No Man's Mistress

Zusatztext "A lively and thrilling tale."— Rendezvous Informationen zum Autor New York Times bestselling, multi-award-winning author Mary Balogh grew up in Wales, land of sea and mountains, song and legend. She brought music and a vivid imagination with her when she came to Canada to teach. There she began a second career as a writer of books that always end happily and always celebrate the power of love. There are over four million copies of her Regency romances and historical romances in print. Klappentext Critics call her "a veritable treasure, a matchless storyteller” (Romantic Times). Readers have fallen in love with Mary Balogh's sparkling blend of wit and romance. Now this dazzling writer sweeps us back to Regency England, into a world of dangerous secrets and glittering intrigue, as a dashing lord meets his match in a fiery beauty who vows to be ... No Man's Mistress. The dark, devastating stranger rode into the village fair and wagered twenty pounds at the throwing booth — for a chance to win the daisies in Viola Thornhill's hair. The Gypsy fortune teller had warned: "Beware of a tall, dark, handsome stranger. He can destroy you — if you do not first snare his heart.” Recklessly Viola flirted, then danced with him around the Maypole. And then came his delicate, delicious kiss. Viola did not regret that she had let down her guard — until the next morning, when he appeared at her door to claim her beloved Pinewood Manor. Lord Ferdinand Dudley won her home in a game of cards! Viola hated him for trying to take everything, including her soul. She was mistress of Pinewood Manor. Yet Dudley refused to leave, even as his conscience rebelled at compromising this beautiful innocent whose only proof of ownership was a dead earl's promise. Dudley held the deed, but at what cost? Each day under the same roof brought its share of temptation, intimacy, and guilt. But Viola knew it was a battle she could not afford to lose. Marriage was out of the question, and she would be no man's mistress. Even as Dudley's unnerving presence, his knowing smile, threatened to melt her resolve. Against his better judgment, Lord Ferdinand Dudley was beguiled. This maddening beauty had stirred him as no woman had before. And he was bound and determined to make her his own. At once sensuous, whimsical, and wonderfully romantic, Mary Balogh's new novel holds us in thrall, bringing to life a love story that sizzles with passion and originality. Leseprobe Chapter One The picturesque village of Trellick, nestled in a river valley in Somersetshire, was usually a quiet little backwater. But not on this particular day. By the middle of the afternoon it appeared that every villager and every country dweller for miles around must be out-of-doors, milling about the village green, enjoying the revelries. The maypole at the center of the green, its colored ribbons fluttering in the breeze, proclaimed the occasion. It was May Day. Later, the young men would dance about the maypole with the partners of their choice, as they did with great energy and enthusiasm every year. Meanwhile, there were races and other contests to draw attention to the green. Pitched about its perimeter were tented booths with their offerings of appetizing foods, eye-catching baubles, and challenging games of skill or strength or chance. The weather had cooperated in magnificent fashion with warm sunshine and a cloudless blue sky. Women and girls had discarded shawls and pelisses they had worn in the morning. A few men and most boys remained in their shirtsleeves after engaging in one of the more strenuous contests. Tables and chairs had been carried from the church hall onto the lawn outside so that tea and cakes could be served in full view of all the merriment. Not to be outdone, on an adjacent side of the village green the Boar'...

Product details

• Authors: Mary Balogh
• Publisher: Dell Publishing Inc.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 28.05.2002
• EAN: 9780440236573
• ISBN: 978-0-440-23657-3
• No. of pages: 358
• Dimensions: 108 mm x 175 mm x 25 mm
• Series: The Mistress Trilogy; The Mistress Trilogy; Random House Publishing Group
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature