Venus in Disguise

A lovely distraction...

Viscount Cavendish, and his Indian wife, Aashini, caused quite a scandal with their marriage, back in the day, and their son, Ashton Anson, is well aware some people still view him as less than an English gentleman. Blessed with his mother's extraordinary looks, a love of fashion and colour, and with wit and a sharp tongue he's never learned to hold, Ash is adept at getting himself into trouble. Years of practice have taught him the way out too, with his fists, making him the ton's most ruthless and unbeaten boxer. The games run by the gentleman's Club, The Sons of Hades, have become legend, and Ash with them.

Enter the diamond...

When the Duke of Beresford's lovely and diminutive daughter, Narcissa Ponsonby, makes her debut into society, Ashton Anson stands back and watches as the men of the ton fall over themselves to be the one to win the fragile beauty, and her vast dowry.

Tired of simpering misses with cotton wool for brains-even if they look like Botticelli's Venus-Ash is unimpressed by the pretty little ninny and makes his usual biting remarks. Unfortunately, the doll-like Narcissa overhears his comments and her stinging repost reveals the sweet façade she wears hides a woman Ash finds far more interesting than the pocket Venus everyone believes her to be.

A desperate bid for freedom...

Though everyone thinks they know Narcissa, the truth is far more complicated. The daughter of the Duke of Beresford dare not put a foot wrong. Her eldest sister is lost to her, since her father refuses to have anything to do with the child who ruined herself and married a commoner. Narcissa has always longed for her father's approval, despite finding it impossible to obey his rules. If his grace forbids her to ride a certain horse, the devil in her will dare her to take it, if he tells her not to climb trees and behave like a hoyden, she will steal her brother's trousers and climb the biggest tree on the estate.

There's a demon in her heart and she knows it, but not this time. This time Narcissa will do just what the duke has told her to do. She'll be the perfect young lady and marry to please him. In doing so, she intends to choose a titled fool, someone easy for her to manipulate. Never again will she be bullied into doing things she has no desire to do, or living a life too confined and dull to endure.

She will be free.

A battle royale...

Ash knows trouble when he sees it, and every instinct tells him winning Narcissa is a fight he is doomed to lose. The Duke of Beresford despises him and forbids his daughter to have anything to do with Ash. Yet this delicate Venus has a courageous heart and fire in her blood, and if Ash can win her heart, she might just fight right beside him