Lord Holt Takes a Bride

December 23, 2019
Lorret (The Rogue to Ruin) launches the Mating Habits of Scoundrels series with this lively Regency romance that features not one but two semiaccidental kidnappings. Full-figured heiress Winnifred Humphries is engaged to a man she knows doesn’t love her, prompting her two best friends to conduct a study into the psychology of London’s eligible men. They get carried away, abducting notorious rake Lord Asher Holt for research. Asher escapes, but believes they robbed him of money that would have freed him from his villainous father. When Winn flees her wedding, she mistakes Asher’s carriage as one her friends arranged for her getaway. Asher seizes the opportunity to recover his money, but his plan swiftly goes awry when henchmen sent to collect his father’s gambling debts come after him, endangering both his and Winn’s lives. Despite Winn’s innocence and deep-seated insecurities about her body, Asher is charmed by her ability to hold her own in tense situations. Though their communication issues grow tiresome, Asher and Winn are endearingly complex characters with wit and chemistry to spare. Romance readers will be delighted. Agent: Stefanie Lieberman, Janklow & Nesbit.

March 1, 2020
Heiress Winnifred Humphries' trio of best friends has the perfect plan to help her escape marrying the odious Bertram Woodbine. They will have a carriage waiting outside the church on the day of Winnifred's wedding, and all she has to do is skip out of the ceremony and into the carriage and she will be whisked away. Unfortunately, once Winnifred finds herself ensconced in the carriage, she discovers her escort is not her friend Jane's cousin Mr. Pinkerington, but instead a rather cranky Lord Asher Holt, who after being kidnapped earlier by Winnifred's friends as part of their research into romantic rogues for a forthcoming handbook, decides a bit of comeuppance might be in order. Lorret debuts her new Mating Habits of Scoundrels series with a whimsically winning Regency-set historical that deftly plays with popular romantic tropes such as the runaway bride with great success. Readers who crave love stories generously dusted with plenty of fairytale charm, flirty wit, and fun sensuality will find this hits their reading spot.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)