Critics call her "a veritable treasure, a matchless storyteller" (Romantic Times). Readers have fallen in love with Mary Balogh's sparkling blend of wit and romance. Now this dazzling writer sweeps us back to Regency England, into a world of dangerous secrets and glittering intrigue, as a dashing lord meets his match in a fiery beauty who vows to be ... No Man's Mistress.

The dark, devastating stranger rode into the village fair and wagered twenty pounds at the throwing booth -- for a chance to win the daisies in Viola Thornhill's hair. The Gypsy fortune teller had warned: "Beware of a tall, dark, handsome stranger. He can destroy you -- if you do not first snare his heart."

Recklessly Viola flirted, then danced with him around the Maypole. And then came his delicate, delicious kiss. Viola did not regret that she had let down her guard -- until the next morning, when he appeared at her door to claim her beloved Pinewood Manor.

Lord Ferdinand Dudley won her home in a game of cards

Viola hated him for trying to take everything, including her soul. She was mistress of Pinewood Manor. Yet Dudley refused to leave, even as his conscience rebelled at compromising this beautiful innocent whose only proof of ownership was a dead earl's promise. Dudley held the deed, but at what cost?

Each day under the same roof brought its share of temptation, intimacy, and guilt. But Viola knew it was a battle she could not afford to lose. Marriage was out of the question, and she would be no man's mistress. Even as Dudley's unnerving presence, his knowing smile, threatened to melt her resolve.

Against his better judgment, Lord Ferdinand Dudley was beguiled. This maddening beauty had stirred him as no woman had before. And he was bound and determined to make her his own.

At once sensuous, whimsical, and wonderfully romantic, Mary Balogh's new novel holds us in thrall, bringing to life a love story that sizzles with passion and originality.

Author: Mary Balogh
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Dell
Published: 05/28/2002
Series: Mistress Trilogy #2
Pages: 384
Weight: 0.41lbs
Size: 6.88h x 4.04w x 1.05d
ISBN: 9780440236573

About the Author
New York Times bestselling, multi-award-winning author Mary Balogh grew up in Wales, land of sea and mountains, song and legend. She brought music and a vivid imagination with her when she came to Canada to teach. There she began a second career as a writer of books that always end happily and always celebrate the power of love. There are over four million copies of her Regency romances and historical romances in print.