Douglas "Devil" Radcliffe has spent years carving out Devil's Acre, an area where the titled and entitled lords of London come to play. But when Queen Victoria proposes a reformation plan to the House of Lords that would have the wretched souls of nearby St. Giles moving into his territory, Devil sets out to buy, bribe, and steal the votes he needs to stop her. One vote short and running out of time, Devil has Lord Edwards' daughter kidnapped and held captive. The price of her freedom? Lord Edwards' vote.
As Lord Edwards' daughter, Jacqueline's life was defined at the moment of her birth. Growing up in the shadow of her mother's death in childbirth, she has spent years trying to make it up to her father. Now a grown woman, she is torn between her duty to her father and her desire for a life of her own. Irrevocably changed after her kidnapping, Jacqueline tries to put the pieces of her life back together only to find they no longer fit.
Professional Reviews
Kirkus
In this period romance, a young woman with a soiled reputation enters into a marriage of convenience. Ladies' garments are torn more than once, but this is hardly a bodice-ripper.
Happily, each of the characters has his or her own flair... Characters exhibit clear growth, especially Lord Edwards, whose harsh persona may mask intolerable grief... Carries it off with more aplomb than many.
An intern architect at Ryan and Associates, Mateo Diaz has spent the last year learning his craft under the tutelage of partner Alex Ryan. Alex is the closest thing to family that Mateo has known since losing his own family years ago. But not even Al
