The Reluctant Lady Darden — Iona Charles

She vowed never to be a proper young lady -- much less a dutiful wife.

Young Miss Merrymont's first name was Alexandra, but Merry was the name she went by, and merry was the chase she led all who tried to take her independent spirit and find her a decent match. Little wonder that her widower father's joy fully matched Merry's rage when the fabulously wealthy and handsome Marquess of Darden casually chose Merry to be the wife that his family demanded he take. And no surprise that this gallant, who had never known defeat on the fields of war or in the boudoirs of love, was taken aback to find himself facing a foe worthy of his steel.

For Merry was a bride who asked and gave no quarter in her battle against both the arrogant aristocrat who claimed her and a heart that seemed all too ready to betray her...