Part of Series
A brave nobleman who'd successfully fought Napoleon's toughest soldiers, Raphael Dalton was no stranger to treachery and warfare. Yet nothing this modest hero has experienced can prepare him for the famous beauty Annabelle, the toast of the London With his unruly red hair and solid, honest face, Rafe doesn't think he has a chance with the flirtatious beauty who seems not to notice him. And when scandal threatens to ruin the reputation of a friend's sister, Breanna, Rafe's hopes may be dashed for good. To stop malicious tongue-wagging, Rafe offers to marry the exotic, raven-haired beauty. It isn't only honor, though, that sparks the proposal, for a smodering attraction draws him to this spirited woman as well. Little does Rafe know, however, that Annabelle still wants him for her own. While he's a master at outwitting opponents on the battlefield, the painfully shy soldier is defenseless when it comes to the fairer sexand Annabelle will use every weapon she can, while Breanna hopes for his attention too. Now Rafe has the chance to find true love—but only if he doesn't lose his head...
Author
Edith Layton wrote her first novel when she was ten. She bought a marbleized notebook and set out to write a story that would fit between its covers. Now, an award-winning author with more than thirty novels and numerous novellas to her credit, her criteria have changed. The story has to fit the reader as well as between the covers. Graduating from Hunter College in New York City with a degree in creative writing and theater, Edith worked for various media, including a radio station and a major motion picture company. She married and went to suburbia, where she was fruitful and multiplied to the tune of three children. Her eldest, Michael, is a social worker and artist in NYC. Adam is a writer and performer on NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Daughter Susie is a professional writer, comedian and performer who works in television. Publishers Weekly called Edith Layton "one of romance's most gifted writers." Layton has enthralled readers and critics with books that capture the spirit of historically distant places and peoples. "What I've found," she says, "is that life was very different in every era, but that love and love of life is always the same." Layton won an RT Book Reviews Career Achievement award for the Historical genre in 2003 and a Reviewers' Choice award for her book The Conquest in 2001. Amazon.com's top reviewer called Layton's Alas, My Love (April 2005, Avon Books), "a wonderful historical." And her recent release, Bride Enchanted, is a Romantic Times 2007 Reviewers' Choice Award Nominee. Edith Layton lived on Long Island where she devoted time as a volunteer for the North Shore Animal League, the world's largest no-kill pet rescue and adoption organization. Her dog Daisy—adopted herself from a shelter—is just one member of Layton's household menagerie. Edith Layton passed away on June 1, 2009 from ovarian cancer.
