Scandal Book

From a stately country house in Hampshire to the dazzling drawing rooms of London society comes an exquisite tale of an elfin beauty, a vengeful lord, and a wild, sweet love that is sheer poetry.

With her reputation forever tarnished by a youthful indiscretion, lovely Emily Faringdon is resigned to a life of spinsterhood–until she embarks on an unusual correspondence and finds herself falling head over heels in love. Sensitive, intelligent, and high-minded, her noble pen pal seems to embody everything Emily has ever dreamed of in a man. But Simon Augustus Traherne, the mysterious Earl of Blade, is not at all what he seems.

Driven by dark, smoldering passions and a tragic secret buried deep within his soul, Blade has all of London cowering at his feet, but not Emily . . . never Emily. For even as she surrenders to his seductive charms, she knows the real reason for his amorous suit. And she knows that she must reach the heart of this golden-eyed dragon before the avenging demons of their entwined pasts destroy the only love she has ever known.

Publishers Weekly

Under the Quick ( Surrender ) pseudonym, veteran romance novelist Jayne Ann Krentz (see review of Silver Linings below) offers a tale of Regency England that, while deftly handled with touches of humor, is more notable for its darker side: the hero and heroine rescue each other from past injuries while challenging each other for control within their relationship. Emily Faringdon, a 24-year-old spinster, adores a man she has never met: Simon Traherne, her favorite correspondent on her favorite subject, romantic poetry. When Simon attends a meeting of Emily's local literary society, he indeed seems to be ``the man of her dreams,'' a handsome earl apparently willing to overlook the scandal in her past--a thwarted elopement. But Simon is interested in her mostly as an instrument for revenge: he blames Emily's father for his own father's ruin and suicide 23 years before. Since then, Simon has plotted to destroy the Faringdons. A romantic with a strong pragmatic streak,pk Emily persuades Simon that marrying her enhances his possibilities for gaining revenge and she pk then begins her own campaign to win his affection and free him from the past that has poisoned his life. (Mar.)