Gallant Scoundrel

The Saint of Seven Dials returns!Harry Thatcher, once a celebrated war hero, returned to England a dissipated wastrel and avowed lifelong bachelor. In hopes of preventing Harry from degenerating into the most disreputable rake in Regency London, his best friend persuades him to take up the mantle as the Saint of Seven Dials, a role Harry adopts wholeheartedly. But even his friends don't know the secret in Harry's past that first set him on the path to ruin. Most assume it was his battlefield injury that transformed him from a valiant soldier into the embittered, reckless man he is now, but long before that injury, there was a woman…Xena Maxwell was a most unusual woman, even at nineteen, when Harry first met her, clad in breeches, in a rough-and-tumble Army camp on the Peninsula. Heedless of convention after traveling the world with her scholarly father, Xena could fight and shoot as well as most men and was every bit as gifted at repairing wounds as she was at causing them. Harry's fascination and Xena's disregard for propriety landed them in a marriage neither intended, disgrace for Harry and exile for Xena. Her ship foundered before reaching England, however, and Harry was never the same again…Now, just as he's coming into his own as the newest Saint of Seven Dials, Harry finds himself face to face with the wife he's believe dead for the past seven years. Will her miraculous survival prove an answer to prayer or a curse upon them both?The long-anticipated 5th book in Brenda Hiatt's bestselling Saint of Seven Dials series! Brenda Hiatt is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen novels (so far), including historical romance, traditional Regency romance, time travel romance, and young adult science fiction romance. In addition to writing, Brenda is passionate about embracing life to the fullest, to include scuba diving (she has over 60 dives to her credit), Taekwondo (where she is currently pursuing her 4th degree black belt), hiking, traveling…and reading, of course! For years, all of London has known of the legendary Saint of Seven Dials, that shadowy figure who steals from the rich to give to the poor. To the denizens of London's slums and rookeries, he is worshiped as a hero and savior, while the gentlemen of the ton curse and scowl whenever his name is mentioned. His infamous calling cards are only proof of his impudence, they say, and an embarrassment to master and servant alike when they appear in place of purloined valuables.The ladies of London Society are torn, sympathizing with their fathers and husbands even as they sigh over the mysterious, romantic thief. What sort of man must he be, to take such risks for such a noble cause? they wonder. But though his identity is shrouded in secrecy, his fame continues to spread . . .