Wicked Intentions

Bestseller Hoyt (To Desire a Devil) brings steamy sensuality to the slums of early 18th-century London in this engaging series launch. Demure widow Temperance Dews desperately needs funding for her orphanage. Lazarus Huntington, the famously debauched Lord Caire, needs to find out who murdered one of his mistresses. Lazarus offers Temperance an interesting bargain: if she will be his guide in the grimy neighborhood of St. Giles, he will pay the rent she owes and introduce her to more respectable nobility who might serve as patrons. Dire circumstances force the pair into intimate situations as they discover each other's deepest secrets, and Temperance reveals the passion hidden beneath her puritanical dress. Readers will enjoy the unusual pairing of an aristocratic man and a poor but educated widow, enhanced by earthy, richly detailed characterizations and deft historical touches. (Aug.)