Tis the Season to Be Sinful

October 1, 2011
To truly succeed in England, American businessman Richard Harper knows he needs a proper country house. Fortunately, Richard's secretary seems to have found the perfect property: Highgrove Manor. Unfortunately, Juliet Wentworth, who manages the estate in trust for her young son, is under the impression that Richard wishes to lease Highgrove Manor. When Richard tries to purchase the estate outright, Juliet refuses to sell her son's only inheritance. Richard, however, soon convinces Juliet that selling Highgrove Manor for a considerable sum of money is a much smarter move than trying to hold on to the debt-riddled estate. Now that Richard has his country home, there is only one more thing he needs: a wife. And when it comes to that little problem, Richard is certain he can strike another mutually lucrative deal with the delightfully intriguing Juliet. With her always elegant writing style, richly nuanced sense of characterization, and subtle wit, Basso puts her own distinctive literary stamp on the classic marriage-of-convenience plot(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)