Lord Ramsey’s Red-Headed Ruin by Cerise DeLand

It’s dangerous to be an honest woman—and torture for the man who loves her.

It’s dangerous to be an honest woman.
Amber St. Antoine flees Paris—and her role in spying on Bonaparte. The deputy chief of police, a venal man, craves Amber as his mistress. He’ll do anything to seduce her, even imprisoning her friends and charging them with crimes.

Amber, rescued from neglectful parents as a child by her influential aunt, grew up in the shadow of the Terror and went to prison with her aunt and Josephine Beauharnais. Despising the tyranny of a few corrupt men, Amber learned to value freedom.

As a result, when she was approached to serve in an espionage network, she accepted—and excelled. Now in fear of Vaillancourt, she flees Paris, her home—her friends.

It’s torture for the man who loves her.
Godfrey duClare, Lord Ramsey, comes to Paris as part of the British diplomatic mission now that peace exists between his county and France. His first assignment by his superior Kane, Lord Ashley, is to find the elusive agent Amber St. Antoine and keep her safe.

Following gossip and logic, Ram finds the stunningly beautiful woman deep in the French countryside. He declares she needs his protection, especially since she refuses to leave France. Defiant, Amber agrees to his company, even if they must pretend they are married.

The two travel France, discovering in each other, each day, a delight that leads to a passion neither can deny.

But when they also find new evidence of Bonaparte’s warlike plans, they must change their own. Suddenly, Vaillancourt surprises them with a ploy neither Amber nor Ram considered.

But Amber decides to outwit him. Ramsey is furious—and wild to save her from herself. What’s a man to do if he seems foiled at every turn?
Is he a fool to believe that love conquers all?

Lord Ramsey’s Red-Headed Ruin by Cerise DeLand, Scarlett Affairs, Book 2, Releasing September 26, 2024

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Meet the Author

Cerise DeLand loves to write about dashing heroes and the sassy women they adore. Whether she’s penning historical romances or contemporaries, she’s praised for her poetic elegance and accuracy of detail.

An award-winning author of more than 60 novels, she’s been published since 1990 by Pocket Books, St. Martin’s Press, Kensington and independent presses. Her books have been monthly selections of the Doubleday Book Club, Rhapsody Book Club and the Mystery Guild. Plus she’s won countless 4, 4.5 and 5 star rave reviews from Romantic Times, Affair de Coeur, Publishers Weekly and more.

To research, she’ll dive into the oldest texts and dustiest library shelves. She’ll also travel abroad, trusty notebook and pen in hand, to visit the chateaux and country homes she loves to people with her own imaginary characters.

And at home every day? She loves to cook, hates to dust, lives to travel and go to Jazz class once a week!

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The Duke’s Christmas Bride by Anna Bradley

The Duke's Christmas Bride (Drop Dead Dukes #3)Barbara’s rating: 4.4 out of 5 Stars
Series: Drop Dead Dukes #3
Publication Date: 9/24/24
Period: Regency, Gloucestershire, England
Number of Pages: 400

Scrooge meets Pollyanna and they find love, laughter, the Christmas spirit, and their HEA. This was a most delightful, uplifting, feel-good story – even if there was a tad of angst. I loved both main characters immediately even with Max being obsessed with revenge – even against a man who is now deceased. Ah! Poor Max – he has met his match. For every sour note Max plays, Rose plays three happy ones.

At the age of twelve, the bottom finally fell out of Max’s world. His mother had passed away and his father wagered away the only home Max had ever known. The man who won the home was a man Max admired greatly and looked up to almost as a father. Max was never back in his home again and his father never met a bottle he didn’t like. Before he died, his father had lost every farthing and every unentailed property belonging to the Dukedom. Max had grown to hate the vile Ambrose St. Claire to the point he could think of nothing but vengeance. Max, now the tenth Duke of Grantham, has spent the last several years acquiring all of the properties his father lost. He is now one of the richest, most powerful, and reviled peers in the realm – and there is only one property left to acquire. His childhood home, Hammond Court, the crown jewel of the dukedom will be his at last.

Rose St. Claire, is a wonderfully happy and joyful young woman who always chooses to see the happy side of everything and everyone loves her. Even with the only home she has ever known falling down around her ears, she is still joyful. She still sees the best in everything and everyone even though her father, Ambrose St. Claire, the kindest, most loving, best man she’s ever known has just died and left her destitute.

Sparks fly between Rose and Max from the moment he breaks into her house and she almost shoots him, through the surprises at the reading of Ambrose’s will, and right through to the end. Max is brilliant and has schemes within schemes to get his way and Rose is – well – just Rose who blithely goes on about her business. Max never celebrates Christmas and has no clue how to do so, while Rose adores everything about Christmas and wants ALL of the traditions. No cause for clashes there. 😊

If you are looking for a book to make you smile and feel good, this is it. I love the way Rose always foils Max’s schemes without even knowing she is doing so. This is most definitely an entertaining read. Although it is part of a series, you can read it as a standalone.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.