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Review_FICTION

The Marquis and I their passions, but the moment Charlotte welcoming the new. Agent: Deirdre Knight
Ella Quinn. Zebra, $7.99 mass market (391p) discovers her companion is a man notorious and Janna Bonikowski, Knight Agency. (Mar.)
ISBN 978-1-4201-4516-8 for keeping mistresses, she is committed
Quinn’s smart fourth Worthingtons to a low opinion of him—even when the Maybe This Time
Regency romance (after It Started with a Kiss) compromising situation surrounding her Nicole McLaughlin. St. Martin’s, $7.99 mass
continues the tale of the Worthingtons’ first kidnapping forces them to claim that they’re market (304p) ISBN 978-1-250-14000-5
society season. When Lady Charlotte betrothed. Constantine’s dedicated respect McLaughlin’s second Whiskey and
Carpenter is kidnapped by someone who for her and thoughtful reflection when Weddings contemporary (after Maybe I Do)
plans to sell her to a client of the cunning challenged show her that he’s more than a starts out sweet but ends on a sour note.
madam Miss Betsy, Constantine, Marquis man who pays for women, and that marrying Jen Mackenzie is one of the working poor,
of Kenilworth, is the only one on hand to him wouldn’t be so bad. This installment is both fiercely proud and desperate to keep
assist her. A carriage chase out of London more tightly plotted than some earlier ones her head above water. She’s had a crush on
and a dashing rescue from an inn arouse and full of payoffs for longtime readers while comfortably wealthy TJ Laughlin since

Love in Bygone Days

Three powerful romances explore passion in 19th-century England.

★ The Sins of Lord Lockwood: the burgeoning steam engine field) despite his rank, he appre-
Rules for the Reckless, Book 6 ciates her determination to make it on her own, and her intel-
Meredith Duran. Pocket, $7.99 mass market (368p) ISBN 978-1- ligence and wit amplify the beauty he tries so hard to resist.
5011-3904-8 Mari is just as drawn to Edgar, and his softer side and interac-
In Duran’s captivating sixth Rules for the Reckless novel tions with the children blur the lines between their statuses.
(after A Lady’s Code of Misconduct), Liam Devaliant, the fifth The chemistry between the two is spectacular. The many
Earl of Lockwood, breaks away from the kidnapper who has references to Jane Eyre are more entertaining Easter eggs than
held and tortured him since his wedding night. When he homage; Bell (the Disgraceful Dukes series) makes this her
makes his way home, his headstrong and inde- own story, piling on plenty of witty dialogue, unconventional
pendently wealthy wife, Anna Winterslow characters, and hints of mystery to leave readers both satisfied
Wallace, is barely ready to see him again, since and eager for the next in the series. Agent: Alexandra Machinist,
he stole her heart and then vanished on their ICM. (Mar.)
wedding night—but she needs an heir. Shame
prevents Liam from being honest with Anna ★ No Earls Allowed
about having been kidnapped, and Anna tries Shana Galen. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $7.99 mass market (384p)
to ignore her desire for the husband she thinks abandoned her. ISBN 978-1-4926-3901-5
While navigating their new relationship, it’s hard to keep up Galen’s second Survivors Regency (after Third Son’s a
pretenses, and when the truth comes out, they join forces to Charm) has phenomenal protagonists—a former soldier
get justice. Duran has created unforgettable characters whose haunted by those he was unable to save, and an earl’s daughter
struggles with injustice and emotional and physical pain only who has left the trappings of nobility behind to care for those
bring them closer together. The novel, rich with powerful less fortunate—who will win readers’ hearts. Lady Juliana,
prose, is an exemplar of second-chance love stories. (Mar.) daughter of the Earl of St. Maur, runs a
London orphanage, the Sunnybrooke Home
★ What a Difference a Duke Makes for Boys. She finds it difficult to keep the boys
Lenora Bell. Avon, $7.99 mass market (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-269248-1 well provided for after the cook leaves, so she
When Mari Perkins, the heroine of this excellent introduc- tries to care for them herself. Juliana’s father is
tion to Bell’s Victorian-era School of Dukes series, arrives in worried for her safety and sends Neil Wraxall,
London, she has two goals: find out about her parentage and the bastard son of the Marquess of
secure a job. Edgar Rochester, Duke of Banksford, knows he Kensington, to try to get her to leave the orphanage. Instead,
shouldn’t hire the unorthodox spitfire as a nanny. Her beauty Neil, a former soldier, ends up staying and helping to teach
alone is too much of a temptation, and he the boys to cook, arranging for repairs on the building, and
refuses to mimic his father’s behavior of protecting Juliana from Slag, a local crime lord. Amid the
assaulting the help. But when she charms his chaos of the boys’ antics, Juliana begins to admire handsome
staff, his sister, and more importantly, his and caring Neil, and he is drawn to her beauty and selfless-
twins—Michel and Adele, who have scared ness. Passionate romantic interludes and the marvelous hero
away every other governess—he agrees to give and heroine will put this on many keeper shelves. Agent:
her a trial period. A working man himself (in Joanna MacKenzie, Nelson Literary. (Mar.)

68 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JANU AR Y 22, 2018