The Very Definition of Love

A bluestocking discovers love with one of London’s most notorious rakes in Benoit’s playful and sexy Regency debut. After being discovered alone in a library with reprobate Lord Alexander Stirling, the rumored bastard son of the Duke of Belhaven, Lady Harriet Bancroft must marry him to save her and her sisters’ reputations. With the help of his mistress, Harriet kidnaps an inebriated Alexander and whisks him off to Gretna Green, Scotland, where they can be swiftly wed. Though Alexander agrees to a marriage in name only, sexual tension ignites between them when innocent Harriet requests Alexander’s help in working on a dictionary of slang words she is writing with an Oxford professor. Alexander’s explanations (and demonstrations) of the erotically charged words Harriet seeks to define, including “cockstand” and “quim,” leave him sexually frustrated while her sunny disposition and caring nature soon have him wanting more than a marriage of convenience. The dictionary project adds a fun dimension to the classic setup of a jaded, worldly man falling for an innocent. This should win Benoit plenty of fans. Agent: Jessica Felleman, Jennifer Lyons Literary. (May)