogue. Lord Gabriel Sharpe lost his best friend, Roger Waverly, in a terrible carriage-racing accident. Still guilt-wracked seven years later, Gabriel accepts any racing challenge, seeking both funds and death. When Roger’s sister, Virginia, challenges him to a race on the same fatal course, Gabriel realizes that wedding her could fulfill his grandmother’s demand that he marry or be disinherited, while helping Virginia and her grandfather keep up their failing stud farm. But Virginia swears she’d “rather immerse [herself] in a vat of leeches” than let Gabriel court her, and the tragic past is a wedge between them even as their mutual smittenness develops. Marvelous characterization, lively conversation, and drama perfectly leavened with humor makes this a grand romantic adventure. (Dec.)