Innocence (The Rakehell Regency #10)

Innocence
Book 10 of The Rakehell Regency Romance Series
Sorcha MacMurrough
Word Count=88,000 words, over 300 8.5 x 11" pages
Rating: Extremely sensual, multiple love scenes throughout the novel

Randall Avenel the Earl of Hazelmere’s plans for a liaison with the talented courtesan known as ‘The Eternal Virgin’ go awry when impoverished heiress Isolde Drake appears on his doorstep to apply for the job of paid companion to his aging mother.

Isolde's former fiance Chauncey Howell has sent her unescorted to Randall's home in order to get revenge on them both. The Earl is known as the most prominent rake of the Ton. Isolde stepping foot in his house by herself will bring about such scandal, it is sure to ruin her. Chauncey hopes to provoke a duel with his unsuspecting enemy Randall, and force innocent Isolde into his own bed in order to save her reputation.

Chauncey doesn’t foresee Isolde’s overwhelming desire for Randall, or the fascination the beautiful and spirited young woman begins to exert upon the world-weary rake tormented by his own sins. Who has seduced whom? Has the jaded young Earl met his match at last?

Only by coming to terms with his shadowy past and the crimes he is sure he is guilty of, can Randall ever be free to find true love at last. Only through learning about the enigmatic woman whom his enemy has bestowed upon him, can Randall face the future, and allow his experience to be tempered by innocence.

Randall and Isolde are forced to trust one another if they are to ever vanquish his dark past, and the enemies who will stop at nothing to destroy both of them….

AN EXCERPT FROM INNOCENCE:
“I am mad, darling Isolde,” he said, taking her hand to kiss it once more. "Mad for you to be my wife, to give yourself to me in every way. And to let me give myself to you the way I’ve never given myself to any woman.”

Randall reached for her waist now, but she suddenly grew fearful of the raging passion that tore through her with his slightest touch.

“This is too much,” she said, cowering away from his questing hands. “Please. Just let me go. I want to go home to Surrey.”

His face fell. “I can’t be responsible for your ruin like this.”

“You aren’t. Howell will be if he bruits it about. But you cannot be given a life sentence for a crime you did not commit.”

"What if I want to be prisoner to your charms, Isolde, without any hope of parole?"

"Please, Randall, this is no laughing matter, and I would not want you condemned to a life of misery."

“But what if that's all I deserve?” he said under his breath.

She stared at him, aghast. “You want to PUNISH yourself by marrying me? What on earth—”

He reached for her with desperate eagerness, desire shining in his lapis blue eyes. “No! No, not at all. I want and need you. I would be lost if you walked out that door now without giving me a chance to redeem myself. Please, Isolde, I need you. Stay with me, all night, every night...”

Setting: Regency London and Bath
Word Count=88,000 words
Rating: Extremely sensual, multiple love scenes throughout the novel

The Rakehell Regency Romance Series
Book 1-The Mad Mistress
2-The Missed Match
3-The Miss Matched
4-The Matchless Miss
5-The Scarred Heart
6-Guardian of the Heart
7-The Mistaken Miss
8-The Model Master
9-The Model Mistress
10-Innocence
11-Innocence Afire
12-Ravished
13-Experience
14-The Model Husband
15-Ruthless