To Tempt a Rake

From the first page of this sequel to To Sin with a Scoundrel and To Surrender to a Rogue, Elliott sweeps her readers up in a scintillating and sexy romance between Katharine Kylie Woodbridge and Comte Giovanni Marco Musto della Ghiradelli. Kate, an outspoken, strong-spirited woman somewhat improbably raised as a pirate, is more than a match for Ghiradelli, who spies on England while pretending to be a dissolute wastrel. Intrigued by Kate's past, Ghiradelli pursues her, only to realize he's encountered her before in a Naples brothel. As their story plays out against a backdrop of continental politics, obscure botanical poisons, family arguments, and erotic statuary, heated passions come to a boil. A secondary romance between Kate's grandfather and her fellow bluestocking Lady Charlotte Fenimore is charming but never intrusive. (Feb.)