A Man without a Mistress

Bennet skillfully weaves mystery, political history, and romance together in this captivating novel. She surprises the reader by including in this story with its threads of grief, guilt, and grimness a couple of humorous scenes that reminded me of my favorite scene in Georgette Heyer’s The Unknown Ajax. But I think her finest achievement is the heroine who remains unconventional to the end even when she cooperates in the most conventional of romance fiction’s elements: the HEA. — Janga at Heroes and Heartbreakers

A man determined to atone for the past

For seven long years, Sir Peregrine Sayre has tried to assuage his guilt over the horrifying events of his twenty-first birthday by immersing himself in political work—and by avoiding all entanglements with ladies of the ton. But when his mentor sends him on a quest to track down purportedly penitent prostitutes, the events of his less-than-innocent past threaten not only his own political career . . .

A woman who will risk anything for the future

Raised to be a political wife, but denied the opportunity by her father’s untimely death, Sibilla Pennington has little desire to wed. To delay her brothers’ plans to marry her off as soon as her period of mourning is over, Sibilla vows only to accept a man as politically astute as was her father—and, in retaliation for her brothers’ amorous peccadillos, only one who has never kept a mistress. Surely there can be no such man in all of London.

When Sibilla’s attempt to free a reformed maidservant from the clutches of a former procurer throw her into the midst of Per’s penitent search, she is inextricably drawn to the cool, reserved baronet. But as the search grows ever more dangerous, Sibilla’s penchant for taking risks cannot help but remind Per of the shames he’s spent years trying to outrun. Can Per continue to hide from the guilt and ghosts of his past without endangering his chance at a passionate future with Sibilla?