Hermione Upperton is devastated when her father wagers her matched pair and loses them in a card game, but that doesn't even begin to compare to how she feels when she learns that he bet her hand in marriage and lost to the Earl of Mainwaring. The man is a infamous gambler just like her father and he has made his opinion very clear on how he feels about her driving and belonging to the Lords of Anarchy driving club.
Jasper Fawley knows how devastated Hermione will be when he witnesses her father losing her matched pair. He also knows that her father will soon have nothing else to bet but the hand of his daughter, so he approaches him with an offer and wins Hermione with a few turns of the card.
Can they make this marriage work when it starts out so poorly?
After the recent death of her brother, Miss Leonora Craven is determined to find out the truth about how he died. The only way she knows how to get information is to get help from Lord Frederick Lisle, one of her brother's closest friends. He also happens to be her ex-fiance.
Frederick, Freddy, and his friends are determined to find out how Jonathan Craven died. When Leonora comes to him for help, he proposes that they have a sham engagement as a way to get into the infamous Lords of Anarchy club which they believe had a hand in Jonathan's death.
But what happens when Freddy wants to make their engagement real? Can Leonora let her heart win over what she thought was the right decision years ago?
Miss Winifred Nightingale's employers have given her time off to visit with her sister during the holidays. She never imagined that they would be invited to the local lord's house party to celebrate.
Sir Lucien Blackmore has finally agreed to visit his cousin's for the holidays, but only because the woman that he has grown to care for will be out of town during that time. He never expected to see her at his cousin's home.
When Winifred has some mysterious things happen to her, she goes to Lucien as her only male friend and asks for his help. She thinks that if he acts as her betrothed, that these things will stop happening. Lucien agrees with the condition she think about making the betrothal real when they find the culprit.
What is a woman to do when the man of her dreams gives her everything she wants and didn't think she could have for Christmas?
Someone is out to do harm to Perdita, the widowed Duchess of Ormond. The person blames her for the Duke's death. Having already been through threatening situations with her sister and best friend, Perdita is not surprised when the villain sets his eyes on her. But when the threats start happening in public, she realizes that she must turn to someone for help.
The logical choice is Lord Archer Lisle. Archer was the personal secretary of the former Duke and has been in love with her for years. When Perdita refuses to leave London for her safety, Archer resorts to kidnapping her.
Archer just wants to keep Perdita safe, but can she overlook his high handness to find an everlasting love?
Perks of Being a Beauty by Manda Collins.
This is book 3.5 in the Ugly Ducklings series.
Miss Amelia Snow's place in society has taken a turn for the worse. She was once adored by the gentlemen of the ton and welcomed into the ton's ballrooms. That all changed when her mother passed away and she had to become the companion to a wealthy cit's daughter. Now she down plays her looks and her outspokenness so that she doesn't lose her job.
Lord Quentin Fortescue is surprised to see his childhood friend acting as companion to his host's daughter. Amelia broke his heart years ago when she turned down his proposal of marriage. Unfortunately, Quentin still holds a torch for her. Will he get burnt again?
Since Quentin's arrival changes the number of people in the party, Amelia is forced to participate in the house party activities to even things out. During the course of the party she is thrown together with Quentin, much to the chagrin of Harriet's mother who seems to delight in putting Amelia down every chance she gets. Will the time spent together rekindle the love that they once shared?
When I saw that this was part of a series, I had to read the other books before reading this one. I fell in love with the "Ugly Ducklings" and couldn't imagine that I would like reading about their arch nemesis.
At the end of How to Entice an Earl (book 3), we see the cousins have forgiven Amelia as she truly seems to have remorse about what she has done to them. During the course of this book we get some background information about Amelia and can see why she might have acted the way she did. You can definitely see the change in her personality when she with Harriet. There are some snarky women at the party and Amelia knows just what to say to them since they are acting just the way she use to .
I was pleasantly surprised that Collins was able to get me to actually like Amelia by the end of the story. By telling us Amelia's backstory, we are able to empathize with her and understand why she acted the way she did. This was a wonderful story of redemption and second chances!
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