Best-selling author Sarah MacLean concludes her Rules of Scoundrels series with Never Judge A Lady by Her Cover. The long-awaited final book stars Lady Georgiana Pearson, the daughter of a Duke. Ruined at the tender age of 16, Georgiana turned her back on society and created her own world when she became part owner of “London’s most scandalous and most popular gaming hell,” The Fallen Angel. Only her three partners in the club know that Georgiana is also the most feared person in Britain. Disguised as Chase, the mysterious gentleman privy to nobility’s most hidden and disgraceful secrets, Georgiana holds the power to destroy many privileged families.
But now Georgiana’s daughter is old enough to be hurt by the cruel comments of other young girls, and Georgiana decides to marry in order to add a layer of protection around her sweet, intelligent child. She boldly re-enters the society that scorned her, determined to marry a nobleman who can add his name and influence to shield her daughter.
Georgiana has made a list of titled potential husbands, but the man who effortlessly intrigues her is not an aristocrat. Duncan West is “brilliant, powerful, handsome as sin” and the owner of five of London’s most-read publications. He has received plenty of secrets from Georgiana at The Fallen Angel. But there, she is disguised as Chase or cloaked in the persona of Anna, the queen of London’s light-skirts. Duncan doesn’t recognize her clad in the beautiful gowns and jewels of Lady Georgiana, but that will soon change.
How can they possibly reach their goals without losing the overwhelming, unexpected love that binds them?
While the two are powerfully drawn to each other, Duncan doesn’t have the aristocratic family title that Georgiana believes she needs to protect her daughter. However, she does need the influence of Duncan’s newspapers in order to sway public opinion and convince society to accept her. Duncan, on the other hand, wants information from Chase that is vital to breaking the hold a blackmailer has on his family.
They need each other for reasons beyond the physical. What neither could have foreseen is how much they want each other, passionately and beyond reason. But their mutual desire has the power and potential to destroy everything they’ve each plotted and schemed to achieve. How can they possibly reach their goals without losing the overwhelming, unexpected love that binds them?
MacLean’s written a well-executed novel, grounded solidly in the historical details of 1823 England. Never were a hero and heroine so evenly matched, both in bed and out. In Duncan, Georgiana has, at last, found a man who can go toe-to-toe with her formidable personality. In Georgiana, Duncan has found a woman he can trust with his deepest, darkest secrets. Readers won’t be disappointed by this rousing end to an intriguing series.
Lois Dyer writes from her home in Washington
