Love and Smoke (The Contemporary Collection #4)

Riva Staulet, poised and elegant, is at the pinnacle of New Orleans society. But she was once Rebecca Benson, an innocent country girl. When a crass young lawyer came to her small town, she failed to recognize his predatory nature—until she became a victim of it.

Left pregnant and alone in a sleazy back section of the New Orleans French Quarter, Riva took a job as a tabletop dancer to survive. There she attracted the attention of Cosmo Staulet, head of one of Louisiana’s most distinguished and wealthy families, owner of famous Bonne Vie plantation. An older man of rare insight, Cosmo married Rebecca then molded her into Riva, an elegant Southern lady who danced only for him.

Now Cosmo is dead. Riva presides over Bonne Vie and the fortune that should have been the birthright of Cosmo’s son from a previous marriage—a son disowned for loving her. The lawyer who betrayed Riva years ago is making a run for the governor’s mansion. And the lawyer’s son is dating her daughter.

Riva must end the relationship between the young couple, even if it means allowing a criminal to take office. The would-be governor, arrogant and demanding in his power, refuses to cooperate. But Riva is no longer a powerless young girl. She is a woman of inner strength and principle who will sacrifice everything to right a wrong—wealth, position, respectability…even her last chance for a once-forbidden love. Rated '3/5 - Open door' for steam/spice/heat level.