More than a mistress

More Than A Mistress In her most captivating novel to date, Mary Balogh, the premier writer of Regency romance, invites you into a world of scandal and seduction, of glittering high society and intrigue, as an arrogant duke does the unthinkable — he falls in love with his mistress.... She raced onto the green, desperate to stop a duel. In the melee, Jocelyn Dudley, Duke of Tresham, was shot. To his astonishment, Tresham found himself hiring the servant as his nurse. Jane Ingleby was far too bold for her own good. Her blue eyes were the sort a man could drown in — were it not for her impudence. She questioned his every move, breached his secrets, touched his soul. When he offered to set her up in his London town house, love was the last thing on his mind.... Jane tried to pretend it was strictly business, an arrangement she was forced to accept in order to conceal a dangerous secret. Surely there was nothing more perilous than being the lover of such a man. Yet as she got past his devilish facade and saw the noble heart within, she knew the greatest jeopardy of all, a passion that drove her to risk everything on one perfect month with the improper gentleman who thought love was for fools. In No Man's Mistress, Mary Balogh finds the perfect match for reckless, passionate Lord Ferdinand Dudley, the younger brother of the masterful Duke of Tresham (hero of the author's hardcover debut, More Than A Mistress. Pinewood Manor is not merely a home to Viola Thornhill. The charming estate, near a quiet little village in Somersetshire, represents security and freedom -- a gift she'll always treasure, from the one man who thought her worthy of the chance to start a new life free from the scandals of her past. For two years Viola has worked to make the neglected property productive and won the hearts of her new neighbors. Her only regret is that she welcomed Lord Ferdinand Dudley so warmly to her domain. Unfortunately, the charming lord possesses not only the good looks of a Byronic hero, but also the deed to Pinewood. Her cherished memories of his stolen kisses vanish the moment he declares that she has no claim to the estate and informs her that she has a week to vacate the premises. She refuses. He insists. And they both stubbornly decide to remain until the dispute is settled. As forced intimacy reveals their secrets, the attraction between them grows, and their situation becomes more impossible by the moment. She longs to hate him for his present claims. He wants to despise her for her past actions. But the one thing neither of them can deny is that they both want the one thing they cannot have: a future together.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction, Romance. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.