Courting Ruin

He ruined her once with a whisper. Now she'll ruin them both with a lie.Lady Clara Mapleton believes in love-the kind worth waiting for, not the kind brokered in drawing rooms or secured by titles. It certainly doesn't include Crispin Hallworth, Earl of Oakford, a man so steeped in scandal he's earned the name Devil of Oakford.But when a masked kiss at a lavish masquerade threatens to destroy her reputation, Clara does the unthinkable to protect herself: she claims they are engaged.Crispin is stunned. Clara is the one woman he's never managed to charm or forget. A fake betrothal might serve them both... if they can resist the temptation simmering behind their practiced roles long enough to find a way out.With every stolen glance and every staged touch, hatred gives way to something far more dangerous-desire.Because falling for the devil was never part of the plan. Neither was surrender.

A bold beauty. A brooding viscount.And two weeks that may change everything.Lady Alice Pickford is not the kind of woman who fades quietly into the background. With flaming red hair, a razor-sharp wit, and a smile that dares the world to keep up, she thrives on risk, rebellion, and romance-for others. Love, after all, is something she'll only accept on her own impossible terms.Samuel Baldwin, Viscount Crewe, has spent years building a life of restraint and order. Haunted by the consequences of past mistakes, he has no time for bold debutantes who speak too freely or laugh too easily-especially not ones like Alice.When a two-week house party throws them under the same roof, sparks fly faster than scandal. Forced into shared carriage rides, moonlit dances, and far too many stolen conversations, their barbed exchanges give way to something neither of them expected: understanding. Longing. Temptation.She thinks he's the most maddening man she's ever met.He thinks she's everything he shouldn't want.But with every passing day, desire becomes harder to deny-and the cost of walking away grows higher than either of them ever imagined.Two hearts. One house party.And a fortnight they'll never forget.