An Indecent Dalliance with a Scoundrel

The story

Arabella St. Clair was London's crown jewel — until her massive dowry stopped being an attraction and became a death warrant. Fleeing a fiancé who intends to be a very wealthy widower, she vanishes into the rain-slicked Scottish Borders and seeks sanctuary in the last place polite society would ever look: a lawless fortress ruled by a man the ton whispers about and never invites.

Vaughn Kildare traded his title for a cold highland exile after the war named him the "Butcher of Badajoz." Scarred, disgraced, and done with rescuing anyone, he takes one look at the desperate debutante on his doorstep and sees exactly what she is: a lethal liability wrapped in silk. But as the conspiracy around Arabella tightens — and it becomes clear her fiancé's reach extends even here — Kildare becomes the only blade sharp enough to stand between her and the grave.

What begins as a cold tactical bargain ignites into something visceral and bone-deep, the kind of hunger neither a ballroom nor a battlefield ever prepared them for. With a border siege looming and the ghosts of a bloody past circling, Arabella must decide whether she is playing a winning hand — or losing herself entirely to the one man sworn to be her shield.

Tropes in this book

Protector hero Scarred soldier Runaway heiress Morally grey hero

A heroine on the run, a hero built for war, and a sanctuary that turns out to be the most dangerous place of all — for both their hearts.

Spice level

Steamy — around 3.5 out of 5. Slow-burn protector romance with serious payoff: all that restraint has to go somewhere.