How to Impress a Marquess

Ives’s third Wicked Little Secrets Victorian romance (after Wicked, My Love), in which an oil-and-water couple take a circuitous path to love, is a diverting comedy of errors. Just by being herself, free spirit Lilith Dahlgren rankles the very core of George, Marquess of Marylewick. He’s the keeper of her funds, and the tightfisted “fusty frog” spares no effort when it comes to trying to rein her in. Yet at every turn she persists in defying his authority: taking freeloading relations into her London home; entertaining unsavory artists, poets, and other ne’er-do-wells; and being wholly irresponsible with money. The comedy ratchets up when Lilith decides to earn some extra cash by anonymously writing and publishing a serialized romantic story about a handsome sultan (who resembles George) and his lover (who resembles Lilith). Of course George secretly follows the story and privately lusts after the heroine all while insisting that Lilith must abandon her undisciplined lifestyle and become a proper lady. This is a jolly good read with plenty of conflict and banter. Agent: Paige Wheeler, Creative Media Agency. (Nov.)