The Viscount and the Vixen

by Lorraine Heath

Overview

Love begets madness. Viscount Locksley watched it happen to his father after his cherished wife’s death. But when his sire arranges to marry flame-haired fortune hunter Portia Gadstone, Locke is compelled to take drastic measures to stop the stunning beauty from taking advantage of the marquess. A marriage of mutual pleasure could be convenient, indeed . . . as long as inconvenient feelings don’t interfere.

Desperation forced Portia to agree to marry a madman. The arrangement will offer the protection she needs. Or so she believes until the marquess’s distractingly handsome son peruses the fine print . . .and takes his father’s place!

Now the sedate—and, more importantly, secure—union Portia planned has been tossed in favor of one simmering with wicked temptation and potential heartbreak. Because as she begins to fall for her devilishly seductive husband, her dark secrets surface and threaten to ruin them both—unless Locke is willing to risk all and open his heart to love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062391056
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/29/2016
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	378,102
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Lorraine Heath always dreamed of being a writer. After graduating from the University of Texas, she wrote training manuals, press releases, articles, and computer code, but something was always missing. When she read a romance novel, she not only became hooked on the genre, but quickly realized what her writing lacked: rebels, scoundrels, and rogues. She’s been writing about them ever since. Her novels have been recognized with numerous industry awards and have appeared on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists.

Editorial Reviews

10/10/2016
Heath wraps up her Hellions of Havisham trio (after The Earl Takes All) with her strongest effort yet. Killian St. John, Viscount Locksley, sometimes wonders whether his name reflects his grieving father’s regret that his mother died giving birth to him. He and his companions grew up on the lonely, supposedly haunted estate where he was born, gaining a reputation for wildness. Portia Gladstone is familiar with the family’s character, but she’s also desperate, so she doesn’t hesitate to respond to Killian’s father’s advert for a new wife. Upon meeting her, Killian can’t believe she’d marry his delusional father based on an exchange of letters. Thinking to protect his father from a second heartbreak and himself from the dangers of love, Killian invites Portia into a marriage of convenience. Despite his efforts to remain aloof, heat and caring grow between Killian and Portia, and she is immensely grateful for the security marriage brings. But a fateful trip to London reveals secrets that could be their undoing. Heath’s passionate romance exposes the underside of Victorian London society, drawing readers into a dangerous world. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Heath wraps up her Hellions of Havisham trio (after The Earl Takes All) with her strongest effort yet….Heath’s passionate romance exposes the underside of Victorian London society, drawing readers into a dangerous world.” — Publishers Weekly

Heath wraps up the Hellions of Havisham series with a send-off that is both heart-stirring and supersexy, offering a story that hits romantic high notes... and highlights the power of love and compassion. A winning Victorian romance with a Pretty Woman vibe-complete with a hot piano scene. — Kirkus Reviews

“Heath is nothing if not original, unconventional and a continuing innovative voice in the genre. The pages are brimming over with humor and poignancy, sexual tension and emotions that run deep. Readers will savor how Ms. Heath’s unforgettable characters overcome their emotional barriers to find love and peace.” — RT Book Reviews (top pick)

“Sexy, clever, and emotionally wrenching, this heartfelt story breathes new life into the classic marriage-of-convenience plot and adds another winner to Heath’s addictive series.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Another Heath masterpiece.” — Romantic Times BOOKclub, 4 1/2 stars

Lorraine Heath’s books are always magic, but she’s at the top of her writing game with IN BED WITH THE DEVIL. You won’t be able to put it down! — Cathy Maxwell

Heath steals your heart, then takes you on a journey that will leave you torn between tears and joy. — Christina Dodd

Heath is a consummate storyteller, whose characters leap from the pages. Their powerful emotions and intense passions translate exceptionally well to readers, allowing them to become deeply involved in the fascinating plot and leaving them breathless and wanting more. — RT Book Reviews (top pick) - 4.5 stars - Praise for LORD OF TEMPTATION

“The Duke of Weddington is perfect hero material. Historical readers will clamor for more.” — Liz Carlyle

“She writes the most powerfully moving love stories in romance today.” — Jill Barnett, RITA Award-Winner

“Sensitive, funny and altogether enchanting!” — Dallas News

“Master storyteller Heath perfectly threads together emotional power and deep romance. Taking her cue from Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist, she reinvents the story so we see what might have happened to the older Oliver. Few writers engage readers’ hearts and minds as beautifully as Heath certainly does.” Top Pick — Romantic Times BOOKclub

“Lorraine Heath is an incredible talent!” — Katherine Sutcliffe, author of HOT AUGUST MOON

“Lorraine Heath has long been an author readers trust when they want to read a heart-warming historical, one that will entertain them and make them shed a tear or two. That’s probably because the emotions in Heath’s stories are genuine.” — Happy Ever After blog on USA Today

From the Publisher

She writes the most powerfully moving love stories in romance today.

Jill Barnett

Heath is a consummate storyteller, whose characters leap from the pages. Their powerful emotions and intense passions translate exceptionally well to readers, allowing them to become deeply involved in the fascinating plot and leaving them breathless and wanting more.

RT Book Reviews (top pick) - 4.5 stars - Praise for LORD OF TEMPTATION

The Duke of Weddington is perfect hero material. Historical readers will clamor for more.

Liz Carlyle

Another Heath masterpiece.

Romantic Times BOOKclub

Heath is nothing if not original, unconventional and a continuing innovative voice in the genre. The pages are brimming over with humor and poignancy, sexual tension and emotions that run deep. Readers will savor how Ms. Heath’s unforgettable characters overcome their emotional barriers to find love and peace.

RT Book Reviews (top pick)

Heath steals your heart, then takes you on a journey that will leave you torn between tears and joy.

Christina Dodd

Lorraine Heath’s books are always magic, but she’s at the top of her writing game with IN BED WITH THE DEVIL. You won’t be able to put it down!

Cathy Maxwell

Lorraine Heath has long been an author readers trust when they want to read a heart-warming historical, one that will entertain them and make them shed a tear or two. That’s probably because the emotions in Heath’s stories are genuine.

Happy Ever After blog on USA Today

Lorraine Heath is an incredible talent!

Katherine Sutcliffe

Sensitive, funny and altogether enchanting!

Dallas News

★ 12/01/2016
Killian St. John, Viscount Locksley, is shocked when his long-widowed father, the reputedly mad Marquess of Marsden, advertises for a bride to provide him with an additional heir. To protect his father from a probable gold digger, Killian marries her himself. But it's not money that Portia Gadstone wants, it's the security and safety of being married to a peer that she needs, and she'll do what she must to get it—and protect a secret she never wants revealed. Yet neither can deny the attraction that sizzles between them, one that threatens to turn into a love they never wanted. VERDICT Sexy, clever, and emotionally wrenching, this heartfelt story breathes new life into the classic marriage-of-convenience plot and adds another winner to Heath's addictive series. Heath (The Earl Takes All) lives in Plano, TX, and is noted for her deeply touching historical romances.

Library Journal

2016-10-19
After a marquess manipulates his son into marrying a commoner, the two fall in love, but her murky past may get in the way of their future happiness.After his mother died in childbirth and his father went mad with grief, Killian St. John, Viscount Locksley, vowed never to open his heart to romantic love, seeing the emotional devastation it caused for his family. However, when he takes his sweet time getting married, his father arranges to marry Portia Gadstone through a newspaper ad, with the scheming expectation that Killian will marry her instead, which he does. Portia comes across as a haughty gold digger, which to Killian means he won't fall in love with her, so she's safe to wed. Except that once they're married, not only does Portia bring sunshine and music to his life and to the neglected Havisham estate, cleaning out rooms that haven't been touched in decades, but their sexual connection is explosive. She's nothing like he imagined, and he falls for her, but just as their marriage seems real, they journey to London for a visit where secrets from her past rise up, and Killian realizes that, for all her innate honesty, she's been quite conniving indeed. At first furious, Killian reconsiders his feelings and the state of his heart when she disappears and he has to delve into her history to track her down. Historical romance favorite Heath (The Earl Takes All, 2016, etc.) wraps up the Hellions of Havisham series—save for an upcoming prequel novella—with a send-off that is both heart-stirring and supersexy, offering a story that hits romantic high notes even as it explores some disturbing historical details and highlights the power of love and compassion. A winning Victorian romance with a Pretty Woman vibe—complete with a hot piano scene.

Kirkus Reviews

Helen Lloyd’s skillful and charming narration does much to carry the listener through a problematic plot. Portia Gadstone answers an advert, expecting to marry the mad, old Marquess of Marsden, but his son, Locke, intervenes—leaving her no choice but to accept him in place of his father. Locke knows that Portia must be hiding something, for no young woman in her right mind would want to marry his father and moulder away in the country. There’s a crackling sexual tension between Portia and Locke, which Lloyd seems to relish giving voice to. But even her skill cannot save the story from an opening that seems straight out of a bodice ripper. K.M.P. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2017 - AudioFile