Playing the Countess — Karen Lingefelt

Gabriel Burton returns from the Napoleonic Wars to England where his reclusive uncle, the Earl of Ellsworth, enlists him to fight a new battle. A young woman in London is pretending to be the earl's wife, and he orders Gabriel, his heir, to expose her. Gabriel plans to seduce her into dropping the charade by playing along with it, even assuming the earl's title for appearance's sake-and to her dismay. Samantha Jordan has been blackmailed into posing as the nonexistent countess to help some scheming relatives enter high society. To make matters worse, the earl's dashing nephew shows up, and instead of denouncing her, insists on acting as the earl himself. As their attraction grows, Samantha longs to tell Gabriel the truth so they can be free to follow their hearts-but a secret more scandalous than her masquerade could destroy those hopes unless he persuades her to trust him and believe that this time, she's found true love.