The life of Deran Morissey, Earl of Atherton, upends when Ava Fychon is dumped in his hall, sopping wet from her swim in the Thames. He doesn’t believe her tale of being kidnapped from her home in Wales and brought to England to be sold, yet grudgingly agrees to help locate her missing siblings not knowing that this journey will have him falling in love with the high spirited Ava, a woman he cannot have.

EXCERPT

Damnable woman. He should have chained her to the bed

When he got his hands on her that's precisely what he'd do, after he throttled her, and then he'd ship her back to London and be done with her. Let the Swiss, German, French, whatever the hell baron he was, have her.

"Bloody good riddance to you." He stomped back inside the manor, slamming the door hard enough to realign the entryway portraits. Well past time for his life to be back on its predictable, smooth and damn pleasant course it had been on before that insufferable female flopped onto his carpet. A life with every pleasure he could want, when he wanted and with whom.

He nearly collided with Max as he careened around the corner of the staircase.

"Well?" Max asked.

"She's gone. Just as Bickford said." He took the stairs by twos.
"Went off on her God damned own with my horse to God knows where." He whirled around at the top of the stairs and glared down at Max who was halfway up. "I can just see her, smiling at Gibson, all wide-eyed and rosy until she hypnotized the poor sod. Puffed him up so much he chose a bloody horse for her and gave directions to the closest towns." A pounding fist shook the railing. "Blast that cursed woman! If I never see her again, it will be too soon."