The Last Lady B

Dripping with suspense and sensuality, bestseller James’s third Accidental Brides Regency (after Hardly a Gentleman) proves she remains at the top of her game. Genevieve “Evie” Hughes marries the decades older, thrice-widowed Lord Burnsby, whom she believes to be kind and harmless, in exchange for his agreement to put up the dowry for her younger sister, Rosie. She travels with her new husband to his hunting lodge, a converted abbey in the Scottish Highlands, to celebrate his 70th birthday. The servants say the lodge is haunted by Burnsby’s previous wives, and Evie immediately begins searching for the ghosts. Also in attendance are Burnsby’s heir, Lance; his wife, Colette; and Lance’s friend, Sir Godric Everley, a solicitor with ties to the British government, who makes clear his negative opinion of both Burnsby and fortune-hunting Evie. Worse, Evie discovers that her husband’s mistress, Sophonisba Ainsworth, has lived at the abbey for years, causing Evie to question her previous assessment of Burnsby’s character. As the intrigue ramps up—complete with death, scandalous revelations, criminal allegations, and the potential for supernatural interference—sparks fly between Evie and Godric. The gothic abbey proves a perfect backdrop to their tumultuous and compulsively readable romance. It’s an unmitigated delight. (May)