Secrets of a Summer Night New York Time Bestseller
Four young ladies
enter London society with one common goal: they must use their feminine
wit and wiles to find a husband. So a daring husband-hunting scheme
is born.
Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides
to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making
an offer of marriage. But Annabelle's most intriguing--and persistent--
admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while
he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer
marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition...
but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction.
Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable
gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe
from Simon--and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle
succumbs to Simon's passionate embrace and tempting kisses... and
she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.
Read
the first chapter.
 Review from Publisher's Weekly
Deftly evoking not only the romantic tension between hero and
heroine but also the conflicts and challenges of the Victorian
era, this superb romance from Kleypas launches her new series
centered on the Wallflowers, four young ladies who are sick of
being snubbed and overlooked by London's bachelors and who have
banded together to find themselves husbands. Beautiful Annabelle
Peyton represents Old World aristocracy; she's genteel but impoverished
and desperately trying to maintain the appearance of wealth. Commoner
Simon Hunt, on the other hand, is a brash, ambitious entrepreneur
who has made a fortune investing in industry and railroads and
is only marginally accepted by society. As Annabelle attempts
to trap a moneyed aristocrat into marriage--with the help of her
vivacious fellow Wallflowers, of course--Simon boldly pursues
her, first with the desire to make her his mistress and then with
far more noble intentions. The scenes involving Annabelle and
the three other Wallflowers--two impudent American girls and a
shy, stuttering English heiress--are almost as enjoyable as the
ones in which Annabelle and Simon try to outmaneuver each other.
The protagonists inevitably wind up at the altar, but their story
doesn't end there. Kleypas delves deeper, touching on Annabelle's
changing mindset (specifically, her growing admiration of Simon's
working-class roots and her acceptance of everything he stands
for) and Simon's insecurity over taking her away from polite society.
By turns amusing, sensual and sober, but always compelling, this
is a first-rate offering from a truly talented storyteller. Agent,
Mel Berger. (Nov.)
Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas. Avon,
$6.99 (384p) ISBN 0060091290
Back
| 
