{"product_id":"the-wedding-trap-isbn-9780345483102","title":"The Wedding Trap","description":"From ugly duckling to beautiful swan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEliza Hammond has always been quiet and reserved–hardly the best qualities for finding the man of her dreams and living happily ever after. A new heiress, Eliza is financially secure, courtesy of her aunt’s fortune, but even great wealth has its drawbacks since every greedy, fortune-hunting bachelor suddenly finds Eliza irresistible.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo help her best friend, Violet takes Eliza’s romantic dilemma into her own hands, enlisting the social skills of her brother-in-law, Lord Christopher “Kit” Winter. Kit helps transform Eliza into a stunning belle, certain to attract a worthy beau. There’s just one problem: Eliza has always been head over heels in love with Kit, the very man who is trying to find her a husband! But during Eliza’s sometimes-comic extreme makeover, and with a few secret love lessons from Kit on the side, sparks–and passionate kisses–begin to fly. Kit soon finds himself completely overcome by an all-consuming desire for Eliza. But if he fails to realize his true love for her, he may lose this fair lady forever.Tracy Anne Warren is the author of The Husband Trap and The Wife Trap. She grew up in a small central Ohio town. After working for a number of years in finance, she quit her day job to pursue her first love–writing romance novels. Warren lives in Maryland with a pair of exuberant, young Siamese cats and windows full of gorgeous orchids and African violets. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, watching movies, and dreaming up the characters for her next book. Visit her website at www.tracyannewarren.com.London, February 1820  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis business of acquiring a husband is going to be far from pleasant,  Eliza Hammond decided from her place on the saffron-and-white-striped sofa  in the upstairs family drawing room of Raeburn House.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Considering this would be her fifth Season—a lowering realization  indeed—she knew she would need all the assistance she could get, despite  the immense fortune her late aunt had quite unexpectedly left to her only  six weeks ago. At least she knew she would be able to count on the  steadfast support of her dear friend, Violet Brantford Winter, Duchess of  Raeburn. Perhaps with Violet’s assistance, the process would not be as  dreadful as she feared. Then again, thinking of the assorted  ne’er-do-wells and fortune hunters already vying for her hand, perhaps it  would.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “There is Mr. Newcomb,” Violet stated as she reviewed the current  selection of Eliza’s prospective suitors. “He seems a very pleasant sort  of gentleman with a genuine interest in the arts.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Yes, he was most attentive when we happened upon each other at the  gallery the other day,” Eliza agreed, recalling the man’s even features  and straight auburn hair, a shade that had put her in mind of a  glossy-coated Irish setter. “He demonstrated a definite command of the  great masters. Perhaps he has an interest in historical subjects as well.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “What he has is an interest in card playing, followed a close second by a  love of the dice,” interrupted a deep, smooth male voice that never failed  to send a pleasurable tingle down Eliza’s spine no matter how firmly she  tried to suppress it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    She shifted her gaze toward Lord Christopher Winter, better known to his  family and friends as Kit. Tall, broad-shouldered and ruggedly lean, he  sat relaxed in a leisurely all-male sprawl upon a nearby chair. Having  spent the past twenty minutes eating his way through a stack of small  watercress, cucumber and chicken sandwiches, he leaned forward now to  conduct a perusal of the dessert tray.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    A lock of his dark, wavy brown hair fell across his handsome forehead as  he selected a pair of lime tarts and a thin slice of rum cake. As he  transferred the sweets to his plate, he got a smudge of whipped cream on  one of his knuckles. Eliza’s stomach tightened as she watched him lick it  away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    She forced her gaze down to her shoes. Kit was Violet’s brother-in-law and  nothing more, she reminded herself. Certainly he was nothing more to her.  True, she had once nursed a secret infatuation for him but such silliness  was long since over and done. During the nearly year and half he had been  away traveling on the Continent, she had ruthlessly purged him from her  heart. And by the time he returned to England this Christmas past, she had  long since grown used to giving him scarcely a thought.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t admire him for the gorgeous male  specimen he was. And Kit Winter, with his beautiful, lazy-lidded green and  gold eyes, sensuous lips and infectiously charming smile, was a gorgeous  man indeed. One with an infamously prodigious appetite that seemed to make  no impact at all upon his trim, well-muscled physique.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He bit into one of the tarts from his plate, a tiny smile of gustatory  delight on his lips as he settled back into his chair. Engrossed in the  confection, he seemed utterly oblivious to the volley of disappointment he  had just lobbed into the room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Violet shot him a mighty frown. “What do you mean by that remark, Kit?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He swallowed and glanced upward. “Hmm?” He took a drink of tea, then  politely patted his mouth with his napkin. “Oh, about Newcomb, do you  mean?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Yes, of course about Newcomb. Of whom else have Eliza and I been  conversing?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Well, there’s no need to come up cross, Vi. Just thought I ought to give  you fair warning the chap is close to being dipped. Last I heard, he lost  twenty thousand quid to Plimpton playing high-stakes whist and his luck  hasn’t turned for the good since.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Violet and Eliza released a pair of mutual sighs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “If that is the case, then he is out,” Violet declared, turning her  bespectacled blue-green gaze upon Eliza. “You certainly don’t want to take  an inveterate gambler to husband.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Eliza silently agreed and contented herself by sipping her tea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “There is Sir Silas Jones,” Violet continued. “He sent you that sweet  nosegay of hothouse roses last week. I hear he comes from a lovely part of  Kent. Owns an estate that produces a most bountiful harvest of cherries  and apples each year. Has quite the way with plants, I am given to  understand.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “That’s not all he’s good at planting,” murmured Kit as he polished off  the last of the sweets on his plate and leaned forward for more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Violet angled her attractively coiffured blond head. “I suppose by that  you mean there is something wrong with him as well?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Depends upon your point of view. Some might say there’s nothing wrong  with him at all.” He ate a guinea-sized crumpet topped with a generous  spoonful of gooseberry jam, then silently held out his empty Meissen cup  for more tea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Without pause, Violet lifted the heavy silver teapot from a matching  silver tray and poured. A delicate tendril of steam spiraled off the  surface of the beverage for a moment before Kit brought the cup to his  lips.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “So?” Violet encouraged when he failed to say more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Kit set his teacup onto its saucer with a faint clink. “Man’s a womanizer.  Has six by-blows by four different women and those are only the ones he  acknowledges. One might say Jones is a man who likes to plow a field.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Eliza felt her cheeks grow pink. A small guffaw escaped the duchess before  Violet recovered herself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Kit,” Violet said in reproof. “Might I remind you there are ladies  present, myself included. That is no kind of talk for the drawing room.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He forced an irreverent grin from his lips. “Sorry. You are right, of  course. My apologies, ladies.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Nevertheless, I am glad to learn that Sir Silas is not a man to whom my  dear friend should direct her time or attentions.” Violet tapped a  thoughtful nail against the scrolled sofa arm. “Of the other gentlemen who  have recently extended their regards to Eliza, we know Viscount Coyle and  Mr. Washburn are not to be received, the both of them known fortune  hunters forever on the lookout for a likely heiress to replenish their  pocketbooks.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “What of Lord Luffensby?” Eliza said. “He sent me that very pleasant book  of sonnets.” Wordsworth, she recalled with pleasure, the poet one of her  favorites.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Of course. I met him only once and very briefly but he struck me as a  most amiable man. Very considerate and gently spoken.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    A soft but unmistakable snort erupted from Kit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Violet shot him another look, one of exasperation this time. “Pray do not  tell me there is something amiss with Lord Luffensby too? Surely not. I  know his cousin and she gave me to understand that he has a most  comfortable income and no predilections for the usual vices.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “No, not the usual ones, that’s for certain.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Violet waited for a long moment. “Oh, do go on before Eliza and I both  expire of curiosity.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “I am not sure I ought to say. As you already reminded me, there are  ladies present.” Kit paused, glanced at Eliza. “Unmarried ladies.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Well, dear heavens, what is it? Surely it cannot be so terrible Eliza  cannot be allowed to hear. And it isn’t as if she is a miss just out of  the schoolroom.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Kit tapped a considering finger against his lips. “He has a nickname among  certain fellows. Lord Poofensby.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Poofensby? Eliza frowned. Was Kit referring to the man’s wardrobe?  Luffensby did tend toward being a bit of a dandy but nothing too extreme.  She looked over at Violet, whose brows were also furrowed in confusion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “I am sorry but you’ll have to be clearer,” Violet said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Clearer?” Kit rolled his eyes, then heaved a beleaguered sigh. “You know,  for a woman who reads Greek and Latin and speaks five languages, you can  sometimes be remarkably ignorant.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “There is no need to be insulting. Just say it out. I am sure it cannot be  so very bad.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “All right. He . . . um . . . has a liking for men.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Well, what is so remarkable about that? A great many gentlemen enjoy the  company of others of their sex. I don’t see why you are making such a—  Oh.” Violet broke off, her eyebrows rising. “Oh! Oooh.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Eliza looked between them, still not entirely understanding the message  that had just been passed. Then suddenly she remembered a bit of text she  had read once in one of her books on ancient history about men who cared  for other men in an amorous way. She had found the notion quite  astonishing at the time, yet never considered such things might still go  on. Certainly not here in present-day England!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    A fresh blush stole over her cheeks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Quite so.” Kit stretched out his legs, crossed them at the ankle. “Not  the sort of fellow likely to give you a family, assuming that is what you  want?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    A family, Eliza thought, was exactly what she wanted. It was the single  most important reason she had decided to find a husband and wed. Her  shoulders dipped, her spirits disheartened by the entire conversation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Well, who else is there?” Violet withdrew a white silk handkerchief from  her dress pocket, then removed her spectacles and began to polish the  lenses. “You have received so many bouquets and trinkets, there must be  someone suitable in the bunch.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “But there is not,” Eliza bemoaned. “Oh, Violet, don’t you see, it is  simply no use. They are all of them unsuitable in one way or another.  Either they are after my fortune or they have some dreadful personal  difficulty they wish to conceal through a convenient marriage.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Violet slipped her eyeglasses back on, then reached out and patted the top  of Eliza’s hand. “Now, do not let this discourage you. The Season has not  even begun yet. There is no telling all the eligible bachelors who will be  arriving in the city over the next few weeks. Men who would give their  eyeteeth to have you for their wife.”Happily ever after . . . with a hitch Author of The Wife Trap","brand":"Ivy Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46299943239909,"sku":"NP9780345483102","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780345483102.jpg?v=1767742172","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-wedding-trap-isbn-9780345483102","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}