The Trouble with Virtue: A Comfortable Wife / A Lady By Day

The Trouble with Virtue: A Comfortable Wife / A Lady By Day
Stephanie Laurens

Alison DeLaine

A COMFORTABLE WIFEMiss Antonia Mannering has made plans that include her long-ago friend Lord Philip Ruthven. She knows Philip is popular with the ladies, but he has never married. Might he now be ready for a wife? If she could only prove that she could run his home, not disgrace him in Society and be a comfortable wife, surely he would propose to her. But when love enters the equation, Antonia might be getting more than she bargained for…A LADY BY DAYRecovering from scandal, Josephine, Countess of Mareck, has secured a second chance at respectability. And she certainly will not risk it for Sir Noah Rutledge, who’s returned to London from the Mediterranean to secure a new business venture. But when Noah confronts Josephine and puts her secrets at risk, he stirs a most unexpected desire.With the elite watching closely, she must to be careful not to fall for an unsuitable man. Unless love proves stronger than Society…

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens and rising star Alison DeLaine bring you two tales of passionate temptation…and decorum overthrown.

A Comfortable Wife

Miss Antonia Mannering has made plans that include her long-ago friend Lord Philip Ruthven. She knows Philip is popular with the ladies, but he has never married. Might he now be ready for a wife? If she could only prove that she could run his home, not disgrace him in Society and be a comfortable wife, surely he would propose to her. But when love enters the equation, Antonia might be getting more than she bargained for….

A Lady by Day

Recovering from scandal, Josephine, Countess of Mareck, has secured a second chance at respectability. And she certainly will not risk it for Sir Noah Rutledge, who’s returned to London from the Mediterranean to secure a new business venture. But when Noah confronts Josephine and puts her secrets at risk, he stirs a most unexpected desire. With the ton watching closely, she must be careful not to fall for an unsuitable man. Unless love proves stronger than Society….

www.StephanieLaurens.com (http://www.StephanieLaurens.com)

www.AlisonDelaine.com (http://www.AlisonDelaine.com)

Praise for the novels of

“All I need is her name on the cover

to make me pick up the book.”

—New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard

“Laurens’s writing shines.”

—Publishers Weekly

“An interesting and absorbing plot…

an exciting and appealing romantic mystery.”

—FreshFiction.com

“The sensual tension simmers…and, as always,

Laurens delivers the delicious heat as they fall in love.”

—Michelle Buonfiglio, myLifetime.com

“Laurens spices up her superbly sensual,

elegantly written love story with a generous measure

of splendidly entertaining.”

—Booklist

“A fast-paced, action-packed, historical romance. Stephanie Laurens has another winner on her hands.”

—The Romance Readers Connection

“Danger, intrigue and seduction aplenty—

will leave you satisfied yet hungry for more.”

—Romance Reviews Today

Other must-have reads from

#1 New York Times bestselling author

Stephanie Laurens

An Unwilling Conquest

A Lady of Expectations

The Reasons for Marriage

Fair Juno

Impetuous Innocent

Four in Hand

Tangled Reins

And coming soon from Alison DeLaine

A Gentleman ’Til Midnight

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A COMFORTABLE WIFE (#u49a7ba42-fcf2-55d5-ae90-30b8682534a2)

A LADY BY DAY (#litres_trial_promo)

A Comfortable Wife

Dear Reader,

In writing An Unwilling Conquest, the third book in the Lester trilogy, one character, Philip, Lord Ruthven, positively begged to be made a victim of love. His attitude as displayed in An Unwilling Conquest could not go unanswered—and that’s how A Comfortable Wife came about. Miss Antonia Mannering was the young lady who had Philip most determinedly in her sights. As a husband. The possibility of love never entered her head—she was far too levelheaded, and she knew Philip too well. She was looking for a husband, and by now he should be looking for a wife—to her, their aims were compatible. All should have been terribly comfortable, except…

What happens when love gets stirred into their equation is told in A Comfortable Wife. I hope you enjoy seeing Philip succumb to a passion that becomes more precious than anything else in his life.