A widow starting anew. A gentleman dodging the noose. Will their pretense of a marriage turn into a head-over-heels love?

To purchase the publishing house of her dreams, new-to-London Gwendolyn Barnes must find herself a husband. With no desire to wed again, the young widow pays an exorbitant fee to the notorious Black Widow of Whitehall for a husband who, she assures Gwen, is almost certainly dead.

Then her husband, shipping magnate and aloof son of a duke, Gideon Devereux, walks through the front door.

After reading of his marriage to an unknown bride, the date of which provides him a handy alibi, Gideon returns to London determined to discover who framed him for treason. He’s content to allow his farce of a marriage to the beautiful bluestocking stand. He only sees two problems—Gwen’s stipulation the marriage remain in name only, and an ungovernable hunger that neither can deny.

Secretly falling for the brooding and seductive Devereux, a wary Gwen vows to avoid a repeat of her disastrous first marriage. And with his enemies circling ever closer, Gideon’s inner demons whisper that their white-hot passion can never ignite into a forever love.

Can this made-for-each-other couple discover new heights of happiness in each other’s arms, or will the echoes of their pasts tear them apart?

Tropes:

• Arranged marriage
• Second chance at love
• Dashing hero
• Bluestocking bride
• Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s connected world

If you like fake relationships, grumpy versus sunshine characters, and off-the-charts sizzle, then you’ll adore Kimberly Keyes’ The Lyon Returns, Book 2 in her “First Comes Marriage” steamy Regency series set in the Lyon’s Den Connected World.

Book 1 – The Lyon Whisperer
Book 2 – The Lyon Returns
Book 3 – A Lyon’s Tangled Tale

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