The Davies and Montgomery families
have been locked in an ancient feud.
But it’s a thin line
between love and hate.

TWO ENEMIES

Carys Davies is doing everything in her power to avoid marriage. Staying single is the only way to hide the secret that could ruin her—and her family—if it was revealed. For the past two seasons she’s scandalized the ton with her outrageous outfits and brazen ways in a futile bid to deter potential suitors. Outwardly confident and carefree, inside she’s disillusioned with both men and love. There’s only one person who’s never bought her act—the only man who makes her heart race: Tristan Montgomery, one of her family’s greatest rivals.

ONE SCANDALOUS BARGAIN

Wickedly proper architect Tristan needs a respectable woman to wed, but he’s never stopped wanting bold, red-headed Carys. When she mockingly challenges him to show her what she’s missing by not getting married, Tristan shocks them both by accepting her indecent proposal: one week of clandestine meetings, after which they’ll go their separate ways. But kissing each other is almost as much fun as arguing, and their affair burns hotter than either of them expects. When they find themselves embroiled in a treasonous plot, can they trust each other with their hearts, their secrets…and their lives?

Carys Davies love to shock society with her wardrobe choices and carefree attitude. As this book opens, she is wearing her most scandalous outfit yet and many notice. One in particular is Tristan Montgomery, while he’s her enemy because of a feud that spans generations, the attraction is still there.

Tristan is hoping to find a wife this season, but Carys isn’t on his radar. She’s not the wife he needs, he needs someone who is not on the borderline of scandal at every turn.

Carys has always had a bit of a crush on Tristan, and she doesn’t know what to do about it. Unfortunately, she’s being blackmailed for something that she can’t change. She was to meet Howe at his carriage at midnight, however he loses that carriage to Tristan gambling. It’s Tristan who enters the carriage and assumes she’s having an affair with the man. While she admits she’s been ‘ruined’ she doesn’t spill about the blackmail.

As these two are thrown together for family events thanks to her brother Gryff and Tristan’s sister Maddie, some interesting things occur. First, he says he’s helping her screen potential husbands, then he finds out about the blackmail.

A family gathering has been planned and both Carys and Tristan are thrown together again, but this time there’s a twist. Carys agrees that she needs to discover if a marriage without anything other than intellectual compatibility is the right way to go. Tristan while a bit shocked at her agreement is more than willing to show her what she’s missing. He doesn’t anticipate falling for her though.

At her home in Wales there’s a famous menagerie that she cares for. She is quite knowledgeable of animals and is ahead of her time with regard to fighting animal cruelty.

All of these things intwine into a delightful tale of enemies to lovers. With suspense, intrigue and sizzling heat.

5 Contented Purrs for Kate!

Kate Bateman

Kate Bateman (also writing as K. C. Bateman) wrote her first historical romance in response to a $1 bet with her husband who rashly claimed she’d ‘never finish the thing.’ She gleefully proved him wrong. Her Regency and Renaissance-era romances all feature her trademark feisty, intelligent heroines, wickedly inappropriate banter, and heroes you want to both strangle and kiss.

When not traveling to exotic locations ‘for research,’ Kate leads a double life as a fine art appraiser and on-screen antiques expert for several TV shows in the UK, each of which has up to 2.5 million viewers. She splits her time between Illinois and her native England and writes despite three inexhaustible children and a number-loving husband who still owes her that dollar.