Scandalous [Paperback]

An unexpected romance emerges between a young woman desperate to keep her family’s wealth and the man trying to gain it in this Regency-era romancefromNew York Timesbestselling author Karen Robards.

England, 1810: When Lady Gabriella Banning receives word that her half-brother, the Earl of Wickham, has died on his tea plantation, she faces the reality that she and her younger sisters, Claire and Elizabeth, are suddenly penniless. The family’s riches will pass to the next male heir—a distant cousin—and the Banning sisters are doomed unless Gabby thinks fast.

Which she does. Pretending that her brother is still alive, Gabby arranges beautiful Claire’s London season. She’ll keep up the pretense just long enough for Claire to marry a fabulously wealthy nobleman. But when a handsome gentleman arrives at the door and claims to be the Earl of Wickham, Gabby’s plan backfires. For if she exposes this mysterious stranger’s deceit, she exposes her own. Bound by secrets and lies, Gabby and the roguish adventurer strike sparks off each other—and soon London society is abuzz over the scandalous pair of “siblings” who appear to be falling in love.Karen Robards is theNew York Times,USA TODAY, andPublishers Weeklybestselling author of more than fifty books and one novella. Karen published her first novel at age twenty-four and has won multiple awards throughout her career, including six Silver Pens for favorite author. Karen was described byThe Daily Mailas “one of the most reliable thriller...writers in the world.” She is the mother of three boys and lives in Louisville, Kentucky.Chapter One

'Tis sorry I am to be the bearer of ill tidings, Miss Gabby.

More than sorry, Jem Downes sounded positively miserable over the news that he had crossed an ocean and parts of two land masses to bring her, Lady Gabriella Banning thoughl“i