From Publishers Weekly
Set against the colorful backdrop of Victorian Britain, Ivory's (The Indiscretion, etc.) sensual tale begins when the handsome and exotic Stuart Aysgarth, Lord Mount Villiars, returns from Russia to claim his inheritance from a dissolute father, only to find that his shady Uncle Leonard is stealing from the estate. While Stuart attempts to untie the resulting financial tangles, his coach accidentally kills a valuable lamb owned by luscious young widow Emma Hotchkiss, a former confidence woman now living a quiet life in Yorkshire. Emma tries to recoup her financial loss by means both fair and, eventually, foul; Stuart turns the discovery that she has cooked his books to his own advantage, threatening her with exposure if she doesn't help him double-cross the oily Leonard. As their schemes mature, the two engage in a series of sexual games. The delightfully complex con that forms the story's liveliest element isn't introduced until halfway through the narrative, and the novel's sparkle is occasionally dimmed by expository and noticeably anachronistic prose. Still, the playful roguishness of both protagonists adds a wickedly welcome twist to the familiar historical romance formula, while Ivory's gift for creating passionate (even outr‚) sexual interludes is sure to please readers who prefer their romances warmly spiced.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description

Stuart Aysgarth, the new Viscount Mount Villiars, doesn't know he's playing with fire when he inadvertently runs afoul of Emma Hotchkiss. True, the exquisite Yorkshire lady is a mere sheep farmer, but she also guards a most colorful past that makes her only more appealing to the handsome, haunted lord. Emma has come to him seeking justice -- and Stuart is determined that she will not leave until she has shared her secrets ... and his bed. Her clever revenge scheme must fail in the face of his soft words and tender caress -- and then he turns the tables on his bewitching adversary, seducing her into a daring deception of his own ...


About the Author
Judith Ivory's work has won numerous awards, including Romance Writers of America's RITA, Top Ten Books of the Year, and Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice. With two degrees in mathematics, Ms. Ivory never expected to make her living writing novels. "How did this enormous stroke of luck happen? To live off imagination and invention? You'd think something so much fun would be illegal or at least fattening. I can't figure out what went so right."

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Judith Ivory has a real talent for creating surprising situations and sensual sizzle. In Victorian England, a powerful viscount and a Yorkshire vicar's widow seem a most unlikely match. But, from the first, the situation between Stuart Aysgarth and Emma Hotchkiss has been anything but typical. While the viscount has recently inherited his unlamented father's vast property and responsibility, the wealth to maintain it is beyond his reach. Stuart is locked in a legal struggle with his father's greedy brother, who almost succeeded in claiming the title and property as his own before Stuart could return from his self-imposed exile abroad￯﾿ﾽand who has stolen many of the estate's more portable valuables, including two that are particularly precious to the rightful heir. Meanwhile, Emma's background includes much more than writing her husband's sermons and tending his sheep. When the viscount refuses to pay for the valuable lamb his coach horse killed, the lovely widow quickly slips back into habits from her disreputable past to swindle the devastatingly handsome, infuriating peer out of what she sees as her due. Trust doesn't come easily to either of them￯﾿ﾽbut when Stuart proposes they work together to dupe his uncle out of his ill-gotten gains, he makes an offer Emma cannot refuse. The confidence game they set in motion is a tricky balancing act, with vengeance as well as wealth as its goals...and an immensely imaginative range of intimacies between these unlikely conspirators as an unexpected and irresistible reward. Sue Stone

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Stuart Aysgarth, the new Viscount Mount Villiars, doesn't know he's playing with fire when he inadvertently runs afoul of Emma Hotchkiss. True, the exquisite Yorkshire lady is a mere sheep farmer, but she also guards a most colorful past that makes her only more appealing to the handsome, haunted lord. Emma has come to him seeking justice -- and Stuart is determined that she will not leave until she has shared her secrets... and his bed. Her clever revenge scheme must fail in the face of his soft words and tender caress -- and then he turns the tables on his bewitching adversary, seducing her into a daring deception of his own...

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly