Beauty in Black

Nicole Byrd

- 3.8 • 6 Ratings

- $5.99

- $5.99

Although many assumed that lovely widow Marianne Hughes would marry again, she has no desire to do so and is content with her independent single state. But her status as a respectable widow makes her an ideal chaperone, so she reluctantly agrees to guide the beautiful Louisa Crookshanks in her first London season. She never imagines that soon she and Louisa will be rivals for the same enigmatic gentleman.

John, Marquess of Gillingham had been a recluse since smallpox had left him scarred, too proud to be the object of pitiful stares. But the need for an heir has forced him to London to seek a bride. One golden beauty catches his eye, but it is her elegant chaperone who keeps his attention. Soon he finds himself entangled in a web of desire and deception, but someone else is spinning a web of danger around them all, and threatens to destroy all John and Marianne hold dear, including each other.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY MAY 10, 2004

The social whirl of Britain's Regency era springs to vivid life in a story that revolves around not one but two beings in black: the titular Beauty, widow Marianne Hughes, and the "Beast of Gillingham," John Sinclair. In need of a wife, the reclusive Marquess of Gillingham, who wears drab attire to draw attention away from his smallpox-scarred face, reluctantly tries to negotiate London's marriage mart. Equally reluctantly, Marianne agrees to chaperon her impetuous niece-in-law Louisa, who immediately targets John. But Louisa seems to be targeted by someone seeking something more sinister than marriage her life. John, meanwhile, realizes he's less drawn to his new fianc e than to her guardian. Further complications arise when John comes into contact with his estranged brother Gabriel, Gabriel's wife Psyche and her perceptive younger sister Circe, auld acquaintances from Byrd's two previous books, Dear Imposter and Lady in Waiting. This charming, character-driven novel links Byrd's Sinclair series and her newer Merry Widow series, but readers new to Byrd (who's actually the mother/daughter team Cheryl Zach and Michelle Nicole Place) should have no trouble untangling the family relationships. Despite its complexity, the story's disparate plot elements mesh seamlessly.

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