A Study in Scoundrels by Christy Carlyle

She’s the epitome of the family’s tome: Ruthven Rules of Etiquette, at least at first glance.

Sophia Ruthven is the sister of Kit, whom we met in Rules for a Rogue. This could ruin her should word escape, so he must discover her whereabouts, return her home, and bury the incident. But his responsibilities appear when he’s least prepared: hung over, still in recovery mode, he discovers his seventeen year old sister Liddy is missing, and presumed to be with a man. Blessed with good looks, charm and a glib tongue, he’s not interested in assuming the mantle of ‘proper gentleman’ and his two day celebration of his most recent birthday was full of all he loved, including drink. Jasper Grey has shrugged off the responsibilities of his birth, and most of the proper behavior expected from a man in Victorian society: working as an actor when he’ not out living the life of an unrepentant scoundrel with drink, damsels and debauchery. And having Sophia in his arms and his bed is quickly becoming the thing he wants the most.Īs Sophia and Grey’s search for Liddy continues across the English countryside, can this scoundrel convince a proper lady that he’s actually perfect for her or will their adventure leave them both heartbroken? Grey knows he should avoid the bewitching Sophia, but he’s never been able to say no to what he wants. On the boards and in the bedroom, he lives exactly how he wants to, shunning all the trappings of respectability and society. Responsibility isn’t something Grey is very familiar with.

But when she learns Grey’s younger sister Liddy has gone missing, she can’t deny her desire to solve the mystery…or her attraction to the incorrigible scoundrel. She certainly isn’t interested in associating with the dashing Jasper Grey, the wayward heir to the Earl of Stanhope, and one of the stage’s leading men. On paper at least, as long as that paper isn’t from one of the lady detective stories she secretly pens. Sophia Ruthven is the epitome of proper behavior.

A Study in Scoundrels by Christy Carlyle